To many, it is the carrot that dangles 10 feet off the ground, begging to be grabbed.
Dunking a basketball carries mystique among average-sized men. It's an inspiration for intense workout programs. It's the dream that just won't die.
But how exactly do you dunk a basketball?
Height and athleticism are the main factors, and all other wild cards bow down to the influence of these two. A 5-foot-6 guy probably doesn't have much of a shot with a 10-foot rim unless he's Spud Webb. At the same time, an average-sized guy--say, 5-11--won't have a chance without at least a little athletic ability.
Dunking isn't for everybody, but many men at least have a chance at pulling it off. Even so, it depends on a lot of variables for those on the fringe. Many guys have excess weight that keep them grounded. Some days your legs just aren't up to it. Other days, you don't have the right shoes on, or a certain basketball is hard to grip, or a past injury is hampering you. Little things like that can keep you from basketball glory when you're oh-so-close to throwing down.
If you're 5-5 and lacking great hops, nothing you read is going to pull a miracle. Sorry, Charlie. Don't sweat it, though--as many short shooters boast, "When dunks are worth three points, I'll start doing it."
Similarly, if you're the next Wilt Chamberlain and you can literally kiss the rim, you're too advanced for this course. Enjoy your Zeus-like ability.
If you're close but not quite over the hump, with decent height and decent hops, never forget: there is plenty of hope for you.
Let's get Dick Vitale screaming.
Building Your Strength
Being in great shape is the best way to start your quest toward a rim-rocking jam, and there are specific exercises you can keep in mind while improving your fitness.
LaRue Cook, a personal trainer and owner of LEC Fitness, recommends building your basic level of strength first. This can be done through common leg exercises like squats, lunges, hamstring curls and leg press.
Once that's established, Cook said that increasing your vertical is accomplished through boosting your power.
"Power can be defined as a combination of speed and strength," Cook said. "Dynamic exercises that combine speed and strength such as skips--low and high--and squat jumps and bounding are all ways to improve your leg power once a base of strength has been established."
The Jump
Generally, a player can get his highest when jumping off one foot and reaching up with one hand. For a right-hander, the most common way is approaching from the left and jumping off the left foot with the ball in the right hand. However, some people find jumping off two feet more comfortable, so experiment and find what's best for you.
Going up for a two-handed slam, while awesome, is a more advanced dunk and shouldn't be the goal just yet. To slip your hand over the rim and throw down a ball means to eliminate anything that might keep you from your vertical maximum. So your other hand should stay at your side to balance your body.
If you're not sure what your potential is, go up without a ball first. Get the hang of jumping this way, of (hopefully) touching the rim. Many of the newer rims are breakaway, and will snap down if you grab onto it. If you want to have a chance at dunking, you should be able to snap the rim down like this with some consistency.
Careful, though: If you grab the rim but can't get a grip, the momentum of your body could cause a violent spill. Be smart.
Progression
From there, work your way up. Jeff Haefner of Breakthrough Basketball suggests starting with smaller balls like a golf ball or tennis ball to practice timing and elevation. It's a little harder than just grabbing the rim, and a good step toward throwing down a big ball.
"You'll find it's much harder to dunk with a full-sized ball," Haefner said. "Your timing and vertical leap is the key."
Keep that in mind, and progress slowly. A mini basketball is a little more challenging than a tennis ball, but it's easy to palm and that helps. See if you can get high enough to get your hand over the rim--almost up to your wrist--so you can stuff the mini ball. If you can't throw it down with a little authority, a bigger basketball won't be any easier.
From there, you can try a four-square ball or a volleyball. Both are a pretty good size but soft enough to be able to grip.
Remember that fatigue is a factor, and you probably have only so many jumps in a session before your legs wear out. Once you're not 100 percent, you don't stand a chance at dunking for the first time. Don't get frustrated if your 15th attempt of the day isn't as good as your third or fourth try. That's normal.
With a Ball
If you're on the verge of dunking, being able to palm a normal basketball will help immensely. If your hands aren't big enough, you can go up holding the ball over your hand like a waiter holding a plate of food. Take care of it--the rock often gets away from players mid-jump, making the attempt worthless.
