Being strong on defense is one of the key traits of a good basketball player. If you are a good defender, you can make a huge contribution to your coach’s winning strategy. And bringing a basketball up the court is one weapon that you can use to your advantage. But how to bring a basketball up the court?
And when you talk about bringing the ball up the court, you should also know how to defend at different points throughout the game. Legendary college basketball coach Bob Knight once called it rightly “Good basketball always starts with good defense”.
To help you understand the ways of bringing a basketball up the court, we will be focusing on some aspects- shooting, passing, ball handling skills, and much more. Once you gain strength in those areas, you will be on your way to become the best player on your team.
Table of Contents
10 Tactics To Bring A Basketball Up The Court
1. Improve Ball Handling Skills
Your ability to handle the ball can often dictate the terms of winnings and losing a game. This is so crucial, and one good way to improve this skill is through dribbling drills.
Bounce the ball from one hand to the other. Dribble from the end of the court to the other side of the court. Then make a lay up or jump shot and get your own rebound. Repeat the same thing.
Practice some fake outs to make your opponent confuse. For e.g you can act like you’re going to dribble the ball to the right but instead direct the ball in between your legs.
Or pretend like you’re getting yourself ready to take a shot by bringing your shooting arm up but drop the ball to your right side at the last second. Fooling your opponents is a great way to bring the ball up the court.
2. Improve Passing Skills
Every basketball player must master the passing skill. Passing the ball accurately and efficiently is a vital part of a player’s game plan.
Passing is an excellent way to bring the ball up the court. You should look to practice both chest pass and bounce pass. To have more control over the ball, practice with two hands. You can put your weight into the pass by stepping into it. This shall improve the ball speed. You shall get much more control.
Aim for your teammate’s hands and give a follow through. Look for an easy pass. You should move towards the ball when it is passed to you. This will make it much more difficult for the defender to block or intercept
Catch the ball with both hands. Focus on delivering a strong, crisp, one bounce pass. The fastest way to advance a ball up the court is through passing or dribbling.
3. Improve Your Shooting
Shooting is obviously a critical part of the game. This is why you see a shooter does get a lot of credit. When you're shooting, use your fingertips to get proper control of the ball. At the beginning of the shot, bend your legs and stay low. But you should finish with your body strengthened and hands up in the air.
Legs are vital in shooting and keep your knees mostly bent during the game. Focus on easier shots rather than tricky ones. Finish with a proper follow through.
Practice some basic stationary shots, free throws with a bit of defensive pressure. This will help you to deliver goods in a tight situation. Improve your lay ups. Overall, a good basketball shooter makes it much easier for his team to bring the ball up the court.
4. Improve Your Footwork
A good defender is incredibly quick on the feet. They are constantly on the move. Increase your foot movement. Don’t stand still on the court for more than two seconds at a time. To be more effective, increase your activity because bringing the ball up the court is important. Constantly move around to distract and tire the opposing team.
Keep an eye on the opposition player. This will help you to avoid fake passes. Try to keep the player away from the baseline. Get the ball down the court quickly and move as fast as you can while remaining in control. It will give you an extra split of seconds to take a shot.
5. Put Your Hands On The Ball
You can use this method to bring a basketball to the court. Suppose your opponent is holding the ball in a shooting position. Now, put your hand on the ball to make it harder for them to shoot. If they have the ball below their midsection, then put their hands on top of the ball.
6. Practice Good Court Awareness
Pay attention to what’s going on. Be ready to receive passes and take advantage of broken plays or missed shots. Have the measure of where your teammates and opposing players are because this bears great significance.
7. Improve Defensive Conditioning
As your goal is to bring a ball up the court, it requires running during a game. This will help you to guard your men properly. Improve your defensive conditioning by practicing wall sits, jumping ropes, and various agility drills.
Your speed, quickness, strength, and stamina can give you a definite edge over your opponents.
8. Body Strength Training
For many basketball players playing basketball is something that comes naturally. But you also need proper body condition to be able to play the game to your full potential.
Better players go through the right physical drills and master the various aspects of the game. They put their best effort into the training session day and day out to get better.
Body’s overall strength is crucial to be good on defense. Lift weights to improve your lower body strength. You can do squats, lunges, and step-ups. Try some upper body strength exercises such as bench pressing or shoulder pressing and biceps curls.
9. Improve Your Basketball IQ
You should have good knowledge of the official rules of NBA. Master the rules by continuously practicing them. You need to study your opponents, understand your coach’s plan, watch professional players how they go about their business. So much you can learn from these little things.
10. Be Mentally Tough
This is just not a physical game but also a mental game as well. Your mental toughness can contribute to your both personal and team’s success in the long run. Be aggressive, passionate, determined, and give your 200 percent effort every time you step on the court.
Pro tips To Bring A Basketball Up The Court:
- Remember, this is a team sport. Give more passes and look for an open space to help your teammates.
- Understand your role in the team. Know the strength and weaknesses of your teammates.
- Stay low to react quickly to the motion made by your opponent.
- Use a pre-planned workout to get in shape and improve your stamina. For e.g. skipping rope, shoot for two minutes, perform defensive slide moves etc.
- When shooting fully, extend your arm at the end of your shot.
- Pay attention to poor spacing. Because if it happens, it will take extra passes, more players, and notably, too much time to move the ball up the floor.
- To make an effective progression of the ball, both receiver and runner should be involved. Try to keep two receivers each time an offensive player catches the ball.
EndNote
Bringing a basketball up the court can somehow dictate the tempo of the game. This technique can provide your team a burst of energy when they are a bit tired and reluctant to play hard. So through these simple steps mentioned above, you can certainly bring the ball up the court.
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