Things you learned from experience during a game

[devin112]

you need to get stronger to shoot the way you did when you were shorter? I don't get it. If you use your legs enough and release on the way up, you shouldn't have a prob w/ HS or college 3.

[OldSchoolBBall]

Things I've learned:

1) Do NOT reach in to strip the ball unless you're 100% sure your hand is flat against the ball. A bunch of co-workers and I were playing at night after work about a decade ago in a decently lit park. My friend tries to strip me from the side on a layup attempt as I'm going up. He instantly falls to the floor screaming "my finger! my finger!" We figured he had jammed his finger really bad (I felt his hand hit the ball and then my thigh as I picked my knee up to jump). Nope. He turns over and his middle finger is bent at a 90-degree angle right at the middle knuckle, with the bone protruding through the skin. We had to rush him to the hospital; his finger still isn't able to bend fully a decade later. This was because he slapped at the ball with his hand coming down sideways, not flat against the ball, and he must have hit my thigh. I rarely reach in for strips for this reason.


2) Do NOT go fully over the back of someone for a rebound and extend your arm over their shoulder in an attempt to back-tap the ball to yourself. I did this in a YMCA league when I was like 18, and my hand was under the ball, about to tap it backwards, with my arm/elbow bridged over the opponent's shoulder. My opponent managed to yank the ball straight down with two hands really quickly before I could tap it. If I didn't retract my hand from underneath the ball in time, my elbow would have been bridged over his shoulder as he pulled down, and probably would have come right out through the skin on the other side of my arm. Needless to say, I'm VERY careful about tapping from over the back since then.

[Maga_1]

Things I've learned:

1) Do NOT reach in to strip the ball unless you're 100% sure your hand is flat against the ball. A bunch of co-workers and I were playing at night after work about a decade ago in a decently lit park. My friend tries to strip me from the side on a layup attempt as I'm going up. He instantly falls to the floor screaming "my finger! my finger!" We figured he had jammed his finger really bad (I felt his hand hit the ball and then my thigh as I picked my knee up to jump). Nope. He turns over and his middle finger is bent at a 90-degree angle right at the middle knuckle, with the bone protruding through the skin. We had to rush him to the hospital; his finger still isn't able to bend fully a decade later. This was because he slapped at the ball with his hand coming down sideways, not flat against the ball, and he must have hit my thigh. I rarely reach in for strips for this reason.


2) Do NOT go fully over the back of someone for a rebound and extend your arm over their shoulder in an attempt to back-tap the ball to yourself. I did this in a YMCA league when I was like 18, and my hand was under the ball, about to tap it backwards, with my arm/elbow bridged over the opponent's shoulder. My opponent managed to yank the ball straight down with two hands really quickly before I could tap it. If I didn't retract my hand from underneath the ball in time, my elbow would have been bridged over his shoulder as he pulled down, and probably would have come right out through the skin on the other side of my arm. Needless to say, I'm VERY careful about tapping from over the back since then.

Damn, that's some scary schittt ! I don't want even to think of that.

[DevDaAllstar]

Things I've learned:

1) Do NOT reach in to strip the ball unless you're 100% sure your hand is flat against the ball. A bunch of co-workers and I were playing at night after work about a decade ago in a decently lit park. My friend tries to strip me from the side on a layup attempt as I'm going up. He instantly falls to the floor screaming "my finger! my finger!" We figured he had jammed his finger really bad (I felt his hand hit the ball and then my thigh as I picked my knee up to jump). Nope. He turns over and his middle finger is bent at a 90-degree angle right at the middle knuckle, with the bone protruding through the skin. We had to rush him to the hospital; his finger still isn't able to bend fully a decade later. This was because he slapped at the ball with his hand coming down sideways, not flat against the ball, and he must have hit my thigh. I rarely reach in for strips for this reason

Common sense tells you not to try to strip the ball from somebody flying at you for a lay-up or going full speed, attacking the basket. Most people just jump to try and block the shot or just get out the way. If anything try to go for the strip when someone's on the way up underneath the basket

