Dribbling Tips

1. Use angles
One of the most important techniques to bringing the ball up the floor is to use angles to your advantage. Rather than trying to put on some great move and go by someone, the novice point guard should concentrate on a low dribble, protecting the ball with their body and an arm bar, then advance the ball up the floor using 45 degree angles. When they feel pressure and the defense is in front of them, they should change directions and attack at another 45 degree angle.

2. Protect the Ball

When dribbling against a defender, ALWAYS protect the ball with your body. You can do this by dribbling with your left hand when you are going left and your right hand when you are going right. This will force the defender to reach across your body to attempt a steal.

3. Developing your "off" hand

It is important to work right from the start at developing both hand equally well. When practicing your ball handling, make sure that you practice at least as much with your weak hand as you do your strong hand, eventually increasing to twice as much with your weak hand.

4. Coaches like...
Coaches like a person who: 1) can dribble with both hands 2) doesnt try to show off for no reason 3) isnt afraid to make the extra pass to get a teammate more open than you are. And if coaches like you, then they tell other coaches. Word spreads very quickly and just by doing the little things you can have a name for yourself in no time.

5. Speed Dribble
The speed dribble is used to advance the ball quickly up the floor, against little or no defensive pressure.The dribblers hand should be behind the ball pushing it in front, then running to catch up. This prevents a "palming" or "carrying over" violation. The speed dribble in the open floor can be a little higher than other dribbles. Control dribble moves should be around the knee, but a speed dribble can be waist high.

6. Dribbling to avoid pressure

By dribbling the ball over half court on the sideline, you are giving the defense an advantage. They can set up their help side defense or trap you. Change directions and it helps relieve some pressure. As often as possible, bring the ball up the middle of the court and NEVER pick up your dribble in the corners.

7. Keep Your Head Up

When doing all drills involving dribbling, it is extremely important that you keep your head up. You must be able to see where you are going and where your teammates are so you can pass them the ball when they are open.

8. Power dribbling-Dirt dribbling

This drill actually requires you to leave the basketball court and find a patch of dirt. Do a Power dribble on the dirt for 1 or 2 minutes. You will need to power dribble the ball even harder than usual in order to get the ball to bounce on the dirt. This drill is an extremely good arm workout with power dribbling.

Becoming a Great Shooting Guard Tips

1. Take Pride in your Defense
As a shooting guard, you are normally going to be defending the opposing team's shooting guard, so lock him down. Take pride in your ability to stop your opponent. When you're playing at the local park, don't defend the worst player on the court, find the guy who would give you the greatest challenge, and meet that challenge by shutting him down. The only way to become a great defender is to first dedicate yourself to it, then to implement it on the court. Always challenge yourself no matter where you are playing.

2. Getting Open
Many times in an offensive set the Swingman will have to get open along the perimeter. When being played by an aggresive defender, the best way to do this is to use what's called a V-cut(see Footwork section). The V-cut is the most effecient way to get open along the perimeter and 9 times out of 10 is all the offensive player needs to use to free him/herself.

3. Shoot the Three

The shooting guard has to be able to play excellent defense and create shots for himself in the halfcourt offense. He needs to be a weapon from long range as well. This is true because the better a shooting guard can shoot from behind the three point line, the more it forces defenses to step farther out on the court to guard him. This in turn allows the lane to be open to penetration by your point guard and more room to operate for your post players.

4. Make something from nothing

It is also imperative that the shooting guard be able to be a spot-up shooterto be able to catch and shootas well as be able to create his own shot off the dribble. The shooting guard is often called upon to get the team a quality shot when their offense has broken down. In other words, when a play has not worked, or the opposing team's defense has thrown a team out of sync, the shooting guard must step up and be able to create something out of nothing.

5. What is a Shooting Guard

A "shooting guard" is generally just what you think it means: Someone whose primary job is to shoot the ball, either as a spot up shooter, catching and releasing, or coming off screens; someone who can spot up from either in close or three-point range, and someone who defends the other teams off-guard. A good shooting gaurd is also very comfortable scoring and operating from the Triple Threat Position. Master the Triple Threat and you will be a force to be reckoned with.

