How to use off arm in basketball

How To Finish Through Contact In Basketball: Guide

Basketball can be a contact sport. When you’re driving with contact in basketball, there are different contact layups that you can use to finish strong and stay on the court. The contact in basketball is where the game is won or lost. When you are driving to the basket, it’s important not only to finish strong but also when contact occurs. If contact occurs on your way up, it’s best to initiate contact yourself. So that you have a chance at finishing through it!

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How to Finish Through Contact in Basketball

Finishing in basketball is important. This is where contact in basketball becomes important! When you’re driving through contact. It’s best to finish strong but also use contact layups that can help you stay on the court. And still make your shot. Here are some contact layups for finishing through contact in basketball:

Use Your Off Arm For Protection And To Maintain Balance

If you feel like contact may occur while finishing. Keep both hands up as if guarding yourself against an opponent (don’t forget about protecting the ball). Keep one hand close to the side of your head/face so that when contact occurs, it will be less damaging. The other arm should be either straight down or slightly back to provide balance and poise during traffic contact.

Lean Into The Contact To Maintain Balance And Control Of Your Shot

When contact occurs, always lean into the contact to maintain balance and control of your shot. This is usually done with one hand that’s closest to where the contact occurred on you. Being used as a pivot point while leaning into it for several steps before going up or finishing through contact in basketball!

A good example would be if contact happens near the right side of your body. Use this arm as a pivot point by pulling down on it slightly. So that you can turn yourself toward the hoop easier after being hit. Doing this will help protect both yourself from injury. And also have better chances of making contact layups when driving towards the rim.

If all contact layups fail, contact fouls can be called in basketball. If contact occurs near the hoop and both players make contact to gain possession of the ball (usually during a rebound). This is considered legal contact as well!

How to Initiate Contact in Basketball

When you’re driving with contact through traffic toward the rim. It’s important not only to finish strong but also initiate contact yourself. So that you have a chance at finishing through it! Here are some contact initiators for initiating good contact:

Use Your Off Arm To Initiate Contact On Defense

If anyone tries to guard your drive towards the basket after making initial contact on defense. Use your off arm if possible. Raise slightly higher than them while being careful not to get called for contact in basketball. When they try to guard your drive, lean into them while using the contact initiator with your off arm. So that you can gain possession of their body for a moment or two before trying to finish through contact!

Lean Into The Defense To Initiate Contact And Gain Position On Your Defender For A Shot Or Layup

When driving towards the basket. Use good footwork and lean into defenders as if completing a chest pass from one hand to another player. Leaning slightly forward on contact layups will help you initiate contact by placing yourself ahead of any defender. This is best done when the defense has low energy/expectations. This means it’s easier to take advantage of smaller players and contact initiators in general.

How to Finish Strong in Basketball

Initiate Defense With Both Arms And Drive To The Basket On Side Contact!

When driving strong to the hoop and initiating contact on side defensive pressure during drives. Be sure to use both arms when making initial contact. So that it looks like a legal play under NBA standards (defensive players must have at least one arm up while guarding an offensive player). By using two hands when initiating side contact. Or if you’re taller than defenders then taking advantage of getting higher off one leg before finishing could help increase your chances of getting contact layups in basketball.

Drive Straight Into The Defense With Contact And Finish Strong!

When you take a shot or drive towards the hoop and contact occurs on defense before shots, it’s important to finish strong by gaining possession of your body so that good chances at finishing through contact may occur.

By going up high off one leg using both arms when initiating defensive contact during drives can help ensure this as well as protect yourself from injuries, especially if someone is trying to stop a fast break situation! This will also be easier than getting lower down into defenders which could in bad situations such as losing balance and contact initiators for finishing through contact in basketball.

How to Drive with Contact in Basketball

If contact occurs before the shot, drive through contact can also be used such as:

Drive To The Basket And Initiate Contact With Both Hands On Defense For A Better Chance Of Getting Called For Legal Defensive Contact In Basketball!

When you’re driving to the basket and contact occurs on defense before shots, use both arms when initiating contact so that it looks like a legal play by NBA standards (defensive players must have at least one arm up while guarding an offensive player). If contact is initiated correctly just above your hips with two hands-on defense for a better chance of getting called for defensive contact in basketball during drives! This will help ensure good chances of finishing strong through contact in basketball while also protecting yourself from injuries.

Initiate Contact With Your Off Arm And Get As High As You Can Above The Rim For Better Possibilities Of A Foul On Defense!

When contact occurs on defense before shots, use your off arm to initiate contact and get as high as you can above the rim for better possibilities of a foul on defense. By getting higher than any defender trying to stop your drive towards the basket, will help ensure good chances at finishing through contact after initiating it with your off arm or hands when driving strong toward the hoop! This is great if you’re taller than defenders because they’ll have a tougher time stopping a finish where you go up higher for layups/shots.

Contact Layups

Using contact layups allows you to make contact and still make it up strong to the basket which will result in more points scored per game than those who don’t initiate or finish through contact during their drives. If push comes to shove after contact is initiated on the way up, you can always choose to drop step or spin out of contact so that you have a chance at making it through contact.

There are three contact layups: contact jump shots, contact floaters, and contact layups off of one foot.

Contact Jump Shots

The Contact jump shots require more space but they also give you more time to shoot your shot and create separation from your defender. 

Contact Floaters

The Contact floaters don’t require as much space as a contact jump shot does but it is difficult for them to go in because of their range. Your best bet is going up strong on the rim if you’re shooting a floater with contact against your defender because it gives the ball enough power to get over the rim.

Contact Layups Off of One Foot

Contact layups off of one foot are contact finishing moves that require you to be very creative with your body movement and have good balance when contact occurs. This is the toughest contact layup in basketball because it requires a lot of flexibility, coordination, and creativity on your part as well as an understanding of how much room you need before contact occurs for this move to work! You can also use multiple contact layups at once if space permits (i.e., shooting floaters while driving forward).

Conclusion

It’s important to finish through contact after contact has occurred on defense when driving towards the basket by using your off arm or getting higher than defenders so that good chances of finishing strong despite contact may occur.

