Becoming A Winning Basketball Player: 5 Characteristics Of The Champion

While every person likes to think they have what it takes to be an athlete, it's not enough to just sign up for the team and show up for practice. If you're going to invest all the time and effort into play, why be an average player? But not everyone is suited for excellence. Here are some characteristics you want to have before deciding if you want to make a commitment to investing your most valuable asset, time, into being a winning basketball player.

1. Competitive Nature

The type of person who will excel at basketball is a competitive person who feels a strong urge to be the best on the court. They will fight for rebounds, block shots, and fully invest themselves in each and every shot. If you do not beat up on yourself at least a little when you know you didn't give it your all and failed, you may not be competitive enough.

2. Open to Coaching

If you cannot be coached, you will not succeed. You need to be open to being openly criticized and improve on weaknesses when they are pointed out. A good player knows they have a lot to learn, no matter how good they are, and leverages their coach for success.

3. An Obsession for Practice

Showing up for required practices and games is not enough—if you want to be mediocre, that is fine, but a winning player will practice whenever they can and put out the extra effort. Laser skills only come with this kind of practice. Winners are not simply born, and raw talent is never enough.

4. Strong Self Discipline

Self discipline goes beyond a commitment to practice—solid athletes will often need to control themselves where non-athletes do not have to. Life is full of distractions and alternate paths. Even young players will have to avoid making poor mistakes as simple as eating the wrong things or as complex as walking away from a fight at school. Pro athletes serve as an example and get lots of media attention and so must restrain themselves just as much.

5. The Ability to Face Challenges

Life is a constant challenge for an athlete. Besides mustering the strength to make the right choices and put in all the effort, you will constantly face opposition from both your own limitations and the people you play against. You have to get up when you fail and try again. You have to have the tenacity to play all the way to the last second, even when there is no way to win—this is what it means to give it your all.

Most importantly, can you do this all every day? The life of an athlete does not have an "off switch"—not if you want to be a true champion. You need to be willing to make a full-time commitment to practice and put in the extra time while others sleep and take a break. To defeat your own weaknesses and perfect your strengths.

It's a commitment to a way of life, and not everyone is made for this.

by James Druman

Basketball Skills: 6 Tips For Improving Your Passes

Perhaps the most underestimated basketball skill, especially in young basketball leagues, is knowing how to pass. It is essential to keep the ball moving and to capitalize on teamwork if you want to be a winning player on a winning team, so passing is something every coach and serious player should focus on. Here are some simple tips for improving your passing skills.

1. Keep Your Distance

It is important to keep the right amount of spacing between yourself and receiving players when making your passes. If you pass from too far away, it is possible an opposing player can step in and steal the ball without even having to fight for it.

If you are too close, it is difficult to get the speed and accuracy needed for precision. About twelve to fifteen feet is a good distance for a pass.

2. Don't Aim at the Receiver

It is common for younger players to throw the ball directly at the receiving player, but it is much more effective to anticipate movement and throw the ball so it is "waiting" as the receiver moves forward. This type of anticipation, of course, requires teamwork, and it is something the entire team should work on together.

3. Dribble Into the Defense

If a defending player is closing in on you as you go to make a pass, dribble and move toward them as you pass. While this seems counterintuitive, it is easier for them to watch your body and anticipate your moves from further away. If you dribble towards them, they are forced to react, throwing off their attention.

4. Eliminate Obvious Signals

A lot of players give away their intent to pass by craning their neck to set sight on the receiving player. You need to learn to look everywhere and use your peripheral vision. A proper pass is made with a lot of wrist, which allows for that quick unexpected snap. Do not wind your arms back or step forward to pass either—these are all obvious movements to an attentive player.

5. Don't Pass "Around" Defending Players

Many new players try to overcompensate and throw the ball over the opposing player's head or well around them, but this type of pass is much too weak, making it easy to anticipate or even snatch out of the air. Keep your passes quick and sure, darting the ball underneath an armpit or just over the shoulder, depending on the player's own movements. Use fakes to your advantage to get their limbs where you want them.

6. Keep Moving

Never stand still after making a pass—you should keep on moving even after the ball is gone and snatched up. Always end a good pass by following through as if going for a rebound, simulating a dribble around another player, or faking a shot. This will keep other players confused while at the same time allowing you to be ready for whatever happens next and remain an asset to the game.