[bobbyflay]

madness stories O_O Yeah, when I was shorter I would shoot with both hands. Now I'm doing the right shooting form. It's more consistent because if I shot the way I was before, I would sometimes get like 10/10 shots in a game and get 2/15 shots in another one.
Another Question:How do you play better in one on one defence? My friends,who I play pick up basketball with, don't know/research about basketball concepts so they just think about blocking their man no matter what. This leads to the other person(who is usually more experienced and about 5-30 years older)using cuts/screens/manipulating my teammates/and other things. I try to defend the guy, but usually you can 85% of the time get past on one v one situations. My teammates don't rotate people also :O

[Swaggin916]

Things I've learned:

1) Do NOT reach in to strip the ball unless you're 100% sure your hand is flat against the ball. A bunch of co-workers and I were playing at night after work about a decade ago in a decently lit park. My friend tries to strip me from the side on a layup attempt as I'm going up. He instantly falls to the floor screaming "my finger! my finger!" We figured he had jammed his finger really bad (I felt his hand hit the ball and then my thigh as I picked my knee up to jump). Nope. He turns over and his middle finger is bent at a 90-degree angle right at the middle knuckle, with the bone protruding through the skin. We had to rush him to the hospital; his finger still isn't able to bend fully a decade later. This was because he slapped at the ball with his hand coming down sideways, not flat against the ball, and he must have hit my thigh. I rarely reach in for strips for this reason.


2) Do NOT go fully over the back of someone for a rebound and extend your arm over their shoulder in an attempt to back-tap the ball to yourself. I did this in a YMCA league when I was like 18, and my hand was under the ball, about to tap it backwards, with my arm/elbow bridged over the opponent's shoulder. My opponent managed to yank the ball straight down with two hands really quickly before I could tap it. If I didn't retract my hand from underneath the ball in time, my elbow would have been bridged over his shoulder as he pulled down, and probably would have come right out through the skin on the other side of my arm. Needless to say, I'm VERY careful about tapping from over the back since then.

Gosh man now I never want to play again

I have done that second one but it was my finger that got bent. It hurt but not terribly... that finger feels a little off tho months later. I always think about getting a mouthpiece so I don't lose teeth out there... and wear goggles so I don't get Stoudemired out there. .. but then if think about all the things that can go wrong, you have like 30 pounds of gear on

[carpevicis]

Common sense tells you not to try to strip the ball from somebody flying at you for a lay-up or going full speed, attacking the basket. Most people just jump to try and block the shot or just get out the way. If anything try to go for the strip when someone's on the way up underneath the basket

Since people take it up with 2 hands, just keep your hand horizontal and reach up/down and try to knock the ball out of their hands. It works for me alot of the times and if not I'll contest. Usually though, I'll put my hand in the face to constrict vision.

[bobbyflay]

Well, thanks for the tips everyone. I found out I had to adapt to every single situation. I spent a whole night sorting out my friends' weaknesses/strengths and how to play with/against them. It really helped out alot.

I must keep on training to compete against another pg(found out one of the guys from my school was also trying to get pg. He's much faster because he's like 5'4. He's good at making layups and creating shots. He has bad communication though). Trying to get my thoughts down lol.

Tell any other tips as you like. I'll update weekly on my training. (one more week of strength training then 3 weeks of endurance. 2 more weeks of pure fundamentals then 2 more weeks of recreating my style and some fundamentals).

[bobbyflay]

Dang, can't take this strength training. It's making me slower(but stronger though). I can't wait until sunday so I can start the explosive/endurance training.

I seem to make people worse or something...My friends and I were playing 2v2(I'll be referring the 3 to 1 and 2 and 3). 1=fast but bad form and almost everything 2=balanced but not that great and great at the same time 3=super buff and plays great as a type of shaq but wants to play pg.When I teamed up with 2, he was like 5/15 and I was 4/6. 1 was 6/10 and 3 was 5/7. When I teamed up with 1, he had 1/10(unbelieveable...and they were mostly open layups)and I had 4/7. 2 had 6/10 and 3 had 3/4. When I teamed up with 3...(we usually get like 11-1)he had 2/5 and I had 2/3. 1 had 5/6 and 2 had 4/4. I think I have communication problems or something..I do perfect assists that let them penetrate the defence and 1 just fails and misses openly, 2 just misses all of his jump shots/3's and 3 just keeps hitting the rim.

