How to make Better Passes

Passing is an essential skill that contributes to the chemistry of a team. Passing is one of the options to the triple threat stance. To be a good passer a player must have good awareness of his teammates. That is why passing skills are valued just as much as dribbling at the point guard position.


Passing the ball helps boost the morale of a team. When a player passes the ball to a teammate it signifies that the player that passed the ball, trusts the teammate he passed the ball to. This can eventually lead to better teamwork and faster ball movement and floor spacing. Passing the basketball around the court moves the basketball a lot faster than dribbling.

The Chest Pass

There are several ways to pass the ball. One way is the chest pass. The chest pass is a forward throw of the ball into the chest of a teammate.


Basketball Drills: Chest Pass -- powered by eHow.com


The Overhead pass

The Overhead pass is for when a player is trapped and needs to pass the basketball to an open teammate. This is I believe the 2nd most important type of pass.


Basketball Drills: Overhead Pass -- powered by eHow.com


The Bounce Pass

The Bounce pass is the 3rd most important pass. This pass is used when a player needs to avoid a pass from being stolen. A bounce pass is difficult for defenders to steal and helps keep your teammates in position. To perform a bounce pass follow these steps:

1. Hold the ball in your triple threat stance
2. Look for a teammate to pass the ball to
3. Aim the ball 3 quarters of the way to the teammate
4. Pass the ball by pushing off your back foot while stepping into your pass with your dominant foot.


Basketball Drills: Bounce Pass -- powered by eHow.com



The Behind the Back Pass

This bass is the most difficult pass for defenders to defend against. The behind the back pass is can be used when a player stands still, or when they are dribbling. The behind the back pass can be used off the dribble. This kind of pass is difficult to execute, but if it is done right than it can be very useful. This pass can create plays on the court that can turn into points made. A coach loves players that have good enough court vision to make this pass. Practicing this pass can make you better basketball players. To execute this pass:

1. Hold the ball in your hands
2. Lean your shoulders towards your back
3. Take your dominant and put the ball in that hand
4. Push the ball quickly to directly behind your back
5. Quickly let go of the ball and pass the ball.

*Be patient because this is a difficult pass to make. If you do not like this pass then you should not use. (Not everybody uses this pass)

The Alley-Oop

The ally-Oop is the most exciting pass in a basketball. An alley-Oop is when a player passes the ball over the basketball rim while another player catches the ball and dunks the ball. This pass boosts the confidence of the players who play the game the home crowd. Many exciting NBA duos like Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen, Lebron James & Moe Williams, use this play to build their team’s confidence during a slow game.



A team should only use the alley-Oop during fast breaks, or when the person who is dunking the ball has a lane towards the basket to perform the dunk. Alley-Oops should be practiced with your teammates before games. There will be times when a team goes to play a game, and the opposition will be too aggressive for the team to get an open jump shot. This is when the alley-Oop is most useful; because all the passer has to do is toss the ball at the rim and another player can put the ball.

The alley Oop has some critical requirements for it to be effective in a basketball game.

The person who passes the ball must have great passing skills and great court. This type of player should be able to position the ball where only his teammate can get the ball and easily get put the ball in the hoop. The second requirement is that the person who is performing the dunk of the alley-Oop should be able to easily get his/her hands above the rim to dunk the ball.



How to Perform the Alley-Oop

1. The person with ball must find a player who can dunk the ball and has a lane towards the basket.
2. Make eye contact with the player to signal that you want to perform the alley-Oop
3. Immediately toss the ball softly towards the rim so that it is barely above the rim
(The dunker should be at most 3 steps away from the rim by the time the ball is above the rim)
4. The dunker now leaps towards the rim and catches the ball and immediately dunks the ball in to the hoop.

*Alley-Oops take practice and the timing of it should be worked on ALOT.