6. Short Memory
A great Shooting Guard has a very short memory. He doesn't remember the last shot he missed, he only knows the next one is going in. He knows that he put in the work in practice, and that every shot he's taking is a shot he can and will make. Jon Starks of the New York Knicks had a short memory(maybe too short for some Knicks fans). In Game 7 of the 1994 finals, Starks went 2-18 from the field. This included an 0-11 fourth quarter. Yet if he was open right now, I bet you he would still be shooting. That's what a great Shooting Guard has, and Jon Starks was a great Shooting Guard. A short memory.

7. Be a Great Free-Throw Shooter

This goes without saying, but being a Great Shooting Guard calls for you to not only be a great perimeter shooter, but also a knockdown free-throw shooter. Look at some of the great Shooting Guards in the NBA: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade. They all have one thing in common: they are great free throw shooters. See the FreeThrow Shooting section of the tip site, and get your free-throw percentage into the 80% range.

8. Be Comfortable from Triple Threat

I can't emphasize this enough. You MUST master the Triple Threat position to be a great Shooting Guard, or a great guard period. See the Triple Threat section of the tip site and master it.

Becoming a Great Point Guard Tips

1. Have Ferocious Tenacity
When you are tenacious, you have an abundance of mental toughness. You will never quit. It is the one area that separates a good player from a great player. You give maximum effort all the time. You relentlessly pursue your dreams. You overcome challenges and disappointments. You keep achieving regardless of the conditions. Your attitude remains positive and consistent over time.

2. Master the Dribble

It goes without saying, but a great point guard needs to be in complete control of his dribble. The ball should be an extension of the player himself. You should master all of the dribbling moves in the Ball Handling Moves section of the site.

3. Lead in practice
Great point guards get their teams prepared psychologically for practice and for games. They know which players need to be provoked to pick up intensity or concentration and which ones are excitable and need to be calmed.

4. Tempo
Great point guards know their own teams optimal tempo for both offense, defense, and in transition. They know when to speed the tempo up or slow it down.

5. Assists
Great point guards seldom turn the ball over due to pressure, and when they deliver a pass to a teammate it is to a point closest to the best position from which their teammate can score. Not occasionally, but virtually every single time.

6. Situations
Great point guards pay attention to situational advantages such as on the free throw line, during jump balls, or just during the flow of the game. For example, when an attacking team has a penetrating guard with no one getting back for defensive balance, they know to attack hard and quick on the counter fast break.

7. See the Floor

Great point guards always have their head up and maintain full court vision at all times. They do not see one opponent or blocks of 2 or 3, they see all 10 players on the court, and understand the relationship of each by positioning.

8. Communicate
Great point guards quickly and clearly communicate play calls or changes both in the open court and on dead ball situations. They also have the ability to quickly organize a team after an offensive pattern breakdown.

9. Talk on defense
Great point guards talk constantly on defense helping their teammates to recognize potentially dangerous points of attack by their opponent. They keep their focus throughout the course of a game, and pay attention to details at nearly all times.

10. Team philosophy

Great point guards understand completely a coachs (and therefore the teams) playing philosophy from top to bottom and every ounce of energy and effort is put forth to execute that philosophy. I have seen good guards who are great physically who constantly break out of the team philosophy creating confusion over the teams offensive and defensive goals. Great guards understand you cannot win if all the oarsmen are not rowing in the same direction.

11. Know Your Scorers

Great point guards not only know who can score, but also where they are most effective on the court. Your job is to put your teammates in positions where they can be successful.

12. Open Shot

Great point guards do not shoot every time they are open but can knock down the shot any time they are open.

Dribbling Tips
Use angles
One of the most important techniques to bringing the ball up the floor is to use angles to your advantage. Rather than trying to put on some great move and go by someone, the novice point guard should concentrate on a low dribble, protecting the ball with their body and an arm bar, then advance the ball up the floor using 45 degree angles. When they feel pressure and the defense is in front of them, they should change directions and attack at another 45 degree angle.