Work at it, and focus. You'll probably get painfully close dozens of times before you break through and finally get a clean one. You're first "dunk" might be a little ugly and won't be with force. It doesn't mean it doesn't count.
The slam dunk is a beautiful play that only a small portion of the population can do, which adds to the allure of it. If you're right on the dunk's doorstep, don't give up. Work hard at it and keep your confidence high. When it finally does go down, it will be worth it in the end.
That's a promise.
Breakthrough Basketball - How to Dunk a Basketball
Our first advice is to forget about dunking and learn the fundamentals of basketball! Learn proper shooting form, footwork, moving without the ball, defense, and so on. This will help you become a better player.
Now that we've given you our honest opinion, you still probably want to know how to dunk....
Dunking is a dramatic, crowd-pleasing offensive move. Many times, a rousing
dunk can turn that mysterious factor, momentum, right around in your favor.
Clearly, dunking is easier if you're tall and can palm the ball with one hand,
but there have been relatively short players who couldn't palm the ball who
worked hard enough to be able to dunk. If you are considering adding the dunk
shot to your repertoire, follow these steps:
Step #1 - Practice dunking on a rim lowered to your current
jumping ability.
This will allow you to get used to the feel of dunking right away. To prepare
yourself for the real thing, the basket height should still require you to
jump your highest in order to dunk. If it's too low, then you won't be
building the muscles or the memory needed for dunking at the regulation-height
hoop.
Step #2 - Be able to touch the rim with your wrist.
You will need to get at least that high to be able to snap the ball into the
basket. If you're relatively short, then you have your work cut out for you.
Developing a one-handed dunk requires less vertical ability than a two-handed
dunk, and, for most players, jumping off of one foot from a running start
makes it easier to jump high enough to dunk. There are many things that you
can do to work on your vertical leap.
To increase your vertical leap, you should do a variety of exercises and follow a strategic work out plan. The workout should include plyometrics, strength training, and stretching.
Step #3 - Use small balls to begin with, and gradually
increase the size of ball that you use as you develop your technique and
coordination.
Start with a ping-pong ball, then a tennis ball, then a softball, then a
volleyball, then a youth-sized basketball, and on up until you can dunk with a
regulation size ball. If you can't palm the ball, then you will need to learn
how to control the ball with two hands until the last minute extension for the
dunk with one hand, or you will have to jump high enough to dunk two-handed.
Step #4 - Learn how to finish the dunk safely.
Dunking exposes you to some extra risk of injury. First of all, you can get
low-bridged or get your legs tangled up with defenders near the hoop, causing
you to fall awkwardly from a significant height. You can also throw yourself
off balance by trying to hang on the rim and slipping off, resulting in
awkward falls. If you are in heavy traffic on the dunk, then being able to
grab and hang on the rim until the clutter beneath you clears is a safety
technique. If you are in the clear on a dunk, then avoiding hanging on the rim
at all is the recommended safety technique (It's also a technical foul to hang
on the rim in that situation). Whatever the situation, you need to come down
with control and balance. Ankle, knee, neck, and head injuries await those who
fail to control their momentum after a dunk.
Remember, even though dunking is dramatic and exciting, it still counts only
two points. If you can't dunk, it's not the end of the world. You can be an
extremely effective scorer without ever dunking the ball. In fact, dunking has
very little to do with proper shooting technique.
How to Improve Your Vertical Jump
If you want to improve your vertical jump, we highly recommend you follow a program that utlizes the "Pryamid of Development" -- that you see at most of the top Div I college programs.
This allows you to develop overall athleticm, to not only help you dunk, but also improve your defense, speed, balance, and effectiveness on the basketball court. And more importantly (in our opinion), the Pryamid of Development gives you the foundation and balanced muscle growth that reduces the risk of injury.
We highly recommend the Cody Roberts Athletic Development Program to improve your vertical jump, explosiveness and agility. It's very effective program that is designed the right way.
