There are thousands of ways to get better at the game of basketball. Some are more effective than others, but players have found all different ways to improve their game over the past 75 years plus.
We have put a major emphasis on creating short form video content for Instagram Reels and Tik Tok in 2022. This content has been all around the topic of tips and tricks to help players get better in a variety of different ways.
Below we have compiled these tips and laid them out with a little more description and advice. We hope you enjoy it and get better!
SHOOTING & BALL HANDLING TIPS
We are going to begin with all of our tips that deal with either how to get better as a shooter or how to get better at ball handling. Read, learn, put them to work!
4 Tips for Improving Your Jump Shot
#1 Loaded Shooting Wrist – One of the most important things for a shooter is to have their shooting hand/wrist loaded behind the basketball as they are going into their shot. If the shooting wrist is not loaded, it will end up on top of the basketball and end up with a flat shooting arc. Load your hand behind the ball, it will then get under ball leading to lift and great arc.
#2 Shot Pocket – A major part of a consistent jump shot is getting the ball to your shot pocket. Your pocket is located in front of your dominant hip. If you’re a right handed shooter, your pocket is right in front of your right hip.
#3 Shooting Elbow Under the Ball – If you get your shooting wrist loaded and the ball to your shot pocket, the elbow will naturally fall right into place. You need to get your elbow under to allow you to lift the ball up and over the rim.
#4 High Followthrough – Once you do the 3 Tips above, you must end holding your followthrough up and above the rim. This is how you know you are finishing your shot correctly, if you do all the work before you must finish!
1 Game Changing Shooting Tip
#1 Finish with Shooting Elbow over Nose – Following up on point #4 above. A great way to judge if your followthrough is high enough to get the right arc on your shot is to see if your followthrough elbow is above your nose. This is a great way to self evaluate without a trainer or coach.
If you look at the picture on the left you can see that the shooters elbow above the nose and eyes!
3 Tips To Be an Elite Shooter
#1 Constantly Move, Cut, & Set Screens – One of the best ways great shooters get open is by setting screens for their teammates and constantly moving when they do not have the ball. Steph Curry is the all time great example of this. Often when you set a screen for a teammate it will cause some type panic or miscommunication from the opposing team, these moments can leave you wide open to knock down a shot.
Steph is one of the best ever at getting open by setting screens and cutting. Check out this great breakdown of How To Get Open Like Steph by By Any Means Basketball.
#2 Master Your Footwork – There may be no more important skill for a shooter have then quick and consistent footwork. This is so important because the feet are the foundation of the jump shot. If the feet are off, everything else will suffer as a result.
Check out the video to the right to improve your footwork. It takes thousands and thousands of reps.
#3 Hold Your Followthrough Until The Ball Hits The Rim – Another great tip for young shooters to self evaluate if they are getting their followthrough correct is to simply hold it until the ball hits the rim. When you drop your followthrough too early you risk not getting the full followthrough. When you are disciplined and hold your followthrough, great things happen.
5 Tips for Shooting During Basketball Season
#1 Shoot Form Shots Daily – Shooting is all about consistency and rhythm. The only way to get consistent and to gain rhythm is to do it all the time, over and over. Every single one of the top 10 shooters of all time has shot millions and millions of jump shots.
#2 Practice Game Like Shots in Short Increments – “Game like shots” are way different than just shooting around casually. In a game you are required to make shots at a high speed with a defender on you. When you are practicing you must practice at a high speed to be prepared for in game.
#3 Make 100 Free Throws Every Day – They’re free but not easy. The best free throw shooters ever are great because of the millions of reps they have shot to get to that point. 100 a day is a great way to keep yourself on track to get those millions of reps over the years.
#4 Don’t Waste Practice Reps – I am not saying you cannot ever just have fun and shoot around. But when you are trying to get better you need to take advantage of every rep you possibly can, if you do not someone else will.
#5 Stay Confident – Easier said than done. Confidence is the most important trait a great shooter can have. Confidence comes from reps and work. If you put the real work in, you will be able to go into games and each shot confident that you are going to make it.
We going into further details about these 5 Tips if you want to learn more!
7 Tips To Improve Your Ball Handling
#1 Dribble Every Single Day – Just like the jump shot, your handle is all about consistency. It takes players years and years to really learn how to control the basketball with their finger tips. You have to simply dribble the ball over and over and over again. Everyday have your hands feel the basketball.
#2 Put In Extra Work On Your Weak Hand – A players “weak hand” is often something that makes handling the ball in game very difficulty for young players. This sport requires you to be adept with both hands, you must be able to handle pressure whether the ball is in your dominant or weak hand.
#3 Work On Your Lower Body Strength – This is a huge part of being able to handle the ball and take content on the court. You must have the strength in your lower body (foundation) to stay on balance and change directions.
#4 Study/Watch Film of Great Ball Handlers – A great way to get better is to see how the greats do it. One of the things to watch is how the greats use their body to protect the ball from the defender. It’s not all about the crazy crossovers, it’s about knowing how to protect the ball.
#5 Practice Dribbling with Your Eyes Up – This skill is essential to play the game. It’s not just about dribbling, you have to be able to dribble and make decisions based on what you see. If your eyes are not up, you cannot make thee right decisions. This is a skill that takes practice!
#6 Strengthen Your Core – In order to take contact and stay on balance you must have a strong core. This is the center of your body, this is what keeps the extremities of your body on balance. Do a few extra sit ups each day!
#7 Fail Over and Over… – You have to push yourself, over and over. The only way to be comfortable in a game is to get uncomfortable in your work. This means you will make mistakes, that is ok, keep working!
MORE RESOURCES
The reality is that it takes much more than just these tips. This game requires thousands and thousands of hours just to begin to get good at.
Check out this blog on the 10 Best Youth Basketball Drills to Do At Home.
Check out some of our YouTube workouts to help you get better.