Contact initiators for finishing through contact are different depending on if it occurs before shots, during drives, or after defensive contact plays have happened. Use both arms while initiating contact defensively and get as high above the rim as possible when initiating side contact! This will help ensure increased possibilities at finishing strongly with contact in basketball which is great because you’ll be protecting yourself from injuries too!

We hope you enjoyed reading about contact layups in basketball, contact finishing moves during drives towards the basket, and how to initiate contact with your off arm.

Here are Some of our Favourite Basketball Sneakers

Here we will be giving more of an opinion, rather than facts. Are the sneakers worth the price that they are being sold at? Should you upgrade from your current sneakers, depending on what boots you own? What features stand out on these sneakers? If any. Does it do the job? Speed, control, stability etc. Depending on your needs/preferences. We can also mention its durability, if we have collected enough data on the specific sneakers.

What did we expect vs. what we got. Is it maybe overrated/underrated?

Elite

Here’s our pick from the very best of the bunch.

Pro

On your way to the pro leagues? Here’s our pick.

Beginner

Want something to start with? Have a look at our pick.

47 Basketball Defense Tips (Become a Great Defender)

How important is basketball defense to you?

If you go to the park or the gym, most of the time all you’ll see is players working on their offensive game. Rarely do you see players down in defensive stance entire possessions anticipating passes and offensive movement.

You see, basketball offense is fun. It’s ‘cool’.

It’s the crossovers and dunks that make spectators stand up from their seats and cheer and get players excited.

But it’s defense that will have a bigger impact on the amount of success you have individually and as a team.

I challenge all coaches and players to place more importance on the defensive end of the floor in games and practices.

Below I’m going to provide you with 47 basketball defense tips that all players must know.

Let’s get started…

The most important thing for a player to remember about defense is that the goal is to force the opposition to attempt a difficult shot.

Whether the shot they attempt is made or missed is irrelevant.

There will be times when you play fantastic basketball defense for an entire possession and your opponent hits a tough fadeaway jump shot.

There will be other times when you play terrible defense for an entire possession and your opponent misses a shot or turns the basketball over.

For those reasons, it’s important to focus on the process of playing great defense and forcing the opposition team into a low-percentage shot instead of judging your defense on whether the shot they attempted was successful or not.

You’ll never become a great defender without consciously deciding that becoming a great defender is important to you.

It takes a tremendous amount of toughness and heart to commit to the defensive end of the floor.

Most players would prefer to take the easiest matchup possible so that they don’t have to work hard on the defensive end of the floor. The fans want to see the ankle-breaking crossovers and the thunderous dunks.

It’s only the hardcore basketball fans who appreciate and understand how important the defensive end of the floor is.

Becoming a great defender starts with embracing and loving the challenge.

So, before anything else, you must start with a change in mindset.

Make the decision that from this day forward you’re committed to becoming a great defensive player.

By far the best way to become a great basketball defender is to play against highly skilled offensive players.

This goes for practice, pick-up games, regular games, 1-on-1 games, everything.

Constantly seek out the best offensive players and challenge yourself to play great defense against them.

If you keep competing against players who are bigger, stronger, and more skilled than you are, I promise that you’ll walk away from the game a better defender every single time.

Balance is one of those areas that coaches constantly emphasize the importance of but players often consider unimportant.

Let me make this perfectly clear…

Balance is everything on defense.

Staying on balance allows defenders to quickly react to movements and actions from the offensive team.

When you’re not on balance, it’s impossible to be a great defender.

For example: Think about all the fakes that players use on offense… Shot fakes, pass fakes, jab steps, etc.

Some players might not realize it, but these are all weapons used to get the defensive player off-balance making it easier to attack and score.

Once you lose your balance, it’s game-over for the defense.

A smart offensive player will instantly attack an off-balance defender and either create a shot for themselves or a teammate.

Most players are in the bad habit of only being in defensive stance when they’re playing on-ball basketball defense. When they’re playing off-ball defense, they’re out of stance and ‘resting’.

Great defenders don’t do this.

Great defenders stay in defensive stance for the entire defensive possession.

Staying in defensive stance allows players to react quickly when needed.

This could be to rotate across to play help defense on an opponent driving to the rim or to intercept a skip pass.

You must understand that basketball is a game of inches and if you’re not in defensive stance, the extra split-seconds of time that it takes to react can be the difference between blocking a shot or allowing a layup.

Tip – If you’re having trouble staying down in stance for a long period of time, try doing ‘wall sits’ (video) multiple times per week. This involves resting your back against a wall and sliding down until your knees form a 90-degree angle. Aim to stay in this position for as long as possible and gradually build up the length of time.

Your preparation refers to your pre-game routine, keeping your body in top physical condition, what kind of food you’re eating, the amount of sleep you’re getting each night, studying your opponents and the teams you’re competing against, your water intake levels, etc.

If you’re not focusing on these things before the game even starts, then you’ll never live up to your defensive potential when you take the court.

Players must start taking preparation more seriously.

Do you think a player joking around before the game when they should be mentally preparing and warming up can step on the court and be a great defender?

Nope.

Do you think a player who takes no time to think about their upcoming opponent (their tendencies, strengths, weaknesses) and the team their playing against can step on the court and be a great defender?

Nope.

Preparation is crucial to your success on the basketball court. Take it seriously.

Unless your role is to crash the offensive boards after a teammate shoots the basketball, you must sprint back on defense immediately after the shot is taken.

By doing so, you’ll be in position to stop the opponent’s fast break and to then pick up your player as they make their way down the court.

The worst possible thing a player can do is neither transition back on defense or sprint in for the offensive rebound.

Instead, they wait for the shot to be rebounded by either team and then react.

This allows the opposition to pass forward and score uncontested layups which will often be the difference between winning and losing games.

Every great defender is willing to give multiple efforts on defense.

I see too many players who will get beat off the dribble and will then consider themselves out of the play so they jog back to pick up their player crossing their fingers that they don’t score.

This can’t happen.