Basketball coaching hacks: how to score goals for beginners
Even if you are a novice basketball player, we will not give you a training plan, but we will tell you why the ball flies anywhere but into the ring and into your hands. It's all about technique: even with regular training and perseverance, novice adults and children often make simple mistakes. It's a shame, let's fix it. Below are 11 life hacks on how to hone your technique to increase the likelihood of a goal for your team.
Basketball Shot Rules for Beginners
1. Hands up
In pursuit of the attacker, raise your hands, even if you are standing with your back to the pass, and even more so if the ring is in front of you. Your raised hands will increase the chance of intercepting the ball from the opponent by 2 times. Don't overlook this little thing!
2. Make shield rolls
Even Tim Duncan did not neglect them! A square is drawn on the basketball backboard. If you are standing opposite the ring, then aim at the middle of the upper part of the square, if you are standing on the side, then at the corner. If you hit this square, then the ball is at 90% of cases will fall into the ring. The law of physics and no cheating!
3.
Look at the ring, not at the ball
Practice driving the ball with your hand, not your eyes, develop tactile control. Your eyes should be on the hoop while dribbling and be aware of the position of your body in relation to the hoop. Then you will be able to take the correct posture, and the throw will be effective.
4. Dribble with the balls of your fingers only
The palm should not touch the ball, only the pads of the fingers. Dribbling should become familiar to you, like an extension of your hand. Then you can change its trajectory at any time and you will have more chances to score goals. Practice with the ball constantly.
5. Throw with one hand
If you throw the ball with two hands, you reduce the chance of hitting the basket. All the efforts of the throw are in one hand (in the right for right-handers, in the left for left-handers). The other hand only holds the ball, the leading one holds it with the fingers, not the palm.
6.
Do not jump when protecting the ring
Jumping is the main mistake of rookie defenders. To intercept the ball and block the shot, simply stick out your hands. When you are in a jump, the attacker will easily bypass you.
7. Don't look back
When you dribble, don't look back, but dribble and aim for the ring, focus on shooting (or passing to another player on your team).
8. Bring the throw to automatism
Incorporate the most basic basketball techniques into your training plan and bring the shot to automatism. Throw first from a distance of half a meter from the ring, gradually increasing it. Learn to throw the ball so that it hits the hoop without touching the edge.
Throw the ball with all fives and jump
Throwing Rules:
Head in the center of the body - if tilted, accuracy is lost.
Look at the ring: mentally build a trajectory. If you are far away, the ball flies in a curved curve with a maximum height of 2 meters above the hoop.
A strong hand is in front and throws, a weak hand is on the side and directs, only holding the ball. The elbow of the throwing hand must be in line with the ring.
The ball must rest on the fingers without touching the palm. The fingers are as far apart as possible and grab the ball.
Throwing arm bent 90 degrees, forearm perpendicular to the floor. If you bend less, then you get not a throw, but a throwing of the ball horizontally.
The main thing in the throw is the position of the body and its balance. Place your feet apart and parallel to each other: it is important to orient them in the middle of the basket. Then the direction of the body during the jump will coincide with the direction of the throw, and the ball will fly straight into the ring. When the feet are uneven, the ball flies in the wrong direction or does not reach (although the throw was normal).
Take a deep breath and release as you exhale.
How to hold the ball and shoot in basketball
How to throw correctly: straighten your arm, point your wrist up, and with your hand set the ball to rotate in the opposite direction from the flight. The ball should seem to "roll" off your fingers.
9. Copy masters and play as a team
Watch professional basketball games and try to copy the movements of your favorite players in training. And be sure to conduct game sparring - this will allow you to develop more techniques.
10. Do not throw in a straight line
The higher the arc of the ball, the greater the chance of a goal and the less chance of blocking by the opponent.
11. Do not throw the ball from a full height stand
This is the biggest newbie mistake!
Before the throw, bend your knees slightly and at the moment of the throw, straighten your body, making a jump. You need to straighten up and push off the ground at the same time. When squatting, keep the elbow of the throwing arm close to the body and towards the ring.
The jump will give momentum to the ball and will allow you not to make sudden movements with the brush.
