Becoming a Basketball Player

Have you ever considered playing or even trying basketball? Basketball is a very fun and competitive sport, and I think that anyone can be good at it if you set your mind to it. So if you are considering trying or even playing basketball, here are some helpful tips for you!

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If you have never played basketball, and you don’t know a thing about it, you most likely do not know what to wear. It is actually very important to wear proper attire while playing basketball; you can’t just wear normal clothes. It wouldn't turn out very well if you wore jeans, a dress, slippers, or boots to play basketball. If you play in slippers or boots you will most likely slip and fall a lot! Also if you wear jeans you will get very hot. The proper attire to wear in basketball are proper basketball shoes that have good traction and that normally go above your ankles. Wearing shoes that don’t go above your ankles can often make you roll or hurt your ankles. From past experience I know what happens if you wear improper shoes. I was going to rebound a ball and that’s when it happened. I fell to the ground holding my ankle. So you should always remember to have the right shoes. 

If you are on a team you are usually provided with the basketball jersey and shorts. But if you are not on a team and you are just playing for fun, it would be best to wear basketball shorts that are loose and that go to about your knees. Lastly for a shirt, normally a regular tee-shirt would do you just fine, but other times people might wear tank tops, or something that won’t make you too hot!

In basketball there are two main things to focus on, offense and defense. In offense you need to focus on shooting the ball, dribbling the ball, and staying open. While shooting the ball you have to hold the ball correctly and make sure you have the right amount of strength to push the ball towards the hoop. While holding the ball to shoot you put one hand on the side of the ball, with your fingers going up, and with the other hand have it in front of the ball closest to you with your fingers facing up as well. Dribbling the ball is a very important part of playing basketball. So it is very important to know how to dribble. Dribbling is very easy in my opinion, and it will probably be easy to you after you get the hang of it. While dribbling it’s pretty much bouncing the ball with the tips of your fingers, but you are only to use one hand, and never use both of your hands to dribble, or stop dribbling, hold the ball, then start to dribble again. That would be known as a double dribble and the ball would go to the other team. Another important thing to do in basketball is stay open. When the person with the ball on your team needs someone to pass it to, it is always important to keep open so they have a second option at all times. Try staying in front of the person guarding you and keep your hands up, yelling their name (if you are open) so they know they have a second option to pass it to if they need to. In defense you need to focus on guarding with proper stance, and making sure the opponent can not shoot the ball. It is always important to stay between the person you are guarding and the hoop. When guarding it is very important to keep your knees bent and your hands spread out in front of the person so they can’t receive the ball. When the person you are guarding is moving it is important to stay in front of them with your hands up so they can’t shoot. When you are guarding them it is much easier for them to move, and see where they are going because you are facing them the entire time, everywhere they go. But on defense the most important thing is to stay in front of the person you and guarding and do not let them shoot the ball.

Basketball is a very easy sport to play if you know what to do and if you know all of the rules. By following these steps you can also be a successful basketball player! I really hope you are considering to play basketball, because in my opinion it is one of the best sports, and maybe if you try it it will become one of your favorites too!