You must give 100% effort on defense until your team has secured possession of the basketball.

These multiple effort situations can occur when the basketball is being juggled on a rebound and you have to jump 3 – 4 times to secure the basketball or when a player gets beat playing full-court on-ball defense and instead of giving up they turn and sprint back into the play and attempt to get a back tip steal to one of their teammates.

“I put players in and take them out based on effort and defense, not making or missing shots” – Doc Rivers

Great defenders never give up.

You can never be a great defender if you’re not communicating with your teammates when play basketball defense.

“There has never been a great ‘silent’ defense” – Del Harris

Throughout the entire defensive possession, you should be letting your teammates know where you are and what’s happening on the floor that they might not be able to see.

If all 5 players on the court are doing this everyone stays on the same page and it will prevent many defensive breakdowns.

Here are 5 of the most common phrases players should communicate on basketball defense:

1. “Ball, ball ball” – Used by the defender guarding the basketball.

2. “Deny, deny, deny” – Use by the defender one-pass away denying their opponent.

3. “Help, help, help” – Used by a player two passes away to let others know that they’re in position to help on a drive.

4. “Screen right” or “Screen left” – To let your teammate know there’s a screen coming and which side it will be set on.

5. “Cutters coming through” – If an opposition player is cutting through the lane.

If you’re one of the leaders on the team, it’s even more important that you’re talking to the less experienced players on your team about where they should be on the floor.

For example…

“Mike come low.”

“Mike get up and deny the pass.”

“Mike force him to the left.”

All talking must be loud and clear to be effective communication.

This kind of communication can go a long way to improving the team’s defense and also giving each player added confidence.

Just as you must constantly talk to your teammates, you must always listen to them too.

Having teammates who are great at communicating will instantly make you a better defensive player because you’ll be more aware of what’s going on around you.

This is why you must be constantly emphasizing to the other players on your team the importance of communication.

It will by most evident when you’re playing on-ball defense. Listen out for teammates calling screens and then adjust your positioning so that you’re able to evade the screen and establish defensive position back in front of your opponent.

This is an odd defensive tip, isn’t it?

But it’s an important view of tough defense that you must understand.

The players who never get crossed up are the players that are hanging back off their player and not giving the best for their team when they’re playing defense.

The players that never get dunked on are the players who don’t rotate to help or who would rather not contest a shot that they’re unlikely to block.

If you’re going to be a great defender, you need to accept that these things can (and probably will) happen to you.

Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself by putting pressure on the basketball and playing tight defense. When you get caught out once or twice, brush it off and continue to work hard.

Being able to consistently stay out of foul trouble is one of the keys to being a great defender.

After all, you can’t be a great defender if you’re on the bench, right?

Staying out of foul trouble comes down to two things…

a. Your defensive knowledge

As you improve more and more as a defender, you’ll learn when the best opportunities are to attempt a steal or get a deflection.

b. Your discipline

Once players know what opportunities they should and shouldn’t be taking on defense, they must have the discipline to play the percentages and stick to only the plays that are low risk and high reward.

This involves staying down on shot fakes, not lunging for a basketball that you’re unlikely to steal or deflect, and staying straight up when you’re defending inside the key.

Also, if you’re one of the better players on the team, it’s often a better option to allow your opponent to score than it is to draw a foul that’s going to sit you for the rest of the game.

“If one of our players gets his second foul in the first half, then he must come out of the game and not re-enter until the second half. To play defense and not foul is an art that must be mastered if you are going to be successful” – Chuck Daly

When you do get subbed out of the game, don’t waste the opportunity you have to study the opposition team while you recover.

I’ll elaborate on the specific questions to think about later in the article…

But for now, here’s a brief summary…

• What are the tendencies of the player you’ll be defending?
• What are their strengths?
• What are their weaknesses?
• What offense is the opponent running?
• Who are the best shooters on the team?
• How do their set plays work?
• etc.

What coaches often refer to as 50/50 balls are when the basketball has been knocked away or deflected and both teams have an even chance of taking possession.

A player’s job is to turn the basketball from a 50/50 ball to an 80/20 ball. Meaning that when there’s a basketball loose on the floor, you’ll be the one who secures it 8 times out of 10.

In order to do this, players must be down in defensive stance ready to react at any moment and must also be willing to put their body on the line for the benefit of the team by diving on the basketball if the opportunity to do so arises.

Every single possession counts and these are the plays that will determine which team has had more scoring opportunities at the end of the game.

Fact: Basketball is a contact sport.

If you want to excel as a defender, you need to learn how to use your body to your advantage.

By allowing the offensive player to get anywhere they want on the court, you’re not doing a good job on defense.

Use your arm bar and lower body to move players away from where they want to catch the basketball. This goes for the low post and on the perimeter.

Cut off an opponent’s cutting lane by stepping in front and bumping them while making sure to keep your hands out to show you’re not pushing.

Players will learn to use legal physicality as they gain more experience and gradually face smarter and stronger competition.

The other unselfish act a player can make on defense is being willing to put their body on the line and draw a charge.

Taking a charge is often a huge momentum changer and will make the opposition hesitate next time they’re around you.

If a player is dribbling or running in your direction, hold your position and when they make contact allow your body to fall straight backward while simultaneously forcefully blowing out air.

Is this flopping? Maybe.

Will they call the charge if you hold your ground and don’t allow your body to fall over? In 99% of the cases, no they won’t.

Whether we like it or not, being able to exaggerate a charge has turned into a skill in today’s basketball.

It will get your team extra possessions every game!

While a lot of it is innate, you can definitely improve your athletic ability if you’re working on the right things.

Remember how I talked about basketball being a game of inches earlier in the article?

Then it should be obvious that improving your athletic ability even slightly can often help you make up these inches and more.

I highly recommend players complete a vertical jump program during their basketball off-season.

Here is a link to an equipment-free 12-week vertical jump program that I created that can help any player gain a few extra inches on their vertical leap.

The other exercises I recommend are the use of ladders to improve foot quickness and even cone drills to improve explosiveness and acceleration.

