How to Become Better at Basketball

Improve your Footwork

Controlling your feet in the game is one of the most important skills in the game of basketball. It determines your explosiveness, your grace, your speed, your accuracy, your shooting form, your passing form, your stability, among many other things. Why do you always see videos of people doing side-to-sides and suicides? These drills greatly improve your awareness of where your feet are in relation to your body. Loss of balance is a major breakdown in both defense or offense. If you lose track of where your feet are or you are not stable enough to stick with the opponent, penetration is extremely simple for the opponent once you are thrown out of the way. In order to be able to defend well, you need to be able to have quick feet to react to whatever the opponent is about to do. You are always on the defensive. Likewise, if you are on offense and you have quick footwork, you may be able to lose your defender, exposing any gaps in their defense making it a 5 on 4 offensive play which greatly increases your chances of scoring.

Learn to dribble

More specifically, learn to dribble without looking at the ground. If you have to constantly stare at the ball, how can you have time to look for your teammates to make plays? Even if you can shoot or pass, how would you ever get open? Dribbling should be a second nature to you so that you can concentrate on actually playing the game, not on learning it.

Learn to dribble with both hands

If you can only dribble with one hand, a defender will quickly catch on to your weakness. Exploiting this is extremely useful for opponents. They can totally close off your path because they know that you cannot go the other way. And even if you try, they will just steal the ball and run down for a fastbreak. Dribbling with both hands will also open up many more moves such as crossovers.

Learn to shoot from your head, not your chest

Many people try to shoot from their chest or below. The only person that has ever pulled this off in the NBA is Shawn Marion. This is the worst shooting form you can take. Basketball is a game of leverage. That is why tall people play it. Being able to shoot from your head or above will prevent you from getting blocked, which are extremely difficult to avoid if you shoot from below your head. By raising the ball above your head and releasing at a higher point, you not only will be able to avoid getting blocked, you will become more accurate. Shooting with your wrist is much more accurate than shooting with your arm, because it is only a flick of the wrist rather than a heave with the arm.

Learn to box out

You have to assert your position to get a rebound. How do you do that? You box the other person out. A box out is when you put your body in the way of the opponent and the ball, making it easier for you to take possession of it and go on the offensive. For example, if one of your teammates has taken a shot that has bounced off of the rim, you need to be ready to jump up and grab the rebound. If the opponent can overpower you or stick one of his/her arms to mess up your concentration, you might lose possession of it. But by turning so that your back is facing the opponent, bend your knees and make sure that your body is in the way of their body and the basketball. Being stable is a necessity in order to box someone out. By holding your ground and pushing the opponent behind you, there is absolutely no way they can reach the basketball, and it is yours for the taking (unless they foul you of course).

Take smart shots

Don't take a shot while there's a hand in your face. Don't take an off balance shot. You lower your probability of making a shot drastically.

Run Parabolically

We all know that a basketball court is rectangular, but you need to play the game with respect to angles. Cuts at an angle allow for penetration through the defense and closer to the basket. Learn to utilize the width of the court to your advantage. If you're running a fast break and someone throws the ball down the court, if you are running in a parabolic trajectory (curving outside then back to the inside to take a layup), you can see the ball coming at you, catch it, and take a layup. If you were running straight down the court, you can't see the ball, and you have to look 180 degrees behind you. This way, you lose track of what is in front of you, and you might overrun the length of the court, run into a defender, or slip and fall and hurt yourself.

Draw Defenders

Basketball is a game of 5 on 5. Every person is matched with an opponent to guard them. If you are a good point guard/dribbler, you can blow by your defender. Once this happens, someone else on the opposing team must step up in order to make sure you don't get an open shot (if he doesn't, then take your open shot). Once that person steps up, this leaves one of your teammates open, to which you can dish it to for an open look. The basis behind this is that as a team, if one person is lagging behind, the rest of the team has to scramble to make up for him, leaving them shorthanded. This gives your team a huge advantage to keep the ball moving until someone finds an opening and score.

Smart Rebounds

When you jump up to grab a rebound, make sure you time it right. Watch the ball and its trajectory. If it is a short bounce, be prepared to jump soon. If the ball bounces high off the rim, time your jump so that you can maximize your vertical and minimize the distance between you and the ball for a quick retrieval. If you jump too late, the ball is already in the opponent's hands. If you jump too early, you let your defender get the rebound, and by the time you land back on the ground, he is already moving down the court already.

Always keep your arms up

Always keep your arms spread wide and not by your side. If you are on offense, if you have a larger surface area, your teammates will have an easier time spotting you and hitting their target. With your arms already spread out it is also easier for you to catch the ball. If you are on defense, you increase your chances to deflect a pass or block a shot. Your range of movement increases drastically by waving your arms at your opponent. You may also throw off their concentration or make them panic by waving your arms around.

Never leave your heels

Never leave your heels unless you are sure you are going to jump. You need to always be on balance. If you run around a basketball court on your toes, it not only will be hard for you to control your own movements, but opponents can easily fake movement in one direction and then move in another. You are immediately thrown off balance while burdening your other teammates to gover up the whole you left behind.

Keep your eye on the ball

No matter what you are doing (setting a pick, running down the court, defending your opponent), you need to always have great court awareness. You need to know where the basketball is at all times. Many times people are so confident in their abilities to catch the ball that they look up at the last moment, only to find that the basketball has bounced off of their arm into the opponent's hands. Knowing where the ball is is also extremely helpful in anticipating your opponent's next movements. If you see that someone is about to pass the ball, you can run in and cut off the path and steal the ball.

Communicate

This mostly applies to defense. If you see one of your men needing help, let your whole team know. If the opponent sets a pick and your teammates get lost in transition, both of your teammates will become confused, leaving gaping holes in your defense Call out picks from behind to help your teammates out. Let them know what is going on behind them so they can anticipate what to do next so you don't have to step up and help. And if you do, someone will help out on your man if he knows what is going on.

Be Explosive

Basketball is a game of explosiveness. If you're explosive, you can lose your defender. If you're explosive, you can create opportunities. Dwayne Wade, one of the best players in the NBA is an explosive player. His goal is to lull you into thinking that he is going as fast as he can, and then he will increase the speed of his movements, leaving the opponent unprepared for what he is going to do next. The main advantage of being explosive is that you can make yourself open and create holes in the opponents' defense.

Don't be selfish

Basketball is a team sport. You need all 4 of your teammates in order to be productive on the court. By moving the ball around more and making opportunities for each other, ultimately moving the ball closer to the basket and increasing the chance that you will succeed. Being selfish by making bad decisions will only force you farther away from your teammates as they most likely won't pass the ball to you later on. You must work together in order to win, no matter how many 3 pointers you can make.

Respect everyone on the court, including your opponents. No one likes a complainer. Play the game with your brain, not with your mouth.