How to score in basketball every time

10+ Offensive Basketball Tips to Help You Score More Points

There’s a lot more that goes into good offensive basketball than dribbling down the court and shooting. No matter how many times you out “Kobe!” you still need to know your fundamentals to thrive in basketball. To help you get to that point, we created some tips to help improve your game.

What are some offensive basketball tips that can help you score more points?

One offensive basketball tip that can improve your game is to practice shots that you’re going to take during games. Other tips to boost your offense and score more points are to become a good passer and to learn the importance of player and ball movement.

When implementing the tips mentioned in this article, remind yourself that you’re not going to be an expert with each of these topics overnight. With everything in life, you’ll start as a beginner but with continued practice, you’ll get closer to becoming an expert.

For that reason, we invite you to read on and to improve the offensive side of your game!

If you’re trying to improve your shot, work on shots that you’re going to take during games. While shooting from half-court and behind the backboard may be fun, they don’t make you a better player.

The same can be said for 3-pointers if you don’t shoot threes during games. Keep in mind that the more shots you take during practice the better you’ll become over time.

Try to keep this in mind going forward as the principle applies to every aspect of life.

When shooting in practice, make a mental note to work on your fundamentals. This means following through on your shots, keeping your hand relaxed and keeping your fingers pointed out toward the basket.

To help you practice, consider using a multi-colored ball. This will allow you to see the rotation of the ball and determine if you’re shooting the ball correctly. You also shouldn’t think too much when you’re practicing your shots.

Don’t worry about missing shots, as you’ll miss plenty of shots during practices and games. Develop a mindset where a missed shot doesn’t affect your performance.

To help you score more baskets, try focusing on the target and not thinking about the shot. Shooting is all about muscle memory and each shot you take builds up that muscle memory up.

A couple other things you can do to improve your shooting includes filming yourself shooting and creating a routine. Filming yourself shooting is great because it gives you another way of determining what is working and not working with your shot.

Court awareness is all about understanding everything that’s going on in a game at any given moment.

Things you should always be aware of include: your positioning in relation to other players, where the coach is and if he’s calling for anything, how the defense is positioning itself and how much time is left in the quarter and on the shot clock.

While this may seem like a lot, the more you keep these things in the back of your mind, the more likely they’ll become second nature. Before you know it, you’ll have no problem processing everything in your head without thinking about it.

If you take mental notes of your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, you’ll also be able to quickly determine your best move(s) going forward.

Being able to decipher what the defense is trying to do and then adjusting your play accordingly is essential.

Stay flexible as you’ll be presented with many scenarios during games. Don’t force the issue and take advantage of what the defense gives you. Keep in mind that the more players are pressured, the more prone they are to making mistakes.

Scorers may get most of the glory, but good passers are just as valuable. The best passers are unselfish and willing to give the basketball up for the good of the team. Anyone can become a good passer.

It’s all about adopting a mindset that you don’t need to be the one scoring to make a positive impact for your team. Try and trick yourself into thinking of an assist as the same thing as scoring yourself.

If you’re able to do this, you’ll have no problem with giving up the ball and tallying up the assists.

No one becomes a good passer overnight. One aspect of all good passers is that they all keep their heads up as play goes on. This will allow you to read defenses more easily and you won’t be as preoccupied with handling the ball.

Good passers also have a good concept of timing and flow and can effectively lead targets and fit passed balls into tight windows. These windows of opportunity come and go, capitalize on them as they present themselves.

As you play more and focus on your passing, you’ll develop a sixth sense for when these windows open and close.

This skill is invaluable as every winning team has good passers. You don’t need to top the scoresheet to win basketball games. Unselfish play goes a long way and is necessary for teams looking to win.

To become a good passer, you should work on the basics and add more difficult tasks as you go. You should start with 2-handed passes and go from there. Once you have them down in practice, start implementing them more into your game and start working on 1-handed passes in practice.

