Basketball 101: Passing Balls

Players with superior skills in ball handling normally have the highest scores per game. And since basketball is a game of who scores the most, it is important that players are trained properly with ball handling skills. In this article, we will provide you with information on passing and catching the basketball.

If you are strongly guarded by the opponent and you can't make a shot, one of the impulses that might come to you is to pass the ball. While passing could be done even by little children, good passing in basketball is a different story.

There are just five passing lanes on the court namely: over the top of the opponent's head, the left and right side of the opponent's head, and near the right and left side of his leg.

Good guards won't let the opponent make points. In this case, you can divert to faking with a shot, with a body or with a jump. After which is the time to pass the ball towards the five passing lines, depending on the need of the situation.

The chest pass is the most typical that you can observe and do in the absence of a defensive player to block the pass. The key thing here is to keep your arms high so you wouldn't have to make that extra effort of moving them upwards to make the pass.

On the other hand, the two-handed overhead pass is used to maneuver the ball within the perimeter. It could be aimed as a post pass, a skip pass or an outlet pass. In doing this, just remember to keep it a little over the head of the receiver.

The push pass is the type that you use when you want to pass with one hand. This must start from your ear and should make use of the elbow strength. It can't be used at all times since this could offer the possibility of interception, thus, you must be keen of the defensive play from the other team.

If, however, you need a pass that won't cover a great distance, you will need a baseball pass. This can be typically seen once the offensive team runs out of time and are still lacking points.

Great players appreciate the value of good passing because it makes the opponents scramble in the ring while giving you opportunities to send the ball to the right hand that would make the right moves and eventually give you scores on the board.