***
And to be a long-term player, do not forget about your health: take care of your joints and muscles, use tapes, do a warm-up. And be sure to strengthen your arms, legs and shoulder girdle, develop coordination. Regular exercises on uneven bars and horizontal bars will help you with this.
How to throw the ball correctly in basketball: technique, tips, video tutorials
The first thing taught in any basketball section is how to throw the ball correctly in basketball. This is where all the NBA stars once started. In addition to throwing technique, many more qualities will come in handy on the court: speed, strength, agility, quick reaction, but it all starts with technical improvement. For basketball players, this process never ends; in training, they work out tactical schemes and constantly work on the shot. In this article, you will learn how to throw and score the ball correctly, what types of shots are, which ones are the most effective, and how to improve your basketball shot.
If a basketball player does not progress, he becomes less successful. Therefore, after training, the players do not leave the court and for a long time just throw the ball into the basket from different points, this can go on for several hours in a row. So do both schoolchildren who have recently joined the section, and athletes from the best leagues in the world. It is extremely important to master the technique, but it is just as important to continue to work on it, to include basketball throwing exercises in training so that all movements are not only memorized, but also verified.
Types of throws
Almost the whole game consists of throws, and they differ from each other. There are different types according to the execution technique, for example, a dunk or a half-hook, as well as by range: directly from under the shield, from a short or long distance. There are also differences in the method of implementation, for example, after dribbling or in a jump.
The simplest in terms of technical implementation are lay-up and dunk. The first is performed from below, usually right from under the basket, it will not be difficult even for a child to master the correct throw in basketball from such a distance. The dunk will be a little more difficult, as physics intervenes. It is necessary not only to throw the ball, but to group well, to jump high in order to be as close to the basket as possible. In this case, it will be possible to simply put the ball into the ring with two hands or one. You can learn more about this from the article “What are dunks in basketball and how to do them correctly?”.
In the case of the dunk, it is important not only to know how to shoot correctly in basketball, but also to work on the strength of your legs and improve your jump. That is why training begins not only with throws, but with general physical preparation. The very first to be mastered will be from an average distance, this is the basis of everything, these are exactly what they do as a free kick. To implement it is simple and difficult at the same time, the moment is not technically difficult, but extremely responsible.
The worst thing that can happen to a beginner is learning the wrong technique to throw a basketball. The body has muscle memory, so learning something from scratch is easier than relearning. Incorrectly learned movements are reflected in accuracy. Sometimes even high-level basketball players spend several years to correct the wrong technical points that they found in school.
In terms of efficiency, there is no technique that will make any player successful. Much depends on individual characteristics, primarily on height and other anthropometric data. Therefore, you need to master the correct shooting technique in basketball in different performances in order to understand which one makes you more effective.
Correct execution
When learning any throw, you need to watch the position of the body. In the case of the usual, the legs should be shoulder-width apart, this gives stability and enhances coordination of movements. The throwing leg is slightly forward relative to the supporting leg, about half a step. The heels are torn off the floor surface by just a couple of millimeters, the knees are slightly bent, this gives the body springiness.
The main characteristic of basketball shots is accuracy, and it depends on the position of the head. The head should be located strictly in the center of the body, if you tilt it to the right or left, then a deviation will occur, accuracy will suffer.
Let's move on to the most important thing - the work of the hands. When taking out, the thrower is bent at the elbow at a right angle, her forearm is located perpendicular to the floor. With proper implementation, the ball will come off your hand at the level of your forehead or a little higher, this should be taken into account when training a shot in basketball. The second hand is the insurer, it should not firmly fix the ball, just hold it slightly. If you do not listen to this rule, then in flight there will be a deviation from the desired trajectory. In this case, before the throw, the projectile is fixed exclusively with the throwing hand.
Spread your fingers wide for better control of accuracy. The larger the captured area, the easier it is to control.
Accuracy is also affected by backspin, which is given to the ball by fingertips at the very last moment. Twist the middle and index fingers. The throwing arm should not be tense, the ball is escorted exclusively by the hand. The faster it is released, the more accurate its flight will be.