All players who aspire to be great defenders need to be constantly improving their knowledge on the subject.

The best way to do this is by talking to great defenders about their thoughts on defense and also by watching great defenders.

In this day and age, one of the best ways to do that is by watching YouTube video breakdowns.

Here are a couple of my favorites…

https://youtu.be/3hnZ_knty6s

https://youtu.be/qnlq0oWNbwg

Never stop improving your defensive knowledge.

One of the most detrimental decisions a player can make for their individual defense and also for the team’s defense is to complain about missed calls.

Instead of sprinting back on defense, a player stops and complains to the referee about a call they believe should have been made but wasn’t.

When a player does this, it often leads to a 5 on 4 fast break resulting in an easy score for the opposition if they spaced the floor correctly.

A player who has ambitions to be a great defensive player can’t ever allow this to happen.

More than anything, a player must understand that referees are going to miss calls from time to time.

You must get back on defense immediately and if the lack of foul call does need to be brought up with the official, leave it for a stoppage in play or for the coach to do the talking.

One of the keys to great post defense is not allowing the opposition to establish early position.

Players competing in the post must beat their man down the court and then make contact early to keep them as far out as possible.

By doing so, there’s less chance that they’ll receive the basketball and have the opportunity to score from close range.

This isn’t specific to the initial sprint down the floor either.

Post defenders should be legally physical with their opponent the entire possession to keep them as far away from the rim as possible.

Too many players will play hard defense and force a contested shot, but once the shot has left the opponents hands, they act like their job is finished.

A defensive possession isn’t over until your team has rebounded and secured the basketball.

I hesitate to write the traditional ‘box out on every shot’ because I feel too many players get so focused on boxing out their opponent that they forget to rebound the basketball.

If you’re close to the basket, box out.

If you’re away from the basket, make contact with your opponent and then pursue the basketball.

An obvious but important question.

A lot of times a youth basketball coach will install a defense by explaining how it works, but never directly telling the players what it is.

Make sure you find out what the coach is running so that you can go home and learn more about the defense you’re going to be playing.

Study it until you understand it completely. You never want to get lost when you’re playing defense.

Once you’ve gained deep knowledge of what to do on the defensive end of the floor, the coach will be able to trust you to make the right decisions and that will usually lead to an increase in court time.

The pick and roll is arguably the most effective action in basketball.

In order to be a great defender, you must know how your team’s defense is designed to defend it.

Depending on the age and skill level of your opponents, some coaches will choose to hedge the screen, use drop coverage, or even switch the screen.

Some teams will have different defensive actions depending on where the basketball is on the court or even depending on which offensive players are involved in the screen.

Failure to defend the pick and roll correctly will almost always lead to an open shot from the offensive team.

If this is something you need to ask and clarify with your coach, do it.

“Defense is all about helping. No one can guard a good dribbler, you have to walk kids through how to help and then how to help the helper” – Bob Knight

Being able to rotate correctly and immediately on defense is by far the hardest part of defense for most players.

Players get stuck in the ‘this is my man and I have to stop them from scoring’ mentality and forget that basketball isn’t played individually. It’s played as a team.

There are going to be breakdowns in the defense from time to time and players must be ready and willing to rotate off their player and help out their teammates.

Therefore, having complete understanding of the defensive rotations is incredibly important for a great defender.

The most common rotations that are when there’s a baseline drive.

The help defender on split-line needs to rotate across to prevent the layup and then the high defender needs to rotate down to stop the pass to the helper’s defender.

Every single player on the team must understand the rules on defending players in the post.

This includes the guards on the team.

Whenever I help out coaches with tall and strong guards on their team, I always recommend they use them in the post. The opposition guards never know what to do because they’ve never been taught post defense!

Specifically, all players must understand how to front the post, 1/2 front from either side, and how to play behind.

How your team uses these tactics in games is up to the coach and the defensive system used by the team.

Ensure that all players know exactly what to do if they get stuck in a post defense situation.

The number one factor that determines how you should play against your opponent on defense is whether they can shoot the basketball from the outside at a high percentage.

If you’re guarding a poor shooter, then you can assist your teammates with more help off the basketball and you know that when playing on-ball defense you can take an extra step back to defend the drive without fear that they’ll make the shot.

If you’re guarding a great shooter, you won’t be able to help as much and you must be more mindful of your rotations on defense.

Instead, you should close the space between you and the defender and force them to dribble inside and take a lower percentage shot.

This is why smart basketball coaches put great off-ball defenders on poor shooters.

Whether they’re a great outside shooter or not, most players will have certain areas of the floor or certain ways that they score the majority of their points.

To be a great basketball defender, you must work out where and how your opponent does most of their scoring.

Do they get most of their points running off screens and getting midrange shots?

Do they score most of their points driving to the rim and finishing with their right hand?

Do they have a deadly midrange pull-up game?

Are they a low-post specialist?

These are questions you must figure out the answer to for every offensive player that you play against.

Figuring out whether to influence your opponent’s dribbling to the right or left is one of the most important and easiest things you can do to improve your defense.

How you’ll implement this knowledge during the game might vary due to team defensive rules, but understanding their preference is crucial.

More often than not, the player you’re competing against will prefer to drive to their right hand.

To force them to their opposite hand, position yourself so that you’re slightly overplaying their preferred side and then establish a higher lead foot on this side too.

From this stance, the only way they can drive on their preferred side is to dribble through your chest and receive an offensive foul or to retreat dribble around you which will provide enough time to establish position again.

If they were to drive on their opposite hand, you’re still in position so that you can contain them and cut off the driving lane.

As well as figuring out their strengths, it’s important to know what an opponent’s weaknesses are.

This knowledge will assist you to put them in uncomfortable situations by forcing them into performing what they’re not good at.

This will require watching tape of your opponent, watching them play live, or simply working it out as the game progresses.

Every single player on the planet has weaknesses. It’s your job to find out what they are and exploit them.

One of the most surprising differences between great offensive players is their ability to handle pressure being put on them.

I’ve seen many players who regularly average 25 points per game but when you put a high amount of pressure on them, their point totals automatically take a significant drop.

