Just start…
If you want to get better a playing basketball, but you’re not sure what you want to improve, all I can tell you is you gotta play. Get your kit together, and play… as much as possible.
The physical benefits of playing basketball regularly are fantastic. It involves physical endurance, but is not expressly dependent on endurance. The type of long extended cardio required for other sports is not really necesarry for basketball which is better served by the type of short bursts that have been proven to contribute to overall health and longevity.
But the real secret to playing a lot is love for the game. There’s not much I can say to help you there, you either got it or you don’t. One thing I can tell you, the more you play, the more here is to love.
Basketball has a sort of a magical quality of attracting people. That is to say that you should be pretty comfortable going out on a court alone and having fun, all by yourself. You’ll probably be surprised how often people will randomly jump in.
Conditioning
Don’t worry, we’ll get to shooting and defense, honing your basketball IQ, all of that cool stuff, but this is a physical game and getting your physical form in order is often the most effective way to become a better hooper.
Playing will get you in shape, somewhat. To really see progress, you want a training plan.
Endurance
You’re gonna want to work on your motor. You want to be able to run at game pace for as long as possible without getting gassed out. What’s great is that improving this type of endurance can improve your life in ways far beyond the court. The downside is that it’s tough.
If you can get game minutes, that’s great. But it’s not always easy to pull a pickup game together. One trick I like to use is pushing myself to hit 7 full court layups in a row. If that gets easy, just increase the number or set a time limit.
Vertical
And then there’s your vertical. If you’re at all interested in basketball, you might probably want to jump a little higher. Even if that 10 foot mark is just not in the cards for you physically, adding vertical is going to make it that much easier to get at that ball and get it in the net.
Conditioning is a personal thing. I was a chef for almost ten years so I love to eat. I can usually kinda balance that with a solid drive. But when it comes to conditioning, you just have to find the tricks that work for you. In my case, I’ve managed to make morning shoot-arounds with my daughter a huge part of that.
Shooting
The goal is to get the ball in the net. Systematically working to get better at your shooting technique is one of the most effective and satisfying ways to do that more efficiently.
This is a vast and unruly world. There are as many schemes, techniques, and goofy gizmos out there to improve your shot percentage as there are stars in the sky. If you want to dive deep, I’ve got a full post dedicated to shooting technique, and detailing how I’ve improved my shooting over the years.
If there’s one giga-hack I can pass on to you right now.
- Download this app.
- Add a shot. Give it any name you want.
- Put that shot up 10 times, counting every make
- Enter your makes in the app.
- Repeat for as long and as often as you can.
This is just basic shot tracking, in your pocket. Great shooters have been tracking their shooting percentages over time for generations. Building a shot tracking habit can be tough, but we absolutely know that it’s effective.
Handling
Technically, you can score without moving your feet. But getting past your opponent and under the basket is going to make it a lot easier.
This is another one where the Youtube videos can come in handy, but practice is crucial here. The more you dribble, the more comfortable you get with the ball. Any time you hear from the real wizards of ball handling, they’ve just spent years with the ball in their hands. Dribble to school. Dribble to get a hair cut. Dribble up and down the halls.
It’s pretty awesome when you’ve logged enough handling drills that you can start to take some of those moves into a game. A clutch shot can be nice, but if you ask me there’s nothing quite like breaking ankles.
Working on your ability to keep the ball under control in all kinds of crazy situations is going to boost your game like crazy. It’s incredibly fun to throw down some insane bounces, and keeping the game fun and interesting delivers in multiples by keeping you committed to improving. It’s also crucial to blasting by defenders and getting into scoring position. Improving your shot positioning is a fantastic way to improve your shot efficiency and make you better at basketball.
Defense
It’s a purist’s pursuit. Not as glamorous as offense. Still, without it you’re lost. And when you completely shut down your opponent, well that’s the stuff of legend.
