Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

[Rainey]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

One last, simple, thing to do that kills any press they throw at you, is fake a pass one way, then go another. It is so simple. But it is very effective at getting the defense out of position because if they are pressing, they are most likely trying to go for the steal which means they are going to be a little more likely to go for any fakes you give.

I would see the press coming and immediately would fake a pass one way, and immediately fire the pass in another direction. The defense would almost always jump at the fake which allowed for an easy pass. It's even better when you haven't dribbled yet, as you can fake and then dribble by the defense if they go for it.

I hope this helped and wasn't too confusing. I wish I could show you in videos...lol

[TMagic]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

...

Um...I'm lost...lol...What does that mean?

[Rainey]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

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Um...I'm lost...lol...What does that mean?

Seemed like the same thing I kinda said above your post. Maybe not though..

[Laettner32]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

K.I.S.S....Keep It Simple Stupid! Practice, by yourself, with friends...Dribble a basketball everytime you leave the house, don't just run...dribble around the block. Everywhere you go, the basketball goes, like those HomeEc classes except a bball, not a babydoll.

[Hawaii_Stars]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

You have to start by having confidence. If you don't have confidence you will never progress. As far as getting trapped, stay away from the sideline when bring the ball up, and if you are on the sideline, you have to be able to sense a trap coming before you cross midcourt so you have an escape route. The best thing you can learn as a PG is deception.

[gta95]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

You have to start by having confidence. If you don't have confidence you will never progress. As far as getting trapped, stay away from the sideline when bring the ball up, and if you are on the sideline, you have to be able to sense a trap coming before you cross midcourt so you have an escape route. The best thing you can learn as a PG is deception.

Amen. Confidence is crucial. To be a good ball player too, I feel you need a little bit cockiness too. You have to be able to look at a situation were you are in the position to score, and say to your self "I can shoot over him" or "I can drive on these guys." Of course, you have to have good judgment, almost instinctive.

One last thing, visualize the offensive move you want to do before you do it. Try to think to yourself "Ok, if they press, I will kick it out to my SG because they are in a 1-3-1 and he is open on the wing." Things like that will help you out immensely. Man I feel like playin ball with some of yall right now lol.

[bball_1523]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

thanks for the advice. My team doesn't practice, they seem to be too busy. I play pickup at least 2 times a week, and I usually don't play that much because then I get too tired a feel destroyed the rest of the day.

One huge problem I have is confidence! haha How can I go about gaining confidence? It is true that I get nervous while dribbling the ball up because I play with guys that are better than me I think they expect a lot out of me, so I feel the pressure to perform good or else I think I may not get the ball much because of my lack of skills.

Another thing I need a lot of help with is passing around and over people that are taller than me. I seem to have a hard time getting by those that have long wingspans and are taller than me.

[gta95]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

thanks for the advice. My team doesn't practice, they seem to be too busy. I play pickup at least 2 times a week, and I usually don't play that much because then I get too tired a feel destroyed the rest of the day.

One huge problem I have is confidence! haha How can I go about gaining confidence? It is true that I get nervous while dribbling the ball up because I play with guys that are better than me I think they expect a lot out of me, so I feel the pressure to perform good or else I think I may not get the ball much because of my lack of skills.

Another thing I need a lot of help with is passing around and over people that are taller than me. I seem to have a hard time getting by those that have long wingspans and are taller than me.

You have to feel inside of you that you are the best person on the court. No matter what.

To pass around people, either give them a jab step to make some space, or give this a fake to the opposite side you are going to pass it.

[Brankles]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

It's easy to say what confidence is and what it's like to have it... but fact of the matter is, confidence comes with experience and time. You can't just walk down to the court one day and decide to get swagger, especially if it isn't in your personality.

I know in middle school up til my sophomore year in high school, I dealt with confidence issues on the court, especially in school games. Sometimes I would play great and feel like I could do anything, but most of the time I was just out there trying to not make mistakes, and ended up doing terribly. I remember actually trembling during timeouts of close games on the freshman squad, my nerves so shot that I couldn't do a thing on the court.

