How To be an Athlete at Hebbville Academy by: Daniel Snyder and Eli Langille
How to Shoot, Dribble, and Pass a Basketball
Shooting a basketball:
At the start of your shot you should be small, your legs bent as if you
were sitting. Then as you continue through your shooting motion you are
springing up, ending with your body straight and your hands high in the
air, ending tall.
Middle to middle. Your elbow should be in and shoulder height, pointing
to the middle of the rim. The same goes for your middle finger on the
follow through, your shot should finish as if you were dipping your hand
into the rim.
Follow through. You should always follow through, your arm finishing
straight, your wrist loose, your fingers hanging down. Your fingers
should be naturally hanging, not tight together or pointing.
Hold your follow through. By holding your follow through you are giving
the ball a backspin that makes it bounce off the backboard and into the
net.
How to dribble a basketball:
Touch the ball with your fingertips, not your palm. When you dribble,
you want your hands to make contact with the ball in such a way that you
have good control over the ball and you don't have to use much arm
strength to keep the ball bouncing. For this reason, don't slap the ball
with your palm. Rather, try to handle the ball with the tips of your
fingers. Spread your fingers out across the surface of the ball for a
wider, more balanced contact area.
Keep your hand on top of the ball. When you dribble, it's
important to keep the motion of the ball under control. You never want
the ball to get away from you, as this can give the other team
possession of the ball for free. Try to keep the palm of your hand
directly over the ball as you move so that the ball, on its "up" bounce,
will bounce right into your fingertips. This will give you more control
over the ball as you move around the court.
Another reason to focus on keeping your hand over the ball at all times
while dribbling is that momentarily "catching" the ball on its underside
at any point results in a penalty called a carrying violation. To avoid
this, keep your palm over the ball and facing the floor as you dribble.
How to pass the basketball:
Chest Pass:
Hold the ball right in front of your chest, with your hands pressing
against the sides of the ball, and with the fingers pointing towards
you. Take a step (doesn't matter but left foot is mostly used), and as
you step that foot down, thrust the ball towards your teammate. When the
ball leaves your hands, your fingers should now be pointing outwards,
with the palms outside and the back of your hand inside. Pass the ball
at your teammate's chest and that's all about chest passing.
How to Throw, Catch, and Hold a Football
Throwing:
Stand with the proper stance.
This means: feet shoulder-width apart, with a slight bend in the knees.
You should be standing sideways so that the foot opposite your throwing
arm is forward. So, if you’re right-handed, you should be facing to the
right with your left foot forward.
How to hold a football when throwing: Put two fingers (ring and
pinky fingers) or three fingers (middle, ring and pinky fingers) on the
laces before you throw. Also, make sure you can see a little crack of
air between the palm of your hand and the ball.
As you prepare for the throw, pull back your throwing arm
so that your elbow is at a 90 degree angle and upper arm point straight
back while your forearm points straight above. The point of the football closest to your hand should point toward your head, so that the palm of your hand faces outward.
Throw. As you extend your arm forward, also rotate
your waist so that you face your leading leg. Push forward with your
back leg to propel yourself forward, and bring your throwing shoulder
down with your throw. This will give the ball more power and make it go
farther. Make sure the ball turns so that
the point of the ball opposite your hand points straight ahead.
Spin the ball with your fingers to initiate the spiral.
As you are letting go, use your fingers to roll the ball out of your
hand. If you are right-handed this will be clockwise; left-handed,
counter-clockwise. Turn the hand slightly in the same direction to
facilitate this spinning, and make sure that your hand and arm extend so
that your index finger is the last one on the ball.
It should feel as though you are pushing the ball straight-ahead; your hand should ultimately face down as you finish the throw.
Catching:
Keep your eyes on the ball at all times.
A good way to stay zeroed on the ball is to watch the tip of the ball
all the way from the quarterback's hand to yours, especially as you
practice. Every time you take your eyes off the ball you increase your
chances of dropping it. If you aren't focused on the ball when it hits
you're hands, catching it becomes pure luck.
Extend your arms toward the ball as the ball approaches, so your hands meet it at the furthest possible point. Do
not run with your arms extended. Extend your arms right before the ball reaches you. Never leave your hands flat.
Make a triangle with both hands, your palms facing away from your body.
Thumbs should pointing at each other, all other fingers pointing up.
You want the tip of the ball heading for the open space in between your
two hands.
If the ball is below the waist, your palms should still face out,
but put your pinkies together. If you are running and the ball is thrown
high, similarly try to put your pinkies together.
Catch the ball. Keep your eyes on the ball the whole time. If you try to run before you've caught the ball, chances are you'll drop it.
Tuck the ball away. After you catch the ball, tuck it
under your arm on the opposite side of any defenders.
If you want, you can also hold the football with both hands near your
stomach to avoid fumbling the ball. But if you're in open space, hold
the ball with one hand and run until you score.
Visualize the catch and visualize you catching it, no matter what.
Make sure that you see in your mind catching the pass. Never think "I'm not going to catch this football" or "I hope
the defender doesn't tackle me." Think positively and visualize a
successful catch from start to finish.
Catching a Football with One Hand
Put your outstretched palm in a position to catch the ball.
If you can, take your dominant hand, open your palm completely, and
begin to follow the movement of the ball with your hand. With just
enough hand-eye-coordination, you can begin to do with just by looking
at the ball, not looking at your hand at all.
Anticipate the ball by moving your hand back slightly.