These are often the player who can’t mentally handle pressure from great defense. They get frustrated, start yelling at their teammates, and throw up shots from all over the court trying to reach their regular scoring numbers.

Conversely, there are many great offensive players who stay calm and will have the same impact as usual regardless of the defensive pressure.

For that reason, it’s important to know which category your opponent falls under and then use that knowledge to improve your defense against them.

There are many players who do a fantastic job of sprinting in for offensive rebounds and then either scoring or passing out to a teammate for an open shot.

Shots after offensive rebounds always seem to be great shots.

As a defender, you must be aware whether the player that you’re guarding has a tendency to sprint in for offensive rebounds or to run back on defense after each shot.

If they are a great offensive rebounder, you must ensure to make contact with them after every shot and put a high importance on keeping them off the glass.

One of the first questions that smart defenders will ask themselves when determining how to defend their opponent is “What offense does the opposition run?”

Once you figure this out, the next step is to determine the best way to defend against it.

Here are a few of the question you should think about…

How do they initiate the offense?

What’s the regular passing sequence of their offense?

Where do they take most of their shots from?

For example: If an opponent’s offense always starts with a pass from the top to one of the players on the wing, you then know that if you completely deny this pass then you’ve effectively taken them out of their offense.

Often you’ll come across teams that don’t have an offense at all and will rely solely on set plays to score the basketball.

Since most youth and high school teams only have 2 – 3 set plays that they run a majority of the time, it can be relatively simple to figure out the name of the set play and what their actions are.

Just like the previous tip, your goal is to figure out what the opposition are trying to do and then take those options away from them.

The best time to do this is before the game. Watch video of the opposition’s offense or to watch them in-person and focus on figuring out what they do offensively.

If you don’t have that opportunity, with focus you can figure it out throughout the game as you’re competing against them.

While the main goal is containment, we don’t want players to do this by standing 2 meters off their opponent and giving them wide open shots.

Players must learn how to contain their player while also putting constant pressure on them when they have the basketball.

The purpose of putting pressure on the basketball is to make the offensive player uncomfortable which will often lead to deflections and turnovers.

When a player is uncomfortable from on-ball pressure, they don’t want to dribble the basketball, they’re scared that one of their passes will get deflected, and they don’t even think about shooting.

As long as your teammates are playing great help defense, you shouldn’t hesitate to apply on-ball pressure because if the offensive player does happen to beat you off the dribble, your teammates are ready to rotate and stop the basketball.

“My philosophy of defense is to keep the pressure on an opponent until you get to his emotions” – John Wooden

When you’re playing on-ball defense, you should always be lower than your opponent.

If you’re roughly the same height, your eye level should be at approximately their shoulder level.

Being lower gives you better balance and allows you to react quickly once the offensive player makes their move.

As always, the quicker you can react, the better.

This tip goes back to the importance of balance that I talked about in the first section of this article on basketball defense.

When you lunge for the basketball, you’re often putting yourself off-balance and out of correct defensive position.

If the basketball comes within your reach, by all means, attempt to tip it and secure the steal, but never lunge out of position unless you’re over 75% sure you’re going to steal the basketball.

Always remember that containing your opponent is your number one priority when playing on-ball defense.

One of the most common questions I get asked by players is how close they should be to their opponent when playing defense.

On average, a player should be approximately one arm’s length away from their opponent. This means that if you stick your hand out straight, you should just be able to touch the offensive player with your fingertips.

As players improve to higher and more skilled levels of basketball, the distance will start to vary depending on the tendencies and abilities of the player they’re guarding against. But for the youth and high school level, this is often the most appropriate distance.

Being an arm’s length apart is the perfect length because it’s close enough that the defender can get a hand on the basketball for a steal and also prevent the shot, but far enough away that if the player attempts to drive there’s enough to react and adjust defensive position.

This tactic will make an immediate impact on your defensive ability.

When players are still learning the game, the natural tendency is to look at the basketball or the eyes when playing on-ball defense.

The problem with doing this, however, is that it’s easy for the offensive player to fake with their eyes or the basketball and get the defense off-balance.

So, what should players be looking at while playing on-ball defense?

The mid-section of their opponent. This being anywhere from their chest to their waist.

Unlike the other parts of their body, it’s incredibly difficult for the offensive player to fake with their mid-section which is why that’s where I recommend players focus on.

While you’re playing on-ball defense, you should be tracing the basketball with one of your hands at all times.

Doing so will allow you to deflect the basketball if the offensive player makes a quick pass inside and also simply discourages passes as your opponent knows you may get a hand to it.

Your other hand should be below the basketball looking to tap the basketball out of their hands or to poke it loose if the decide to dribble.

By leaving your hands down at your sides (which a lot of players do), you’re not achieving anything defensively.

Keep your hands active.

Most players have formed a bad habit of swatting down on the basketball when attempting to reach in for a steal.

The problem with doing this is that the referee will often call the defender for a foul. It looks aggressive and there will often be contact made with the arm.

The better way to steal while playing on-ball defense is to swipe up at the basketball. This means keeping one of your hand’s lower than the basketball with your palm facing up.

Since the defender should be playing lower than the offensive player, this is a far more successful method and will result in fewer foul calls.

A cardinal on-ball defensive sin is jumping up and swatting at the basketball attempting to block an opposition player’s shot.

Although this can sometimes work, there are two main reasons why this isn’t always a terrific idea…

1. You might foul the shooter

It’s incredibly difficult to block an outside shot without fouling. The shooting motion of most players will often bring their arms directly into yours on the shot resulting in a foul.

2. They might fake the shot

If you jump on a shot fake, it’s game over. They’re going to have an open drive to the rim and if they don’t score themselves, they’ll often be able to pass to an open player for the shot or layup.

Instead, the best option you have when defending an outside shooter is to get your hand up to their face and take away their vision of the rim.

A missed shot is just as good as a blocked shot. Often better since most blocks are out of bounds or straight back to the opposition team.

This tactic allows you to stay on the ground and react quickly to whatever happens next.