The ability to make a 1-handed pass becomes increasingly valuable as you play at higher levels. If you need some inspiration, look at old footage of some of the greatest NBA passers such as: Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash.

These guys are as good as they come and you’re sure to learn a thing or two by watching them.

When it comes to passing, try not to overdo it. There’s no reason to turn a 2-handed chest pass into a 1-handed behind-the-back pass because it looks cool.

Making the flashy and more difficulty pass for sake of it is typically a recipe for disaster.

To go along with passing the ball well, players also need to know how to receive the basketball. Not every passed ball is going to be on the money. Players need to know and account for this.

As long as the ball is in their general vicinity, players need to have the ability to go and get the ball.

If you have young children, you already know that spacing is non-existent in the youngest age divisions. Whether it’s basketball, soccer or another sport, young kids tend to go directly to the ball.

We want to distance ourselves from this mindset. Good spacing across the floor offers your team different looks. Spacing also spreads out the defense, creating gaps.

Ideally, we’d like our perimeter players to be 10 or so feet away from each other.

Players that are bunched up together are easier to defend than players that are properly spaced apart. You don’t want to be in situations where a single defender can guard multiple players.

Spreading out also creates more passing lanes. This makes it much harder for other defenders to move around the court and double team players.

As a player, it’s always better to do something than nothing. The exception to this rule is taking your defender to the ball without any apparent reason for doing so.

Some acceptable reasons to move toward the ball include: setting a screen, positioning yourself for a pass or making a cut.

You shouldn’t worry about being an expert on spacing right away but you should try and grasp the concept and implement it into your game.

Ultimately, good spacing allows for better looks and gives your team the best opportunity to score.

Coaches love players that follow up their shots and put themselves in a position to grab their own rebounds. Let’s face it, even the best players are going to miss half the shots they take.

For this reason alone, it’s imperative that you’re active and follow up your own shots.

It may seem obvious but every possession gives you a better chance of scoring and winning the game. Each rebound throughout a game is another chance to score.

By exerting a little extra effort, you can increase your team’s rebounding percentage and give your team a better chance of winning.

An offensive rebound is also likely to produce a better scoring chance as the ball will usually be closer to the basket than from where it was originally shot from.

Offensive rebounds also offer the chance to swing balls out wide to perimeter players who are now open due to their defender crashing the net.

Remind yourself that basketball is a numbers game and that the more opportunities you get on the offensive side of the ball, the more likely you’re going to come away with a win.

You don’t have to have the ball in your hands to make an impact on the game. You can make an impact by always keeping your feet moving and never standing still.

This means getting open for passes, stretching the defense out and setting screens.

If you’re always moving, the defense will always be reacting, which will make it harder for them to double-team your players. If you’re good at reading the defense, you can set plenty of screens and make cuts as you see fit.

The best players in the game don’t need the ball to make an impact on the game. Understanding the concept of timing and flow is instrumental. Try and mix-up the speed at which you play.

You don’t always need to go 100 miles per hour to be valuable. Sometimes being slower and more methodical is the right play. If you’re good at changing speeds, you’ll always keep the defense on their toes.

Another way to keep the defense on their toes is to always be open for a potential pass. A player that doesn’t have any chance of getting the ball is a player that doesn’t need to be guarded, which allows the opposition to double-team other players.

Good ball movement is critical for any team that wants to win. It opens up all kinds of opportunities for the offense and keeps the defense guessing. Moving the ball around puts the opposition into a reactionary state, where errors are more prone to occur.

Moving the ball around also helps with finding the best available shot for your team. Why take a contested shot when you can pass to an open player? The more you move the ball around the more likely someone will become open.

To get the most out of moving the ball around, you have to trust all of your players. You can’t pass up wide-open shots because your star player isn’t the one with the ball.

For this reason, it’s important players think about what they’re going to do with the ball before they receive it. Receiving a pass and then dribbling indefinitely while contemplating what to do defeats the whole purpose of moving the ball around.