[bobbyflay]

Update: Beginning 3 week explosive training
strength training: pros-made me have more muscle/feel somewhat stronger/free throws are so much easier now
cons-made me somewhat slower/messed up my arc/

I feel that I have improved free throw shooting, basketball IQ, defence, and maybe more these 2 weeks of strength training. I somehow feel that I have destroyed my arc, but I'm working on it these next 3 weeks. The consequences are me missing more 3's/jump shots/more in and outs.

Edit:The purpose of this thread(for me) is to do a reference for in the future and for the community. I read several threads that wanted to do the same thing, but they never completed it.

[Maga_1]

Edit:The purpose of this thread(for me) is to do a reference for in the future and for the community. I read several threads that wanted to do the same thing, but they never completed it.

Keep updating, nice work

[carpevicis]

Update: Beginning 3 week explosive training
strength training: pros-made me have more muscle/feel somewhat stronger/free throws are so much easier now
cons-made me somewhat slower/messed up my arc/

I feel that I have improved free throw shooting, basketball IQ, defence, and maybe more these 2 weeks of strength training. I somehow feel that I have destroyed my arc, but I'm working on it these next 3 weeks. The consequences are me missing more 3's/jump shots/more in and outs.

Edit:The purpose of this thread(for me) is to do a reference for in the future and for the community. I read several threads that wanted to do the same thing, but they never completed it.

Yeah don't worry about your shot being a little off. The weight training will shock your muscles but you'll get used to it eventually. Just remember to shoot with good form after every workout, because that's how you get better. Don't try to make the shot if it compromises form, form is key here.

[drainthe3]

basketball is a 70% mental game

[bobbyflay]

Update: I can't really say that I improved anything..only trained twice this week, because of party/went to two fairs. I actually got somewhat weaker? but I improved my basketball intelligence.

Improvements: I can now spot more opportunities on the offensive side and defensive side. It's cool. It seems like everything is in slow motion. Example: Me see two defenders not guarding middle. Me teammate to the left side but fail shooter so me not pass until get open for layup. Me do crossover to man. No reaction so me do another crossover to blow by. Me do jumpstop into left layup. Me score!!!

Need Improvements:I need to rework on my wrist movement in my shooting process. It's like when I practice free throws, it's either a perfect swish or an in and out. I play this game where I try to get at least 50% free throw or more out of a certain number of shots. I make around 4-10 in a row then I miss 3-10 in and outs in a row. It frustuates me alot, because I sometimes go to 40-80 with this game with that pattern.

Summary: Negative: Got weaker(don't know how this happened at all)/need to work on wrist movement(in and outs often)/must run faster(getting mile at 6 40, must get at least 5:50 or something). Positive: More basketball intelligence(better reaction)/more feel of the ball(like an extention of my body

[carpevicis]

Update: I can't really say that I improved anything..only trained twice this week, because of party/went to two fairs. I actually got somewhat weaker? but I improved my basketball intelligence.

Improvements: I can now spot more opportunities on the offensive side and defensive side. It's cool. It seems like everything is in slow motion. Example: Me see two defenders not guarding middle. Me teammate to the left side but fail shooter so me not pass until get open for layup. Me do crossover to man. No reaction so me do another crossover to blow by. Me do jumpstop into left layup. Me score!!!

Need Improvements:I need to rework on my wrist movement in my shooting process. It's like when I practice free throws, it's either a perfect swish or an in and out. I play this game where I try to get at least 50% free throw or more out of a certain number of shots. I make around 4-10 in a row then I miss 3-10 in and outs in a row. It frustuates me alot, because I sometimes go to 40-80 with this game with that pattern.

Summary: Negative: Got weaker(don't know how this happened at all)/need to work on wrist movement(in and outs often)/must run faster(getting mile at 6 40, must get at least 5:50 or something). Positive: More basketball intelligence(better reaction)/more feel of the ball(like an extention of my body

You're running miles? I guess that's one way to condition but me personally I try to stick to court drills because if you keep working on that mile you'll lose strength in the enlargement of slow twitch muscles. A mile is way too long, a basketball court is less than 100 feet. Even a conventional 40 is extra.