One of the primary rules of defense is to never allow your opponent to cut ball-side of you after making a pass.

This most commonly occurs on a pass-and-cut when the opposition is swinging the basketball around the perimeter.

After making the pass, they will immediately look to cut ball-side for the for the give-and-go pass leading to an open layup.

Great defenders never allow this to happen.

Any time you’re guarding a player and they pass to a teammate, you must immediately jump towards the basketball on the flight of the pass.

This removes your opponent’s opportunity to cut ball-side and forces them to cut behind which is a much more difficult pass to make and puts you in prime position to intercept the pass if it’s attempted.

Even if they choose not to cut, you’re immediately denying the return pass to the player you’re guarding.

One of the most important principles of your team’s defensive system you must understand is whether to deny when one-pass away or whether to be in help position.

This is the main difference between the two most popular defensive systems: The man-to-man defense (deny) and the Pack Line defense (help).

If you’re denying the pass, you should always have one arm and one foot in the passing lane, your chest should be facing your opponent, and you should see the basketball by looking over your ball-side shoulder.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the defensive system may not have a universal rule on this. The rule may change depending on where the basketball is on the court.

For example, some coaches prefer to allow the initial pass to the wing and then deny after that pass has been made.

Others might allow passes to the corner by playing in help position but deny any reversal pass back to the top of the key.

Make sure you understand your team’s defensive strategy when defending one-pass away from the basketball.

Close outs are one of the most difficult skills to master on defense.

In fact, there any many offenses and set plays designed specifically to create defensive closeouts as that’s often where a lot of defenses break down.

There’s no avoiding them. If your team is in help position (which they should be), then there will be close outs no matter what.

So how do you perform them effectively?

The key to closing out is to sprint approximately two-thirds of the way to the defender and then use short, choppy steps to finish the close out.

As a player gets close, they should be low with their weight back to absorb the drive and also have one hand up to deter or contest the shot.

The corner three-point shot is arguably the most efficient shot in the game of basketball. You should never leave this shot open.

A player will most commonly make this mistake when an opponent drives to the rim from the wing and they’re defending a player in the corner one-pass away.

Instead of staying on their opponent, this corner defender will drop down to help stop the drive to the rim leaving their player open for the simple pass and wide open jump shot.

Every player must understand that help comes from the middle. That’s why you must always have a defender on the split-line.

Help never comes from ball-side corner.

They can quickly plug and recover to their player, but they should never completely commit to helping on the baseline wing drive and leave open their opponent in the corner.

Whenever you’re on defense and you’re not defending the basketball or one-pass away, you should be in a ‘defensive triangle’.

The defensive triangle (or ball-you-man) refers to positioning yourself between the basketball and your opponent so that you can see both with your peripheral vision.

You should have one hand pointing towards the basketball, one hand pointing towards your opponent, and your vision should be in-between the two.

If a direct chest pass was made between the player with the basketball and your opponent, the help defender should be able to intercept it.

A defender should be as close to the basketball as possible but still close enough to their player that if a skip pass to them was made, the defender would have time to close out and establish defensive position without allowing an open shot.

The reason for this is that the closer a help defender is to the basketball, the quicker they can be to play help defense.

A great basketball defender never stands still while they’re on defense. They’re constantly adjusting their positioning the entire possession.

Whenever the basketball or your opponent moves, you should be moving as well to make sure you’re always in the best defensive position.

This requires players to understand the defense to know where they should be, stay in a defensive stance to react quickly, and use the defensive triangle to keep vision of the player they’re guarding and the basketball.

If you’re not constantly adjusting your position, it won’t be long before you get caught out and your opponent gets a quick backdoor layup or a wide open jump shot.

Even if being caught out of position doesn’t lead to a direct score by your opponent, it will lead to a breakdown in the defense and the need for your teammates to rotate and help. This puts them out of position and usually leads to an high-quality shot from one of the opponents.

Your teammates need to trust that you’ll be in the correct position to help them just as they need to be in the correct position to help you.

Don’t let each other down with lazy defense.

Becoming a great basketball defender is one of the most important areas a player can focus on.

Since few players put a focus on defense, doing so is one of the best opportunities a player has of separating themselves from the crowd and advancing from a mediocre player to a great player.

If you implement the above tips into your game, very quickly you’ll see the impact that they can have on your game.

How to learn to spin a basketball on your finger. Tricks in Basketball

To become a good basketball player, you need to literally become related to the ball. It is important to feel the projectile, to control its every rotation. In this case, tricks with a basketball will help you. The most famous and common of them is the rotation of the ball on the finger. Having studied a few simple techniques, you can devote no more than 10 minutes a day to practicing the trick. And in a week you will masterfully spin a basketball on your finger.

How to learn to spin the ball on your finger?

Basketball tricks can be practiced anywhere if it is convenient:

• On the sports ground;
• Near the house;
• In an apartment.

The main thing is not to allow damage to property during the practice of the trick. How to learn how to spin the ball on your finger, we will tell further.

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Tossing the ball

The first step to spinning a basketball on your finger is to hold it correctly and toss it into the air. In this case, the stripes that are applied to the surface of the ball will help a lot. It is difficult to catch a sports equipment with horizontal scrolling. Plus, the rotation itself looks ineffective. Therefore, arrange the stripes of the ball vertically.

Now you need to decide on the method of throwing. It doesn't matter if you throw with one or two hands. The main thing is to follow the technique. If you want to use one hand, place your fingers along the lines of the ball, creating space between your palm and the basketball. Squeeze the sports equipment with a little effort. Make a gentle swirling motion with the brush, giving extra spin with your fingertips. In the process, the thumb is superfluous, as it upsets the balance, and the basketball will eventually fly off to the side.

When both hands are involved, the ball is not taken from the sides, but from the front and back (one palm is directed towards you, the other away from you). When ready, with a sharp movement, spread your arms and direct the projectile perpendicularly upwards in front of you. The toss line should run parallel to the floor and above eye level. The task of catching the ball is made easier when its bottom surface is visible.