Don’t be shy about attacking the weaknesses of your opponents. If there’s a size disparity between your center and their center, attack the paint. If the other team can’t defend a 3-pointer, shoot from deep.

Your team should have a basic game plan going into a game but should remain flexible if the defense is weak in certain areas. Rarely will you come across teams that are great at defending everything. Find what they’re weak at defending and look to attack those areas.

If you find that the other team is doing the same thing throughout most of the game, switch up the offense and exploit what the defense is showing. If you know how the defense positions itself, you should have no problem taking advantage of it.

Don’t be afraid to push the pace and make the defense react to your team’s movement. The more pressure you put on a defense, the more likely they’ll slip up and present more ways for your team to score.

The triple threat position involves putting yourself in a position where you have the option to dribble, pass or shoot. This position makes the defense work harder on account of not knowing which of the three you’re going to do.

The position consists of the player’s feet spread apart with the pivot foot forward and the ball in both hands, held between the knee and shoulder to protect it. Knees should be bent and the head should remain up.

From this position you have the option to attack the basket, move the ball around or shoot. The position keeps the defense honest as they never know for sure which of the three options you’re going to choose.

If you want to keep the defense guessing, the triple threat position is for you.

Keeping turnovers to a minimum is key as they lead to fast break opportunities, which lead to easy points.

Fastbreak opportunities come in the form of breakaways, 2-on-1s, 3-on-1s, etc. and are reliable sources of points as they usually come off turnovers where the defense doesn’t have time to get ready.

You should practice fast break opportunities with your team so you can successfully perform them during games. Doing so will help you also help build up your endurance.

As a player you’ve got to realize that slumps are going to happen throughout your athletic career.

They’re going to happen to everyone in fact, so that’s why it’s important to build your teammates up when they’re going through slumps because you’d want them to do the same for you.

The best thing you can do when you’re going through a slump is to continue shooting and to continue to believe that every shot you take is going to go in.

If you start over-thinking your shooting, your shots are likely not going to find their mark. If your head isn’t on straight, your shots probably won’t be either.

Every day in practice you should take shots that you’re going to take in games. The purpose of doing this is to simulate game situations, so you don’t cave under the pressure when the moment comes during a game.

This means taking contested shots in practice and shooting/playing, in the same manner, you would during a game.

For example, if you’re a center you shouldn’t spend most or all of practice shooting from behind the three-point line. While this can be fun, make sure most of your practice goes to improving your skills that you’ll use during games.

It’s also important to not let your emotions get the best of you. You’re going to go through plenty of slumps throughout your basketball career and you need to know that’s just part of the game.

You’re also going to go through plenty of stretches where you get insanely hot and everything you shoot goes in. It’s important in both situations that you don’t get down on yourself and you don’t get overly cocky, as both can negatively impact your game.

Sure, sometimes we need to reevaluate our games but most of the time we need to keep doing what we’re doing. If you had a bad game or two, that doesn’t mean there’s something fundamentally wrong with your game.

The important thing is to keep doing what you do best because that got you to the position you’re in. Once your slump stretches a couple of weeks or maybe even a month long, then it might be time to re-examine how you’re playing.

In the grand scheme of things, a month-long slump doesn’t necessarily indicate anything is wrong but it’s probably best you self-assess your past performance to see what you can do better.

No matter how long you’ve played basketball or will play basketball, there is always something you can improve on and self-assessment plays a huge role in that.

It’s also important to realize that nerves and butterflies are just part of the game. You’d be crazy to think that LeBron James, Michael Jordan or Stephen Curry never had any nerves in the NBA.

It’s going to happen and there’s nothing wrong about it. The more pressure-filled situations you put yourself into, the easier they’ll become for you to handle.

So while they might be quite stressful in the moment, it’s important you experience them so you can get better in these types of situations. You should try and keep in mind that you’re playing a kid’s game and that most people would love to be in the position you’re in.

