Air ball, Travel, Foul, Double-dribble! What should I do?

By: Kelly Yuan (age 12)

                                                 

              

History of Basketball

Basketball was invented by an American professor, Dr James Naismith, in 1891. Dr Naismith was Canadian born in Almont, Ontario. He was asked to invent a game to occupy a class of incorrigibles. He had the idea of placing two baskets, each 10 feet high, on each side of the hall and throwing a soccer ball into the basket. He divided the class into two teams (9 on each side because they had 18 people in that class) and made up 13 rules for the game. There was no dribbling allowed. Every time someone scored they would stop the game to let the janitor get the ball with a ladder. After a while, they took the bottom of the basket off.  It was in 1893 that Iron hoops and a hammock-style basket were introduced. The first international game was in 1909. The NBA was founded in 1949.

Now the game is played full court with players dribbling the ball and shooting. The court is made up of one base line on each side, one foul line on each side, a three point line on each side, a backboard and net on each side, a middle line that cuts the court in half and a center circle on the middle line (half court line).  A throw from the three point line gets three points. A foul shot from the foul line gets one point. And a throw outside the three point line gets four points. A lay-up gets two points and everything shot elsewhere gets two points. Get more points than the other team and you win.

Shooting

You should be shooting  the ball with two hands, one directing the ball where to go and the other pushing the ball and shooting. Half bend your knees for more power. Fingers spread on the ball for a dominant hand. You should grip with only fingertips. The non-dominant hand stabilizes the ball. Shoot at an arc. Arm bends at 90 degree (elbow, wrists etc.). Extend knees while extending your arm and snapping the wrist. Follow the movement through with your wrist.  This requires practice.

Lay-ups are easier. What you do, as you approach the basket, is carry the ball and take one and a half steps. Then leap towards the basketball hoop with your left foot and bring your right knee up.

A hook shot is the hardest one. First, dribble until you have stabilized in a favourable position. Then, toe-pivot and make a drop step for foot room. Next, heel-pivot and turn your whole body 90 degrees to the left. After, hold the basketball straight up in a way that makes it farthest from your defender. Then, look at the rim and elevate with both legs. Finally, shoot the basketball by swinging the entire arm and snapping the wrist with a follow through. (Reverse everything if you are left-handed)

You should practice all of them a lot. Have you heard of the saying “practice makes perfect”? Well, that reflects on basketball and shooting. Practice at different spots in case one is not open. Practice by yourself or with one friend to prevent too much distraction. Once you feel you’re ready, test it out in a real game. Stand at a spot you practiced in and wait for a pass. See how you did? You scored!