When my confidence finally came around was my junior year, after a summer of really hard work. I practiced almost every day, trained for the first time in my life, and came into the season with the mentality to show everyone that I wasn't the scared kid on the end of the bench anymore. They put me on JV, which really upset me, and made me work even harder. I changed my mentality from someone who went through the motions of the game to someone who hustled, cheered teammates, played defense, rebounded, and wasn't afraid to take open shots. A few games into the season, and an injury or two on the varsity team, I ended up moving up to varsity and starting for our 20+ win team.

My confidence changed because my outlook on the game changed first.

First off, you have to want to play. You want to be on the court at all times and you want to get better. Basically, have that hunger. If you don't have it, chances are you won't improve a whole lot and it will be harder to have confidence. If you're out at practice or out playing pickup and you don't want to be there, find something to change your attitude. Make it your goal to beat one of your teammates in every drill you go through, or maybe in pickup have the goal to not let your man score.

Secondly, you need to want the ball, especially as a point guard, during every second of the game. On offense, have it in your mentality that you're not going to let anyone steal the rock from you. If you can't get past your man, or you're about to lose the ball, it might mean using an off arm to nudge a defender away, or carrying the ball a little bit to change directions or get out of tough situations, or swinging your elbows a bit if you get in a trap... do not turn the ball over. Anything is better than a halfcourt steal, with the team going the other way for easy layups. The best option if you're getting pressured, however, is to dribble to an open passing lane, feed it to a teammate, and then call for the ball back once everything is set.
The other part of being an offensive basketball player in general is to always be moving, or be in the right spot on the court, ready to receive the basketball. In your case it might mean cutting to the hole when your defender turns his head, or getting your feet set before you get the ball to make an open jumpshot.

On defense you're also going to want the ball at all times. Because of your size, you're going to have to take a different mentality than the bigger guys. On the perimeter, fight through screens and be physical with your man, especially in pickup. Don't chop them all the time or be cheap, but a little bump with the chest every now and then will go a long way in stopping a player from getting past you. When the ball gets down low and you're in the position to help, make sure you slap at the ball ever time a big man brings it down low. Make it your goal to rip it out of his hands if he brings it to your territory (which is close to the earth). Also when a rebound goes up and a teammate comes down with the ball, make yourself available to push the ball up the court for easy fastbreak points.


This is what I used to help boost my confidence. There are other factors and steps, but to start off you just need to get your mentality on the court in the right order.


So the next time you play, do these two things:
1. Have passion for the game, make it worthwhile every time you go out.
2. Always need the ball (don't get need confused with shoot) on offense, and need the ball on defense. Always be ready for the ball on O and always be looking to disrupt the offense when you're on D.


And for your size, passing through pressure is going to be difficult. A lot of this has already been said, but... Stay out of trapping areas, don't pick up your dribble, use ball fakes and jab steps, pass before the double team comes, call for picks if you can't get past your man, and call for help if you get trapped. If there's absolutely no way you can dribble up the court to set up the offense, just give it to another player with handles to bring the ball up until pressure is gone and run the offense when you get to half court.

Also, one last thing I saw, which I don't agree with, is coming up with plays in pickup games. Do not be THAT guy. If you're playing pickup, all you need to run is a pick and roll.

If you want any tips on any other parts of the game, feel free to ask. If I can't answer, I know there's plenty of other cats here that have played ball their whole lives and know the ins and outs of almost everything.

[countryboy]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

yep... take up golf.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

yep... take up golf.

lol. how would that improve his basketball skills.

[countryboy]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

lol. how would that improve his basketball skills.

Man, jokes aren't good if you have to explain them.

I was joking that he should give up basketball and take up golf.

Again, just a joke that apparently didn't go over too well.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Re: Anyone have any advice on improving my basketball skills?

Lol, sorry. I didn't mean to come off that way. I got what you were trying to do but I was kinda joking that your quip didn't make sense. He didn't ask, "My basketball game's incomplete, what should I do?" Your answer didn't address what he was asking, "how can i improve my basketball skills?". I got what you were trying to do, lol, just wasn't willing to give it to you, and was trying to be funny about it. Epic fail.