I have found this to be a good way to put things in perspective.

The best players in the world go through slumps. Michael Jordan, the best player in the world, went through is fair share of slumps as did any other NBA legend.

The difference with Jordan and the other legends is that they knew that slumps were part of basketball and that if they kept playing their games they’d be fine.

When you’re slumping, you need to remind yourself what has worked for you in the past and helped you get where you are today.

The next time you go through a rough stretch of games, try visualizing what you could do better. Some people might think visualizing success is a silly thing but it does work.

Visualizing what you’ll do in certain situations will help you perform to your potential in games.

This includes knowing what you would do when someone passes you the ball in the post or if somebody swings the ball to you out wide.

The point of visualizing success whether it be in practice or before games is to know what you’d do in a game when the ball comes your way.

One of the best ways you can improve your scoring is to become a better free-throw shooter. In many ways, free throws are free points for the taking.

The best players in the world make around nine out of every 10 free throws and there’s no reason you can’t do the same with enough practice. If you’re sitting there thinking “why do I need to be good at shooting free throws?”, it’s because points from free throws add up quickly.

Free throws might only be worth one point each, but they’re invaluable as it’s not uncommon for college and NBA teams to score 10-20 points from the free-throw line.

So what’s the best way to get better at free throws? The best way is to take hundreds and hundreds of shots every day to build up muscle memory. The more you do something the better you’ll become at it and free throws are no exception.

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Become a Better Scorer – Backyard Sidekick

Everyone on your basketball team has a role to play; some will excel in driving the ball towards the basket while others will prioritize defense over offense. Then there’s you, the shooter. Your role will be to take every opportunity to score whenever possible. Any flaws in your execution will spell bad news for your team.

To Become a better scorer and shooter in basketball, work on these three attributes: repetition, consistency, and form. To improve scoring, proper shooting form, driving to the hoop, and practice will go a long way. The best scorers in basketball spend hours practicing their ball control, form, and shot technique.

These aspects are common in many of the best shooters in the NBA, but that’s not all the factors that define them. As there is truly no size fits all, the same applies to perfect shot form. You must spend a considerable amount of time honing in the form that works best for your play style.

By narrowing that down, it’s only a matter of time till you can efficiently nail every shot on the court.

Becoming a Better Shooter and Scorer

Every basketball player wants to become a great shooter. They are the players on the court who everyone relies on to score. Even if you don’t have proficient speed, strength, or athleticism, being a great shooter will guarantee you a place on the team. Of course, this is easier said than done.  

Star shooters like Steph Curry showcase exceptional confidence with their shooting skills. Where did this confidence come from, you may ask?

The confidence of a great shooter is the result of years spent repeating their shot form, nailing every shot efficiently. In other words, repetition leads to consistency, which garners confidence.

Here’s a great compilation video of some awesome shots made by Curry. (I could watch this stuff all day)

All objections aside, there is no position more valuable than an efficient shooter. Dribbling, passing, and jumping are also important. But if you can’t send the ball into the hoop, then your team will not experience much success. A team full of good shooters will expand the team’s offense, allowing you to score more and win more games.

As we go in-depth towards improving your shooting form, remember that none of it matters if you don’t put in the work yourself. These pro-athletes started in the same position as you once. At first, they knew nothing about the sport, but over time, that hard work yielded the results you see today.

By applying that same mentality, you will see the same results in your performance.

Fundamentals of Proper Shooting Form

We all go through various periods of plateauing. Nothing is more frustrating than putting in hours of hard work, only to make little to no progress. At this stage, it’s often recommended to take a step back and fine-tune the basics. Along the way, you may have unconsciously developed a bad habit that’s impeding your progress.

Regardless of the cause, reflecting on the fundamentals will offer insight to shatter this plateau. While this may be overkill, let’s break down each step to pinpoint where the mistake originated from.