Basketball throwing technique consists of many tiny details, and each of them is important. Before you throw, you need to sit down slightly in order to straighten up at the right moment, this is not done abruptly, but quickly. Such actions allow you to transfer an additional momentum to the projectile. The flight range depends not only on the force that is invested by the throwing hand, so there is simply no need for its tension and sharp movements with the brush.
Last but not least is the trajectory. Players constantly calculate it to understand how to hit the basket in basketball from the distance they are at the moment. The trajectory should always be curved, throwing in a straight line is not worth it for two reasons: it is more difficult to get into the ring, and it is easier for representatives of the other team to intercept the blow. The higher the trajectory, the more likely it is to hit the basket, and not the bow. In addition, according to the rules of the game, block shots can only be placed during the ascending phase of the movement. It turns out that the higher the highest point of the flight is located, the more difficult it is to intercept it.
How to choose a throwing technique?
Do not try to master difficult throws until the most common one is brought to automatism. It is necessary to constantly do throwing exercises in basketball on technique, initially not even paying attention to accuracy and speed. Muscle memory should be replenished with basic movements, and only after that you can try to repeat the tricks of Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry. You can learn about a complex and very effective technique from the article “How to do a hook throw in basketball?”.
What is needed is automatism, since in real game conditions there will be no time to think about how to place a foot or place hands. Opponents simply will not provide such an opportunity. Over time, you will realize that, technically, the execution of a jump shot is very similar to a free kick. The basic principles are exactly the same, the only difference is in the position of the legs. They must be positioned so as to maintain good coordination of movements at the time of the throw and after it.
When teaching how to shoot in basketball, a lot of attention is paid to the position of the body. High-level basketball players can shoot from any position, with the head and torso always in the correct position: perpendicular to the court and turned towards the basket.
See if you can get high enough to get your hand over the rim--almost up to your wrist--so you can stuff the mini ball. If you can't throw it down with a little authority, a bigger basketball won't be any easier. 
You'll probably get painfully close dozens of times before you break through and finally get a clean one. You're first "dunk" might be a little ugly and won't be with force. It doesn't mean it doesn't count. 
Many times, a rousing
dunk can turn that mysterious factor, momentum, right around in your favor.
Clearly, dunking is easier if you're tall and can palm the ball with one hand,
but there have been relatively short players who couldn't palm the ball who
worked hard enough to be able to dunk. If you are considering adding the dunk
shot to your repertoire, follow these steps: 
If you're relatively short, then you have your work cut out for you.
Developing a one-handed dunk requires less vertical ability than a two-handed
dunk, and, for most players, jumping off of one foot from a running start
makes it easier to jump high enough to dunk. There are many things that you
can do to work on your vertical leap. 
If you can't dunk, it's not the end of the world. You can be an
extremely effective scorer without ever dunking the ball. In fact, dunking has
very little to do with proper shooting technique.
It's all about technique: even with regular training and perseverance, novice adults and children often make simple mistakes. It's a shame, let's fix it. Below are 11 life hacks on how to hone your technique to increase the likelihood of a goal for your team. 
Look at the ring, not at the ball 
Do not jump when protecting the ring 
To implement it is simple and difficult at the same time, the moment is not technically difficult, but extremely responsible. 
The throwing leg is slightly forward relative to the supporting leg, about half a step. The heels are torn off the floor surface by just a couple of millimeters, the knees are slightly bent, this gives the body springiness. 
In this case, before the throw, the projectile is fixed exclusively with the throwing hand. 
Players constantly calculate it to understand how to hit the basket in basketball from the distance they are at the moment. The trajectory should always be curved, throwing in a straight line is not worth it for two reasons: it is more difficult to get into the ring, and it is easier for representatives of the other team to intercept the blow. The higher the trajectory, the more likely it is to hit the basket, and not the bow. In addition, according to the rules of the game, block shots can only be placed during the ascending phase of the movement. It turns out that the higher the highest point of the flight is located, the more difficult it is to intercept it. 
Muscle memory should be replenished with basic movements, and only after that you can try to repeat the tricks of Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry. You can learn about a complex and very effective technique from the article “How to do a hook throw in basketball?”. 
