Sports And Recreation

19
Nov

Any ball player will tell you that games are won and lost on free throws. A free throw is a shot in basketball that a player gets after they are fouled. It is a direct and unguarded shot from 15-feet away from the hoop. You get two free throws if your shot does not go in the hoop after the foul.

Free throws are an important part of playing basketball. I believe everyone can become a good shooter. To be a good free throw shooter, you have to make sure that you’ve mastered certain techniques with correct instruction on the fundamentals of basketball shooting, combined with drills and practice. This page will discuss the fundamentals of good basketball shooting form and instruct you in the best methods to sink your free throw. The principles are discussed below should be used as guidelines and may be helpful in correcting a player who is struggling with his/her basketball shooting, or is just learning to shoot.

1. Stance: Have your feet about shoulder width apart. Your knees should be bent a little as your thigh muscles will provide power for your shot. If you shoot right-handed, your right foot should be slightly forward. Your shoulders and body should be square to the hoop or find out which is most comfortable for you. Probably the important thing here is that when you jump to shoot, jump straight up but not sideways or backwards. Stay balanced.

2. Holding the ball: Use both hands to hold the ball, but only your basketball shooting hand which will actually propel the ball forward. Don’t shoot two-handed. Your shooting hand is the platform and should be underneath the ball with your wrist cocked back. Your other hand helps support or balance the ball, but does not enter into the actual shooting of the ball. Your non-basketball shooting hand should actually come off the ball just before you release the ball, so that you are shooting with one hand. Use your fingertips, not palms, to hold and release the ball.

3. Set Point: The set point is where you position the ball just prior to releasing the shot. If you are right-handed and shoot with your shoulders and feet square to the hoop, have the ball to the right of your face, a little toward the right shoulder. Don’t line the ball up in the center of your face, as this may result in your basketball shooting elbow flying away from your body, and could actually cause your wrist to turn sideways when you release the ball, imparting a side-spin. On the other hand, if you are more comfortable shooting with your body turned in toward the basketball shooting side, and then the set point can be more in front of your face. You will have to find which method works best for you. Also, it is best that the ball is as high as your forehead, or even higher in order to keep your basketball shooting from being blocked.

4. Upward Force: Most of the power in your shot should come from the upward force of your jump or the upward force from your thighs moving upward. You should not try to power up longer shots with your arm. Let the big muscles in the legs do the work. Release your shot on the upward force of the jump, not on the way down.

5. Aiming the ball: Pick out a spot to aim at either the back of the rim, or just over the front of the rim, or the backboard. Concentrate on this spot, and don’t look at the ball, or the flight of the ball.

6. Releasing the ball: Take the deep breath, and shoot. Use the shoulder as a “hinge”. Your basketball shooting arm extends forward toward the hoop, the elbow extends and then you release the ball with a snap of the wrist, with the ball rolling off your fingertips. This will impart backspin that all good shooters have. Backspin makes the ball land softly on the rim, and often creates a favorable “shooter’s” bounce, resulting in a score even though the shot was not perfect.

7. Follow Through: Make sure to follow through with your shot! This will help you get arc, rotation, and consistency. Keep looking at the basket and hold your basketball shooting hand in the “gooseneck”, follow-through position until the ball goes through the net.

This is important in getting the proper rotation (back spin) on the ball. Your fingers should be pointing toward the hoop, and your wrist bent forward, in a “goose neck” fashion. Hold this release after your shot until the ball hits the rim. You will notice that with a proper follow-through, the palm of your hand will be facing downward toward the floor. If it is turned sideways with the back of the hand facing outward, then you are incorrectly twisting your wrist during the release. Remember to keep your eye on the target… don’t watch the flight of the ball.

Tips
1. It is important for you to concentrate. Block out all the factors and just focus on your technique and making the shot.
2. Get into a routine. Take a few dribbles or take a deep breath- whatever makes you feel comfortable before you take the shot. Make sure to stick to the same routine every time. A routine helps program your body and mind and that will help with your consistency.
3. Don’t think too much. Even if you are in a slump, approach the line with the same routine and believing that you will make the shot.
4. Practice makes perfect! Repetition is the key to success in basketball shooting free throws. The more you shoot the more comfortable and confident you will become!

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Category : Sports And Recreation | Team Sports | Training | Blog
18
Nov

Are you willing to do the work needed to jump higher and perform amazing dunks that leave your friends cheering for you, striking fear in your competition? Jumping is a critical skill for many athletes, especially basketball players. This article will cover ways in which you can improve your vertical jumping ability. Here is what you can do  in the convenience of your home to maximize your explosive leaping ability. You will not find a quicker, simpler and more effective way to  improve your game. For now we present a list of jumping exercises that over time should help increase your vertical leap and jump higher.

1. Warming up: Before starting the exercises, warm up your muscles. Stretch properly, and jog around for a few minutes. If you have a jumprope, use it. Running up and down stairs for a while is very useful. Don’t do too much.