I suggest starting with a decent basketball, one that you are most likely to use in a game. I like to practice with this Wilson Evolution Game Basketball (link to Amazon) because it’s the most widely used basketball for games.

Getting Into Position

To get in the right position for shooting, you must be self-conscious of your stance and balance leading into the shot. Without a strong foundation, everything else will crumble.

Here are some guidelines to follow when getting into position:

• Place your Feet Shoulder-Width Apart: This stance will deliver a strong center of gravity as you prepare to shoot. You will also want to keep your dominant foot slightly ahead of the other. This will help keep you in line with your shoot.   
• Maintain a Slight Bend in your Knees: This will make you ready to jump when you have possession of the ball. If you lock your knees before you jump, the chances of knocking yourself off balance will drastically increase.
• Gripping the ball Correctly: In this stance, you want to ensure that your shooting hand is aligned with your shoulder. This will help naturally form a straight line to the basket. The non-shooting hand will only serve to assist and balance the motion. Trying to shoot with two hands will decrease the accuracy.
• Make Eye-Contact with the Target: Many shooters will pinpoint different locations to sink their shots. Some prefer aiming directly for the net, while others will reliably use the backboard to assist. Wherever you decide on, you must keep your eyes focused on that spot. By focusing your gaze on something else, your body will realign to follow your line of vision.  

Here’s a quick video about shooting hand placement, and some shooting form tips.

Nailing the Shot

Now that we’re in position, it’s time to go ahead and deliver the shot. Just as meticulous as we were with our stance, we must exercise the same mentality with how we shoot.

Here are some factors to be mindful of when releasing your shoot:

• Strength Should be Generated from your Shoulders: Many new shooters mistakenly lose accuracy by generating power from their arms and chest to shoot. Instead, most of the power should come from having your shoulders relaxed. This neutral position will ensure a more fluid shot without wasting excessive stamina. 
• Don’t Neglect the Legs: Every successful shot is preceded by a successful jump. In this instance, you want to move slightly forward as you land. This motion, in combination with your shoulders being pulled back and relaxed, will give enough motion to propel the ball to its target. With your jump, you will want to release the ball before you hit the apex of your vertical. 
• Shoot Off your Fingertips: Another rookie mistake is pushing the ball forward with the palm of your hands. Instead, the ball should solely be in contact with your fingertips. You will also want to focus on the ball rolling off instead of being pushed by your fingertips. This will produce the backspin and propel it in a natural arc motion. You can easily tell this if the lines of the basketball are in symmetry while spinning.
• Follow-Through with Your Shot: We cannot emphasize this enough; this is the one factor that most players neglect to do. When the ball is released, players tend to halt their motion, losing all accuracy in their throw. To complete the follow-through, your palm should be facing downward with your fingers pointing to the target.

Shooting in basketball is a simple concept. With enough practice, your muscle memory will be able to reenact it without hesitation. We advocate that the key factors you should polish are identifying your stance and your follow-through, ensuring that you’re always shooting with these in mind.

The fundamentals are essential for initiating the shot, but without your follow-through, you will fail more than you’ll succeed.  

For more in depth info on taking a shot, check out my How To Shoot A Basketball Step By Step Guide.

Shooting Drills

With the fundamentals out of the way, we can apply what we learned onto the courts. Now you think that all you need to practice is to make hundreds upon hundreds of shots. Yes, we did say that practice makes perfect, but it’s all about how you practice that will yield the best results.

If we just shoot without an intended goal, we will only get so much out of practice.

In this next section, we’ll break down some of our favorite tips and drills to make the most out of your practice session. As we like to emphasize, the implementation won’t be enough to get better. Be ready to spend many sweaty hours going through periods of failure and success. Only then will you come out with a better player than when you started. 

“Around the World” Shooting

Some of you may remember this fan-favorite game growing up in school. Well, this kid’s game offers a lot more merit than you would believe. This drill forces the shooter to emphasize their accuracy and precision.