Don't take passing skills for granted. They are an essential part of any solid game, and proper basketball training will give them their due.

by James Druman

Jumping Higher For Basketball - Here's How It's Possible!

Jumping higher for basketball is a goal that almost everyone that plays the game has. If you can increase your vertical you can drastically improve your game and become a better player. You will be able to play better defense, improve the range of your jump shot and maybe most exciting - you will be able to dunk the ball!

Unfortunately a lot of people simply think that there's no way to increase their vertical leap. They figure that jumping is just something that you're born with and that it isn't possible to increase it enough to make a difference in their game.

This couldn't be farther from the truth! It is possible to increase your vertical leap by as much as 20 inches if you take the right steps. I've seen many people who are under 6 feet work on their vertical to the point where they were able to dunk.

Obviously I can't promise that you'll add two full feet to your jump, but I can guarantee you that jumping higher for basketball is entirely possible. You will see a drastic difference in the height of your jump by following a vertical leap training program.

The key is to focus on the muscles used when jumping and then target them with various exercises to strengthen them. There are many different muscles involved, so if you can make them stronger and work on them in a specific way, you're going to see results.

You also will work on your "explosiveness" and technique used when jumping. This plays a huge role in how high you jump.

In fact, just a simple adjustment in the technique and form you use will often add a couple inches immediately. Many people don't realize that the way they "launch" into the air isn't the most effective way to jump. A simple change and you can see instant results.

Think about it as you would any type of training program. For example, if you wanted to strengthen your arms so that they could lift more, you would workout your biceps, triceps, forearms etc. and would be able to see results within a fairly short period of time.

The exact same thing applies to increasing your vertical leap. You target the muscles use in jumping, perfect your form and will see results as you go through the training program and you will be jumping higher for basketball.

by Grant Dougan

Basketball Success: The Basics Of Solid Defense

While those successful goals are the most telling indicator when you are winning a basketball game, any true champion knows that a good team's success often lies in their defense. Your ability to prevent rebounds and limit turnover is an invaluable asset in any game and a team without defensive tactics will never be the best. Let's look at some of the basics you should work on to be a great defending player.

The first thing any player should learn when it comes to defense is perfecting their stance. The solid stance begins by maintaining just over a shoulder-width distance between your two feet and resting on the balls of your feet. If someone pushes on you, you should not sway or move at all—your balance should be solid and evenly distributed.

Keep you knees bent, arms out, elbows bent, and palms up. Keep your head up as well, and direct your attention towards the level of the opposing player's stomach, as this is a great center for reading and anticipating movement. While the heads, eyes, shoulders, or limbs can often be used to distract you or fake you out, the midsection rarely lies.

Your head should not move too much when in this stance—learn how to look out of the corners of your eyes for what is going on. Peripheral vision is a valuable asset for a solid basketball player.

Develop a good defensive slide, moving your feet sideways with quick short steps while staying in stance. Common mistakes players make is moving up out of their defensive position during a slide, leaning in the direction of slides, or crossing their feet—all moves that put you off balance and leave you unprepared.

When you are on the ball, your obvious goal is to keep it from traveling any further. Defense specifics will vary from team to team, depending on coaching, but your main goal is to stop it.

There are many ways to satisfy the goal. Often, what we want to do is direct opposing players off of the court and towards the out of bounds area if possible, once they are stuck in a corner, you and other players can try to keep them there until a 5 second call.

At all times, focus on restricting them from moving forward to their goal, but don't put so much energy into this that you forget to just stay on them at all times. After all, covering and staying on the player is more crucial than limiting court penetration.

Learn to use an opposing player's disadvantages against them. Players will often drive to one side or the other, in favor of their stronger hand (right or left), but you can keep them on their toes by forcing them to play their weaker side. Learn to change your position to keep them going where they do not want to go.

Properly staying on an offensive player is all about confusing them and restricting their movement while going with their movement when it is inevitable. It is a balance.

Another crucial element of defense is knowing when you lost your player and compensating for that. Learn to signal or alert other players on your team when this happens, and then run back to your opponent as fast as possible to resume your defensive position. Never give up and stop when they get away.

There is a lot more to proper defense than this, but these are some good points to keep in mind. Never forget that a good offense will never be good enough to win alone—they may win a lot of games between two mediocre teams, but when it comes to the wins that count, they will always come up short.

by James Druman