Within two days, these movements can be brought to full automatism. You can move on to practicing the next action when the throws are confident.

Catching the ball

The main secret is that you need to catch the ball on the nail. The brush is turned with the palm towards you. Contact with the ball is carried out only in the center where the vertical lines meet. When the ball is already spinning on your finger, gently and smoothly lower your hand down. This improves cushioning, reduces the likelihood of slipping, and protects against injury to the finger.

Basketball tricks require patience. Rotation on the finger including. It is difficult to keep balance and make the ball obey you. But after hard training, the result will not be long in coming. Over time, you can complicate the exercise. Spin the already spinning projectile further. This is done with light free movements along the tangent with the free hand. At the same time, control the center of gravity and maintain the balance of the basketball.

Tips from the pros

Masterly spinning the ball on your finger is the result of hard training. Each stage must be worked out to automatism and practiced daily. However, there is no need to be driven. Breaks and rest are required. It is important to use a well-inflated basketball.

Tidy up your fingernails. Trimmed nails allow better control of the projectile. Before each workout, do a warm-up and warm-up exercises to minimize the risk of injury to the fingers and wrist.

Azteca / About the author

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Basketball techniques

Basketball

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• Choosing a basketball

Basketball technique includes serving (passing the ball, receiving a pass), dribbling, shooting at the basket, body control and feints. The correct use of technique in basketball largely depends on the observance of the rules of the game. A small area for the game, the foul rule, the rules for moving around the area - all this causes a constant and quick change of direction, movement and effort, a high pace of play.

Basketball: ball handling.

The ball is held with fingers spread freely. When passing and dribbling the ball, throwing it into the basket, the arms are bent at the elbows.

It is important to hold the ball correctly with your hands. The throwing hand must be positioned so that the fingers are perpendicular to the seam lines of the ball and the other hand must hold the ball and correct it. The fingers of the throwing hand should be wide apart.

As a rule, a basketball player has to catch and hold the ball in any position and action, standing still, jumping, moving, at different heights. To prevent the opponent from intercepting the ball, the player must open - i.e. run out into the open or towards the ball.

Basketball: passing the ball.

In most cases, the ball is passed with both hands in order to pass more accurately, confidently and quickly. You can pass the ball from a place, in motion (on the run), in a jump, directly to a teammate or after hitting the floor. The fast pace of the game determines the transfer of the ball in the shortest time and from any position.

Pass with two hands from the chest.

Such a pass makes it possible to send the ball sharply and accurately at close range. The player holds the ball with both hands in front of the chest, the thumbs are pointing back and slightly up, as if pointing at each other, the remaining fingers are widely spaced. The elbows are almost pressed to the body, which is tilted forward. The ball is thrown with an explosive movement of the hands, fingers and elbows to give it spin. As a rule, with the transfer, the player takes a step forward or to the side.

Two-handed pass from above (overhead).

This pass is used from anywhere in a positional attack. Back row players very often resort to just such a pass, giving the ball to the post player. Tall players also use it. Having received a high pass, they immediately return the ball or give it to a teammate who is leaving at speed. The hands hold the ball to the side, slightly behind, fingers up, and the thumbs should be pointing back towards each other. The ball is lifted up, without turning back, behind the head, with elbows slightly bent, quickly and sharply thrown using the movements of the hands, taking a small step forward.

Shoulder pass with one hand.

This is the most common way to pass the ball in basketball to pass it to any distance with good ball control and minimum swing time. The hand with the ball is taken to the shoulder and thrown sharply in the right direction. In this case, an overflowing movement of the hand and a turn of the body occur. The player can additionally correct the trajectory of the ball at the last moment with a movement of the brush.

One-hand overhand transmission.

Using this passing method, a basketball player can send the ball even over the opponent's high arms. To perform such a pass, the athlete turns sideways in the direction of the pass, moving the hand with the ball a little to the side and turning it back, sends it up in an arc with a sharp swing. At the moment when the ball is over his head, he releases it.

Rebound transmission.

If the post is heavily marked, this is the most effective way to pass the ball. When breaking fast and outplaying the opponent, this is the best time to use this pass. This pass resembles a pass with both hands from the chest. In this case, the ball hits the floor at a distance of 2/3 from the passing basketball player to the receiving one. With this method of passing, the ball should not bounce high. Ideally, to the level of the belt, for the convenience of its reception. When passing the ball in this way over long distances, usually more than 5 meters, it is given rotation, which increases the speed of the ball.

Hook transfer.

This is a long gear. It is used to pass the ball to a player going into a fast break under the opponent's shield. It is performed with a swing movement of the other bent at the elbow. In this case, the ball is released up and forward with finger and hand movements. With the second hand, the elbow, the player defends himself from the attacking enemy. The execution of such a jump pass is very difficult. It is necessary to have time to pass the ball to the receiving player before the sender falls to the floor. This transmission must be used both with the left and right hand.

Passing behind the back.

This transmission is performed by the game masters on the move. It is difficult to accept such a pass, here you can easily lose the ball. This pass is very effective when playing against two opposing defenders.

Basketball: receiving a pass.

Handle the ball with two hands if possible. By the time the ball is touched, the arms should be extended towards it, and then quickly bent (already with the ball) at the elbows in order to weaken the impact force. When catching the ball on the run, a 2-pin rhythm (two-step technique) must be observed.

Receiving the ball while simultaneously touching the floor counts as 1 step (first contact). As soon as the athlete has caught the ball, he makes an easy jump. After a step, he must stop or pass the ball further before the 3rd step is taken.

Live reception.

While in the free zone, the basketball player takes a step forward in the direction of the player passing the ball, while slightly extending his arms, bent at the elbows, with palms facing each other, fingers wide apart at chest level. When receiving the ball, the arms naturally bend closer to the chest. The ball itself is well caught with spread fingers. Having received a direct pass, it is important to cut off the defender from the ball. When catching the ball, it is desirable to use both hands, although it is possible to receive a direct pass with one hand.

One-handed transmission.