The rules can vary, but essentially, the goal is to make every shot from a set pattern of different positions. The only way to advance is to score from all the selected spots. The spots can be anyway on the court.

Some prefer to mark different spots on the three-point arc while others will space out around the half-court. The rules and stipulations will always change based on the desired difficulty.

Here’s a quick video showing a team practice this drill to give you an idea of what it can look like.

Some stipulations that we recommend to make the most out of this drill are as follow:

• Set a time-constraint
• Establish a Penalty System

While this may not seem a lot, these two variables can ramp up stress for the shooter. A penalty system is always preferred to raise the stakes, almost simulating the stress during game time. Say if you give yourself a two-shot penalty. In this scenario, you’re allowed to take only two shots. If you miss both times, you have to restart from the beginning.

Even if you arrive on the final mark, missing means you have to go back to mark one.

This, in addition to a time-constraint, will force you to overcome the pressure to increase your shot efficiency. Played solo or with friends, this drill will demonstrate how much stress is involved in the shooter’s role and offer insight to overcome it.   

One-Hand Shooting

In an earlier section, we noted that the non-dominant hand is to assist with stability and to ensure that the ball follows a set path. Yet some shooters have developed the bad habit of using both hands to shoot.

This will cause a huge deviation with your throw, causing you to miss a majority of your shots.

That’s why we advocate applying one-hand shooting in your drill routines. By taking out the “mediator” of your shooting, all other aspects of your foundation must be rock solid. We recommend starting with a cement wall to focus on getting into the right form. Once you establish consistency with your shots, you can transition to the basket.

Now you don’t want to start too far away from the basket; anywhere between 3 to 6 feet from the basket will suffice. Give yourself ten shots and see how many you can make one-handed.

If you get a majority in the basket (8 out of 10), then you can start moving farther and farther away from the basket. Also, make sure that you’re only counting good shots. By this, we mean that you’re witnessing proper backspin as you release the ball.

Here’s a quick video explanation so you can see what a one hand shooting drill looks like.

Work with a Partner for Movement-Based Shooting

With whatever drill we practice, we have to make sure that our skills can seamlessly translate towards an actual game. In these instances, it’s often best to replicate the feel of the game during practice. Anyone can make a stationary shot, but what about making one after successfully faking out your opponent?

A partner will allow you to practice movement-based shooting. They can either play offense or defense depending on the situation. Need to practice shooting while fending off a defender, they can fill that role. What about shooting after immediately receiving a pass, they can cover that job as well.

The versatility of broadening how and when you shoot will only increase your confidence as a shooter.

Even if the practice consists of stationary shooting, their assistance will help make the most out of your practice. Often, when shooting alone, we spend more time chasing after the ball than we do shooting it. With an extra pair of hands, they can continuously send the ball our way without us wasting any energy. In this scenario, we can double or triple the number of shots we would have taken if practicing on our own.

All skills must be polished before the big game. Working with your teammates to reenact these conditions will make you a shooter that can score under any situation. But more importantly, it will allow for a smoother transition when applied during regulated games.  

Learning from Others

We have previously mentioned how having a partner on the court can greatly improve your training. Besides this, working with another person can offer guidance into your shooting form.

As you practice your technique, it’s best to have a more-experienced player watch your form. They can easily pinpoint factors that you may need to polish or demonstrate what works for them. If a person is not easily available, you can set up your phone to film a few of your shots.

With this video, you can study your form and examine the areas you will want to approve upon. Since the video will be easily available on your phone, you can take it or send it to others for their feedback as well.

It’s also not just those around us that can influence our play-style; we can also study the technique of the best shooters in the NBA.

Today’s shooters are known as the best in basketball’s history. They have transcended the basic foundations and discovered techniques that complement their play style. More importantly, they have overcome any mental strain associated with the game.

Here’s a fun video to watch showing some amazing shots made by these professional NBA players.

