Basketball is a great sport for youth. It can be their primary sport or a sport they play secondary to other sports. Playing basketball at any level can help to improve endurance and a player’s physical fitness level.
What if you are a new player? How can you be good basketball player if you are just a beginner? You may not have all of the fancy skills other seasoned players have but here are some things you can do to be a valuable asset to your team.
Evaluate your strengths– Figure out what you are good at right now. I am sure you possess a talent that can help you become a good basketball player right now. Maybe basketball is a new sport for you but you have been playing football or another sport and you are already in shape. This is one of your strengths. You can use your physical stamina to be a great defensive player. Coaches need solid defensive players and learning how to play defense is actually pretty easy. Click here for a quick cheat sheet to help you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. You can use this sheet to keep track of your basketball skills and log your improvement.- Maybe you are a quick learner and you’re easy to coach. This can help you develop your basketball IQ faster. Coaches need intelligent players they can count on for both offensive and defensive strategies. If this is the case then show it during practice. Be willing to listen and proactive to learn.
Evaluate your weaknesses– If you are new to basketball then there are likely a bunch of areas that you need to improve and that is ok. Break them down and write them on a piece of paper or in a notebook. Create an individual practice plan to work on the technique. Watch a bunch of videos to help you understand how to execute the technique you want to improve.Fundamentals– Building solid fundamentals is so important for beginners in basketball. This is true for any sport. These are just a few of the fundamentals you should be working on as a beginner in basketball:Chest pass-A chest pass is simple. It is a two handed pass from your chest to a teammate. You can practice this with a buddy or find a solid wall.- Bounce pass- A bounce pass requires you to use pass the ball using a bounce between you and your teammate.
- Dribbling- Dribbling is probably one of the hardest skills to learn at first because you need hand and eye coordination. There are so many drills you can find on the internet that will help you learn how to dribble and then practice until you perfect it!
- Defensive stance- Defense is super important in basketball and especially for beginners. A defensive stance requires a player to have balance. Your feet should be shoulder width apart and your knees slightly bent with your head and eyes straight forward. You should move by sliding and keep your hands up and out. Don’t cross your feet when moving!
Play basketball– Sign up for recreation basketball at your local community center. Look for opportunities to play pick up basketball. If you have a basketball in your hand and you are playing regularly you will improve.Learn Defense-Defense is an extremely important skill for all basketball players to posses. The good news is that defense is pretty easy to learn for beginners. There are numerous videos on the internet that can help you improve your defense. Just watch them, set up a training plan and execute!Footwork-Footwork is so important in basketball. The best players have excellent footwork and it shows on both offense and defense. Good footwork is a skill that is required in most sports so if you are new to basketball but you played another sport you may be ahead of your peers. To improve your footwork look for simple exercises that help with agility. You can find great resources on the internet and you tube.Get in shape-It is important for basketball players to be in top shape. Players will run up and down a court at varying speeds. They start and stop quick. Find a regular work-out routine that physically challenges you–stay fit!Set goals-To be a better basketball player you need to know what skills you want to improve and then you need to set goals and work on reaching those goals. Earlier in this article we talked about evaluating our strengths and weaknesses. This is a great place to start. What did you list as your strengths and your weaknesses. Come up with a few skills you want to improve and then write them down in a journal and start working on improving those core skills. Be sure to make sure you are focusing on fundamentals. Building fundamentals will make you a better basketball player even if you are a beginner!
If you are new to basketball but want to improve your playing ability you gotta start practicing to get better. In this article, we talked about a bunch of ways to get better. Evaluate what areas you need to improve upon and start setting some goals to improve. Every professional basketball player was once a beginner so don’t let your current skill level get in the way of your future basketball ability!