Usually, the reception of the pass with this hand occurs at full speed at the moment of the pursuit of the player by the opponent's defenders. Such reception and transmission require a great deal of coordination. It is necessary not to stray from the step while receiving the ball and immediately throw it without touching the floor with the ball. Otherwise, the opponent's defender will be able to take possession of the ball.

The fingers of the receiving hand are slightly bent and wide apart, while the receiving hand is slightly bent at the elbow. Having received the ball, she bends slightly, compensating for the force of the transfer. When receiving the ball, the body turns somewhat towards the receiving hand with the catching hand, and the second hand is sharply extended upwards to control and hold the ball with the fingers of both hands.

Reception of a pass in the position of the post player.

The center player must control the location of the opponent's defenders. The player raises the arm farthest from the defender up as a target for the player passing the ball. Catching the ball is the same as in the free zone with one hand. The transfer of the ball to the center can be both direct and hinged or with a rebound from the floor and rotation of the ball. The center player must be able to receive different passes from any of the hands. With a fast reverse pass, the opponent's basket is often taken.

Hand-to-hand reception.

When moving at full speed, it is important to be able to receive the ball from hand to hand. As a rule, such a pass precedes the execution of a feint that overcomes the opponent's defense. Such a transfer is usually carried out without additional rotation and is received at waist level with both hands. After receiving such a pass, the player who received it immediately throws or dribbles the ball.

Basketball: pass interception.

The actions of defensive players aimed at taking possession of the ball in basketball are called interceptions. The interception is performed, as a rule, when the attacking players of the opponent make a throw or pass the ball. If the interception is successfully completed by the defenders, a record of the loss of the ball by the attacking side is made in the report on the progress of the game. After performing a successful interception, the team in possession of the ball goes into a rapid attack, which ends with a throw into the opponent's basket.

Interception of the ball during the pass.

If an attacking player is waiting for a pass while standing still, the pass is relatively easy to intercept. Such a ball is caught in a jump, making a jerk and intercepting the ball with one or both hands.

Another thing is if the attacking player goes to pass the ball. In this case, the defender needs to intercept the ball, ahead of the opponent on the way to the ball at a short distance, which is quite difficult. The defender must cut off the attacker's path to the ball with his hands and shoulder. Having practically come close to the opponent, bowing a little to the side, in order to avoid a collision, to intercept him. After a successful interception, in order to avoid a run, you must immediately switch to dribbling the ball or passing it to a teammate to carry out a counterattack.

Interception of the ball while dribbling.

When the attacker is not technically dribbling the ball, when the ball is dribbling too high without covering it with the body, it is quite easy to intercept the ball. It is necessary to make a jerk and knock the ball from the opponent with two or one hand.

In order to intercept the ball effectively and efficiently, the player must be in position in the possible path of the opponent's passing the ball. As a rule, interceptions are carried out by the back line of the team, and these are small forwards, defenders and point guards, as well as players of larger size.

Only with an understanding of the game and a sense of the right position can a successful interception of the ball be made.

Basketball: dribbling

Dribbling (ball dribbling) is one of the ways to move the ball on the court, apart from passing. Excessive attention to dribbling is not welcomed by the coach, because. reduces the speed of the game and reduces the possibility of different combinations, in contrast to the passing of the ball. However, dribbling is and remains an essential element of basketball.

Technique of dribbling.

When dribbling the ball on the run, the athlete at every second step hits the ball (with one hand) on the floor and smoothly catches it. It is advisable not to look at the ball. Athletes must be able to dribble equally well with both their right and left hands. It is not difficult to drive the ball around the court in this way, but at any moment the player can lose the ball, which is quite simply taken by the opponent with such dribbling. Dribbling is usually used to enable teammates to take the right positions in order to receive the ball.

Basketball: basket shots.

Throws into the basket - near or far - are performed with one or two hands directly into the basket or after hitting the ball against the backboard.

A close throw into the basket is usually carried out in a jump after hitting the ball against the backboard (sometimes on the run or from a stop) and with great force so that the opponent's defenders could not interfere with this throw.

A long-range shot with a high flight path is made directly into the basket from a standing position (experienced basketball players perform this shot in a jump). In all cases, the direction and force of the throw are decisive. Throws into the basket from close range athletes must perform equally well with both right and left hands.

Taking into account the containment of the onslaught of the opposing team, the observance of the most important rules, the rapid movement around the court, the large expenditure of energy, we can say that throwing the ball into the basket is the most difficult technical element of the game of basketball, besides, it requires good orientation from the athlete, quick reaction and combination-motor skills.

Basketball: body control technique.

The technique of body control usually includes all movements without the ball: turning, all kinds of runs, stops and jumps. They are a prerequisite for mastering the technique of working with the ball and the basis of defensive technique.

Basic stance characteristic of basketball players - legs slightly bent at the knees, the correct distribution of the main center of gravity of the body helps to quickly respond to changing situations on the court.

There are different types of runs. They are characterized by frequent and sudden changes in speed, direction and technique of jogging (normal walking and running, side step). They alternate with jumps. Athletes often use one-foot pivots (other foot out to the side) to hold the ball.

Basketball: tricks.

Feints (feints) are related to body control techniques and are used mainly by attackers. First of all, there are feints with the ball - false passes, shots to the basket, dribbling and feints without the ball - a false change in speed and direction. We need a quick transition from feints to the game itself.

Without knowing how and not using feints in basketball, it is practically impossible to beat the opponent. It is practically impossible to break through to the ring without changing the trajectory. It is necessary to go to the distance of the effective throw. Therefore, the key to victory for each team is the ability of the players to make deceptive movements (feints). It is desirable to have at least a dozen such movements in the player's piggy bank.

Basketball tricks consist of four steps:

• 1. Finding a detour to the basket when the direct path is blocked by the opponent.
• 2. Performing a false movement or side step to deceive an opponent? who will attempt to block the intended path.
• 3. At the moment the opponent starts moving to block, make a dash in the other direction, thereby catching the opponent by surprise.
• 4. Leave the opponent behind with a couple of steps, avoiding pushing him away with the hand in order to avoid a foul.

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