Remember, shooting is just as mental as it is technical. If you put any unnecessary strain on yourself while shooting, your accuracy and precision will decrease tremendously. By watching pro shooters land their shots, you’ll do wonders to your mentality. This positivity will help you build confidence on the court.

This confidence can even stem by conditioning yourself with “mental tricks.” Even with a solid foundation, if you don’t have any faith in yourself, you will miss more than you will succeed. This can vary from establishing a mantra for yourself when you shoot or meditation before getting on the court.

Regardless of the means, you need to establish a way to reign yourself in once you lose confidence.

Most experts would agree that our mental state can be the most harmful obstacle in our lives. In essence, we are our own worst critic. But we shouldn’t let this overwhelm us on the court. Missing a free-throw is not necessarily a bad thing.

Yes, in a game setting, that’s one less point for your team. But it should also be seen as an opportunity to learn. By reflecting, with yourself or others, you can fine-tune your technique and avoid that mistake in the future.

Final Thoughts

After reading this guide, the path to becoming a better shooter will seem like a daunting task. It’s the truth that Rome wasn’t built in a day. The same can be applied to your efficiency as a shooter; only time will reveal great things from your effort. Expecting to become a pro overnight will set you up for failure on the court.

Without sugarcoating it, the only way to get better at shooting is to put in the work on the court as much as possible. Gimmicks will not suffice for the skills developed in practice. Remember, repetition leads to consistency, which results in confidence.

Keep practicing, here are 10 Basketball Drills You Can Do At Home to give you some ideas on what you can do to train. If you’re sick of practicing, check out these 14 Fun Basketball Games to keep yourself on the court, but also give yourself a break from training.

Every pro athlete can testify to the hardships that each had to face to get to their current status. No one is born a master, and if they tell you otherwise, they’re probably lying. By applying these tips, you will build the confidence to become the best shooter in your league.

It all comes down to honing the fundamentals. Once you polish out any flawed habits, the day that you become a great shooter will be right over the horizon.

Helpful Links:

• Wilson Evolution Game Basketball (link to Amazon)
• Recommended Basketball Gear
• 10 At Home Basketball Drills
• 14 Fun Basketball Games For All Ages

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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.

9 tips from Jay Wolf

Hello, dear site visitors basketball-training.org.ua ! In this article, we will talk about one of the most important basketball elements - the throw. And not just about throwing, but about how to achieve a significant increase in the accuracy of your throws, while not radically changing their structure, that is, without retraining.

Of course, the correct throw, or, more precisely, the “classic throw from the forehead” is cool, correct and beautiful. However, it seems to me that what matters is not how you throw, but how effective these throws are. If your shot is difficult to cover and it regularly hits the basket, there is no need to change anything drastically: look at the throwing technique Larry Bird , Michael Jordan , "Magic" Johnson and Ray Allen . They all shot differently, which did not stop them from scoring well; so - draw your own conclusions.

The tips you read below are recommendations from Jay Wolf - Shot Improvement Specialist, Summer Sports Camp Organizer, Owner of StarShooter , you can read more about him on his website - starshooter.net . Well, now, in fact, advice, divided into 2 parts: how to improve throws from close range; how to improve mid-range and long-range shots (3-point shots).

Improving close range and under hoop shots

• All short range shots both to the right and left of the basket must be taken with a bounce off the backboard and a point of aim.

In principle, nothing new, this is where all throw training begins in every sports school: they learn to throw from the backboard, while the ball must touch the upper corner of the “square” drawn above the ring. The ball should softly touch this corner (remember about reverse spin of the ball when thrown) and bounce into the basket. In order to focus the thrower's attention on the aiming point, you can stick a dollar sign or a picture of the sight there. Remember: the shield is your best ally, be sure to learn how to bounce off it.

• Practice clean throws from under the hoop and clean bounce shots from the second tendrils.

