If you’re a player or coach in need of basketball passing tips, look no further. The ability to develop a good, clean basketball passing technique is the foundation to scoring a lot of points. If you can’t get the ball to the open man, you and your team are in for a long day.
Here you’ll find passing tips as well as tips for the receiver. The first section is for passers, the second section is for receivers.
Scan through our list of basketball passing tips and find the one or two or three keys you’re missing now. Then apply these principals to your game and watch the difference they will make for you.
Don’t forget to also check out our passing drills section.
Like to skyrocket your basketball passing skills? Learn how to dramatically increase your focus on applying these basketball passing tips without ingesting a pill or drink.
Basketball Passing Tips
1) Passing to a spot where your teammate can do something positive with it is key.
2) Take one small step toward the player you’re passing the ball to. This will increase your accuracy.
3) Throw the ball away from where the defender is located.
4) Be sure to follow through with all passes.
5) Deliver your passes above the waist and below the shoulders of your teammate. Aim for the shooting shooting pocket.
6) Make sure the ball is on your fingertips and not on your palms.
7) Achieve proper timing by making sure your pass arrives when your teammate is open.
8) Direct passes are quicker and safer than bounce passes.
9) When using two-handed chest and bounce passes, be sure to snap your wrists out at the end of the passing motion.
10) Keep both hands on the ball until the pass is released.
11) Use maximum quickness but without sacrificing accuracy.
12) Never just pass towards your receiver. Have a specific target in mind.
13) Don’t wind up as you’re passing the ball.
14) Always pass through or by the defender, not around or over them.
15) Be sure to pass ahead of an open player to give them the best chance to do something with the ball.
16) Passes should be crisp, sharp and accurate. They should be delivered neither too soft nor too hard so they can be handled easily by the receiver.
17) Be quick when passing. Don’t give the defender defender time to react.
18) In order to open up passing lanes, use fakes on your defenders.
19) Deception is definitely necessary, but don’t be overly careless or fancy.
20) Fake in one direction and then pass the ball in the other direction.
Basketball Receiving Tips
There’s no way to have a successful basketball passing team if you spend all your time practicing the fundamentals of throwing the ball. We feel any discussion about basketball passing tips must involve the fundamentals of catching.
Fumbling and turnovers are caused when receivers take their eyes off the ball or try to do something before they have caught it. This lack of concentration can be fixed by the coach’s emphasis on these tips.
1) Give the passer a good target by keeping the hands above the waist with the fingers spread and relaxed.
2) Show the passer where you want the ball thrown with the proper hand location.
3) Your eyes must concentrate on the ball’s flight all the way into your hands (a basketball passing tip we see abused all the time).
4) Don’t begin your next move until you’ve caught the ball completely (another basketball passing tip we see too many players violating).
5) Move toward the ball until you’ve made contact.
6) Block the ball with one hand with the fingers spread and tuck the ball in with the other hand.
7) Move the ball into the center of your chest and keep it close to your body.
8) Don’t ever try to catch the basketball with just one hand.
9) Allow your hands and arms to give toward your body as you are making contact with the ball.
10) As the receiver, don’t stand around waiting for the pass. Work to get open so you can receive the pass in position to make a play (another basketball passing tip we see a lot of players not utilizing).
11) Be sure your fingers and thumbs are good and relaxed just before catching the pass.