Grinding on defense is a reliable mark of a true hooper. And one of the best things you can do to improve your effectiveness on the court is to make yourself a true two-way player.
Athleticism is a big deal here. Technique will always get you some advantage, but if you can’t stay between the ball and the net, you’re going to struggle. So make sure to check out the conditioning section. Any basketball training plan will put emphasis on the leg strength, balance, and vertical that will naturally improve your ability to defend.
As far as technique, there are some tricks you can look to incorporate in your game. This focuses on man-to-man defense here. Improving defense as a team is more of a strategy thing.
Stay Light
A ball handler can change the attack angle with a subtle movement. A defender needs to counter those movements quickly without over-committing.
Pay attention to how good defenders move. They are light on their toes, sliding smoothly around the court, and diligent to avoid planting themselves in any one spot for too long.
Small, quick movements can help you keep your hips locked up on your opponent. If you’re forced to turn your hips, you’re beat.
Push to the weak side
As a basic rule of the game, you want to keep an opposing offense out of the middle of the court. If you’re already working to push the offense to one side, it might as well be the side where they’re weakest. Figure out what side that is, and look for ways to encourage them in that direction.
Play ahead
If you’re starting your defense on a shooter when they’ve already got the ball in the pocket, you’re too late. So what I mean by ‘playing ahead’ is that you should look to influence your opponent continuously throughout their attack.
Thinking the Game
I never watched a lot of basketball as a kid, or played on any organized teams. So this has come particularly tough for me.
A lot of it comes down to watching games and footage. You’re probably not going to get a lot from watching an NBA game just because they’re playing at a level so far enough beyond any normal realm of play. Still you can start to build a feel for how a group of five should move in various situations. High School or College games might slow the game down enough for you to get a better view.
And this is probably the easiest step for most players. If you like the game already, you must like watching it. So kicking back and watching games is definitely the easiest way to get better at basketball.
I’ve done a pretty extensive job of trying to break down a bunch of the most common defensive formations. While this isn’t comprehensive by any means, I think that focusing on defense will help you see the underlying strategy of the game.
Getting an advanced understanding of the rules can be helpful too. I’ve got a quick primer on some of the most misunderstood rules of basketball that might help you get caught up. And the NBA maintains a video rule book as an excellent resource in helping to understand play, officiation and strategy. Each rule includes multiple videos of violations to clarify rulings.
Beyond the basic study though, I don’t think there’s any real replacement here for team play. You can watch footage all day, but that’s never going to translate as well as actually being there, maintaining court awareness, and making the right decisions.
9. Read the Ball
So pickleball is getting pretty popular. There are a bunch of NBA players getting in on professional pickleball teams. This got me thinking…
Pickleball is largely about understanding how a ball wants to move. And this movement is influenced by all of the impacts and rotations the ball encounters. There’s something to the ability to see a ball and anticipate its behavior. Maybe it’s really not all that different from basketball, just a slowed down version where you carry the backboards with you. I’m probably overthinking it.
But Rodman made something of a career of anticipating ball movement. He had some other gifts as well, for sure. But he’s mentioned an obsession with understanding a ball’s rotation and predicting deflections so that he could position himself for rebounds. Over 13 rebounds per game over 11 years in the NBA, he’s at #12 all time. There’s probably a little something to that.
Takeaways
That’s all I’ve got. You can certainly spend years exploring each one of these elements of the game. And you can probably tack on a few more elements after the fact.
One resource that has been incredibly helpful in my own journey towards becoming a better basketball player is Youtube. If there’s a specific skill or concept you’re working on, you can easily find and binge some videos on that exact topic. Check out my post about all of my favorite Youtube basketball channels if you want some recommendations.
You can even dive deeper on this very site. I’ve got other breakdowns to help you improve your shooting, understand defensive formations, and take your conditioning to the next level. Check those out and let me know if you’ve got any questions, comments, or feedback.
As they say, ‘Ball is Life”.