So, let's figure it out. A clean throw is a shot where the ball goes into the basket without touching the ring itself. To achieve such a throw, you need to throw very softly, with reverse rotation, finishing with a brush. Such throws require the maximum concentration of attention from the basketball player and a change in the trajectory. So, we make 5 throws from under the ring in a row, 3 of which must be clean. If it's very easy, then add the number of throws up to 10, trying to get everything clean. Throws can be made with a rebound from the backboard, but the ball must not touch the ring hoop itself. Challenge yourself - and pass this test with honor!

Improving medium and long range shots

• Again doing clean throws : 5 shots in a row from one spot.

By the way, for me, clean throws are a big problem: the peculiarity of my throw is that I kind of load the far bow, “striking” which, the ball falls down. But here's the problem - if the ring is a little higher than usual, then almost all the balls go into the near bow, and while I get used to it, I smear a lot.

This job allows develop stable throw accuracy . Five throws in a row help improve accuracy, because the shape of the throw, the effort applied, the trajectory - all this must be the same and repeat all the time. Clean shots make the trajectory “lift up”, which is also good: they are more difficult to cover and, as a rule, when the ball touches the ring, the ball will fall into the basket. And one more thing: a high trajectory gives rise to a short rebound, for which it will be easier for partners to compete.

• Make multiple free throws in a row, before leaving the court (training).

Such a move will allow you to repeat all the elements of the throw again and develop self-confidence. After the shot, you pick up the ball yourself, return to the free-throw line - and shoot again. It is important to repeat all the routine that occurs before the free throws in the game. In order to recreate the game situation even more realistically, simply add jerks to the exercise: throw the ball, perform a jerk after the ball (to the middle of the hall, etc.), return to the line again - throw it. Players can be stimulated by some kind of competitive effect: who spends more time on 5 (7, 10) executed free throws in a row - runs, pushes up, carries a partner to the locker room, etc.

• Shoot 200 free throws daily for 5 days, or 500 on the first day and 200 on the next 4 days. Goal: 25/25 rolls, of which 15 will be clean.

Here you need to understand that you will need at least 1 partner who will “bring the cores”. In America, of course, this is not a problem, there are personnel who receive money for this kind of service. But with us it will be more difficult, we will have to look for like-minded people. According to Jay Wolf, such a series of shots will help to hone the form of the shot, the moment of release of the ball and the trajectory; and also - they will increase the accuracy of 3-point shots. Again, according to Wolf, 100 throws will take 15 minutes.

I once tried to throw such a series of free kicks. My execution technique is as follows: I squat a little, then straighten my legs and straighten my body at the same time I straighten my arms. As soon as the body is fully unbent (I also stand on my toes), the ball is released. It turns out - as if one movement. So, the calves quickly began to hurt from such lifts, the hands got tired, and the hand refused to twist the ball. But some results did appear, so the exercise is useful, even very useful.

• Find out where you shoot most often in games – and practice your “signature points” by shooting at least 5 clean shots in a row from these points.

I already wrote about this in an article about how to develop a shot ( Shot training in basketball ), it turned out not quite the way I imagined it in my head, but still it is very informative and useful.

• Practice throwing on a correctly marked area , in a correctly marked shield. The court must have a correctly drawn 3-point line.

And again I will complain a little: why in our country do people who have no idea how it should be do everything? Why are basketball markings applied by people who have never played basketball and do not know what the front line is? As a result, it passes under the front bow of the ring. And the “three-ruble note” - why is it 6 meters on the right, and more than 7 meters on the left? Why?

So - try to choose good sites with correct markings. And another note: at first it is very difficult to throw with a rebound from the backboard, if the backboard is streetball, i.e. much less than standard.

• Hold hands after throwing , as if following the ball into the basket until it reaches there.

Here it should be noted that in his video about the throw, the legendary Pete Maravich (lessons from which will soon appear on the site) recommends not to hold a fixed hand, but rather to wave 2-3 times after the ball , repeating the final stage brush work.

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