Right before the ball flies into your hand, move your hand back
slightly, like the ball is an egg. This will cushion the impact. By doing this, you're
effectively making the ball travel slower as it hits your hand because
your hand is traveling backwards as well.
Think about it: If you don't move your hand back at impact, the ball
is going to bounce off your hand like a tennis ball off of a brick
wall. If you do move your hand back, the ball will nestle into your hand
like a head onto a pillow. Or at least that's the hope!
Aim to catch the ball with your fingers as much as your palm. Catching the ball only with your palm will make the catch
much
harder when you're trying to control the ball. If you catch the ball
with both your fingers and your palm, it'll be much easier to
hold onto the ball as you bring it away from your body towards it.
Quickly bring your hand — and the ball — into a tucked position beside your body.
Try to use your body to make sure you don't
drop the ball by quickly tucking the ball into your stomach or chest.
How to Kick, Dribble, and Pass a Soccer Ball
Shot form: Only take a few steps back. Do you ever watch soccer
players take a corner kick or penalty kick? Soccer players line up only a
few steps behind the ball. You don't need to get a running start from
15 feet away in order to strike the ball well. In fact, getting a
15 foot running start will probably keep you from hitting the ball well. 
Pay attention to your planter foot. Your planter foot is the foot you're not
kicking with, the foot that you plant next to the ball. There's a
couple things that you should remember when placing your planter foot:
The planter foot and the ball should be side by side. Imagine that there's a line going through the side of the soccer
ball on each side. You want to place your planter foot right on that
line.
Place your planter foot
before the line and you're going to hit the ground and knock up a divot more than you'll hit the ball.
Place your planter foot
ahead of the line and you'll hit the ball before your foot has gotten enough momentum and its proper position.
Point your planter foot in the direction you want the ball to go. If
you want the ball to travel to the left, put your planter foot slightly
to the left. If you want the ball to travel to the right, put your
planter foot slightly to the right. If you want the ball to travel
straight ahead, put your planter foot facing forward.
Bring your leg back to generate force. You want some speed and power to your kick? You get that by bringing your leg back (and moving your hips).
If you want to pass the ball, you only need to bring your leg back a little bit, and you don't have to bend your leg.
If you want to shoot the ball, you should bring your leg back much more, and you want to bend your leg.
Use your arms for position and balance. Many soccer
players bring one arm out before they shoot. If you're shooting
with your right foot, try bringing your left arm out in front of you and
then moving it up over your head in an arc-like movement as you shoot.
Passing: For the most part, pass the ball with the inside of the shoe and never on the toe.
Soccer players pass using the inside of the foot because it's a wider
surface area and it's the most accurate kick. The bad part about this way of kicking
is that you don't get as much power out of it.
Plant your planter foot, turn your foot so that the inside of your shoe is facing the ball, and kick.
Remember, your planter foot will point to where the ball ends up, so if
you want to kick the ball straight ahead, plant that foot facing
straight ahead.
For passes on the ground, follow through with your foot close to the ground. For short passes and passes on the ground, you only need to follow through a few feet. Don't lift your far off the ground.
For passes in the air, lean your body back and follow through with your foot in the air. This time, extend your foot fully, and follow through so that your foot ends up a couple feet in the air.
Shooting:
Shoot the ball using the top of your foot, on the laces. Never use your toe to kick the ball.
Toe-kicking the ball loses all control of where you want to put it. And
accuracy is the most important thing you need when shooting the ball.
Plant your planter foot, bend your foot back straight, and kick the ball with your toe pointed down at the ground. There's a sweet spot on your foot, halfway up your laces, that you should use to drive the ball every time.
- Don't kick the ball too hard.
- Keep your eyes on the ball the whole time.
Follow through with your toe pointed toward the ground. Make sure you follow through on your kick. The power of your kick might bring both of your feet off the ground as you shoot.
Remember that the farther you lean back as you kick, the higher the ball will get. If your body is stiff and straight when you kick, you should get a shot that's low to the ground or mid-height.
Dribbling:
Touch the ball with each step you take with the ball and alternate your feet, don't use the same foot multiple times in a row.
In very quick succession, touch the ball a little bit ahead of you when
you dribble. This will create both good control and increase your
dribbling speed with the ball. With this kind of control you can elude
defenders when they try to reach in and steal the ball, you can just cut
the ball away since it is always so close to you. It is almost as if
you are trying to get as many touches in as you dribble forward with the
ball. Go slowly and exaggerate this at the beginning when you are
practicing, to ensure you are getting a touch on the ball with each
step.
Lift up your eyes.
Be aware of your surroundings but still focus on the
ball while dribbling. Lift your eyes slightly so you know if someone is
open, another defender is approaching, or if there is space to
attack.
Work on your weak foot. The best thing to do is just to
use it. If you continue to strike the ball with your bad
foot, you will see improvement. Have patience. In your
spare time, play around with a soccer ball. Sit down, take a ball and
just roll it back and forth with the weaker foot. The more you do this,
the more control you maintain with the ball, that way it becomes easier
and stronger to use in matches and practices.
Be unexpected and surprising. An example is to dribble in one direction, fake a shot while dribbling, and suddenly cut to the other direction.
Use your body to protect the ball.
Shield the ball with your body when a defender gets close. Try to keep
the ball on the foot that is furthest from the defender and your body
protects the ball.
Thanks for reading our blog!
Thanks to
wikihow for some of the pictures, and for some of the information.