2. Calf Exercises: The force of your jump will be determined by the strength in your calves. Focus on calf raises and toe rises. Start with about 50-100 per day depending on your fitness level, then slowly increase the number. Aim to reach a target of about 400 calf raises and about 300 toe rises. If you can walk backwards on your toes, it is even better. Jump up and down on one spot for as long as you can.

3. Plyometric Exercises: Stand with your feet spread apart. Straighten out your arms ahead with your palms facing down and jump up as high as you can. This will increase your ability to perform a standing jump. If you wish to master a running jump then try that in open space. Make sure both your feet are on the ground before you take off. This is one of many basketball drills to jump higher.
4. Deep Knee Bends: Be standing, slowly bend at the knees while keeping your back straight. Do this 15 times. Over time, increase to 20, 30 minutes.

5. Thrust ups – Begin with your legs straight, thrust yourself up as high as you possibly can and when come back down you thrust at once back up trying not to bend your legs.

6. Squat hops – Squat down into a sitting position while hugging a ball for balance. Make sure that you are looking straight ahead with your back straight and that you are elevated on the balls of your feet. Most importantly, your thighs are parallel to the ground. Hop in the seated position between 3-5 inches per hop.

Lastly, you must start weight training in order to build general muscle mass in your body. This is in addition to your basketball workouts to jump higher. Remember, it’s not the amount of repetitions that you do but the weight you lift that makes the difference. Remember to also take a break once or twice in a week so as to let your muscles recover. This period of rest is when the muscles actually start developing.

I want to provide more information which also help you jump higher. It can be summed all up in one word and that’s nutrition. What you eat is so important if you want to be able to jump higher. Even if you do really intense basketball workouts, you won’t jump higher without proper nutrition.

Protein: You need to get enough protein in your diet to build muscle in your legs and recover from your basketball training. A few good sources of protein are chicken, turkey, and fish.

Fats: It’s also important to get enough of the “good fats” which are unsaturated such as almonds, fish, apples, etc. It’s a good idea to eat every 2-3 hours in smaller portions to keep you energized.

One last thing  is water! Try to drink 2 liters of water a day if you can. Water is so important because you need more when you exercise so you don’t become dehydrated and tired.

Now keep in your mind the below notes when you are exercising to jump higher.

  1. Don’t do jumping exercises 7 days a week. It is enough about four or five days per week. If you do it every day, you may give up after a week or two. The idea is to keep exercising for months, or years, consistently.
  2. Don’t push yourself beyond the limit of safety. Pain is your body telling you to stop and you need to listen.
  3. If you have any sort of injury, have any health problems while exercising to jump higher, then stop, and consider consulting a doctor.
  1. Keep repetitions low when doing strength training. It’s not about how many you can do–it’s more about building up the muscles.


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Category : Sports And Recreation | Team Sports | Blog
18
Nov

In a basketball game, can you guess who often gets the most “ooo…”s and “ahh..”s from the audience?  It is usually the guards ball-handling past the defender!

The purpose of this article is  to teach players how to elude defenders with the dribble, creating opportunities to score on the offensive end while at the same time protecting the ball. It also has an in-depth guide section on different basketball dribbling moves to increase your ball-handling ability.

Basketball dribbling allows you to move on the basketball court while in possession of the basketball. Basketball players first learn to dribble the basketball with one hand, then to alternate hands, and progressively to increase to more advanced basketball dribbling. Once mastered, each move can become a powerful weapon. As a basketball player, a powerful and effective way to keep defenders on their toes and increase your threat as an offensive player is to develop an agile and quick basketball dribbling technique.

Firstly, basketball dribbling is not done while staring at the ball. Dribbling on the side minimizes the possibility of getting your ball stolen. You dribble with your finger tips and pads of the hands without looking at the ball. Finger tips give you more control over the basket ball. Lower your body slightly so that the ball is bouncing rapidly at waist level. When times switching the ball from one hand to another, bouncing the ball hard off the ground allows you to greatly reduce the time the ball is out of your control.

Keep your head up at all gives you the vision on what is happening on the court and your defender while you dribble.

Also, to be an advanced ball-handler, basketball dribbling becomes more of a physical-plus-mental thing. There are many things you need to keep in mind.

At first, you need to calculate how much spin and how hard you are dribbling and where the ball is landing in good hand-eye-leg coordination. When you dribble from one hand to the other, try absorbing the force and you will have a better control. Keep a constant rhythm in your dribble right until you are about to dribble past your opponent. The change of rhythm can get your opponent slightly off-balance, also. The ability to add spin the ball gives you greater maneuverability. After the ball bounces off the floor, the ball will have some hangtime in the air. You should use this hangtime well to execute eye and shoulder fakes or delay the following bounce to freeze your defender. But if you wait until the ball rests completely in your hand, you will delay your basketball dribbling. So striking the balance between speed and control is very important.

Frequently shift your momentum to different directions while anticipating how the defender will react to your actions. It is often that you give your intentions away and your defender knows it. However, you can actually use this in against direction. Look at the defender naturally and occasionally scan for open players. Then, look at the side opposite to your target lane when you are about to burst. Shake your shoulder and arm towards the side opposite to your target lane. The fake is a very powerful weapon.

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Category : Sports And Recreation | Team Sports | Blog