Key Takeaway: Passing the basketball efficiently and effectively is crucial in team sports, offering numerous benefits like building rapport with teammates and disrupting opponents' defenses. Understanding and mastering the different types of passes, such as the bounce pass, chest pass, overhead pass, and one-hand pass, is essential for players of all levels to enhance their gameplay and facilitate successful plays and scoring opportunities.
Passing the basketball is one of the most important things a player should know, in every team sport it is being practiced by players. The importance of passing is so important than ISO play, I did not say not to perform ISO plays, but passing the ball has many benefits. Passing the ball is the best way to perform plays and score easier, it will build rapport with your teammates as well and it is a best technique to destroy the defense of the opponent.
For beginners to perfectly make specific types of passes, make sure they should understand the importance of it and how to execute each pass well.
There are 4 common types of basketball pass:
- Bounce pass
- Chest pass
- Overhead pass
- One-hand pass
1. Bounce Pass
When to use:
- At the end of a fast break, when passing to a player inside the paint, to a player making a cut to the basket, or when a big man will post up.
- To pass under the hands or between the legs of a defender if possible.
- It’s the slowest of all passes, you should not use it from court to court fastbreak because it will be a turnover for you.
- It is good for short passes and at the end of the fast break
How to perform:
- Passer should aim to bounce the ball about 2/3 the distance between himself and the receiver.
- Receivers should catch the ball below the waist or over the waist, depending on the force used to perform the bounce pass.
- Pass should be pushed outward, not thrown down.
- Passes should start at the waist with arms extending out toward the spot where the ball should bounce. Make sure to bounce the ball accurately to your teammate. And if you are going to perform a spin to the bounce pass, make sure it is accurate.
- Hands should follow through when performing bounce pass
2. Chest Pass
When to use:
- Most efficient and effective pass for ball movement.
- To get the ball to a teammate when there’s no defender in the passing lane.
How to perform:
- Pass the ball from your chest area using two hands.
- Aim for your teammate’s chest.
3. Overhead Pass
When to use:
- To pass over a defender whose hands are down.
- Great for skip passes across the court, for outlet passes, or to feed a post.
How to perform:
- Raise the ball above your head.
- Use both hands to make a hard, accurate throw to a teammate across the court.
- Aim for your teammate’s chest, head or above their head, depending on how closely they are guarded.
4. One hand pass
When to use:
- To pass under the arms of players or past a defender who is guarding closely.
- It can be a direct pass or a bounce pass.
- It works best when the passer fakes high and then passes low.
How to perform:
- You can bounce the ball, pass from the chest and you can throw it like a baseball, as long as you use one hand.
- Make sure all your power and strength will be used because you are only using one hand
- Make sure to pass it well to your teammates and execute it properly, or else you will commit a turnover.
Some important tips when passing the ball:
- Make sure that you are passing the ball in the right direction where your teammates are standing
- Place hands on the side of the ball, make sure your fingers are already spread.
- Make sure to follow through when performing a pass
- Ball goes where your hands and fingers direct it. You can use your fingers as well to make the ball spin so that it could give direct direction to the ball.
- Put all your strength and accuracy when passing the ball
Some important tips when catching the ball:
- Look at the ball always, as in ALWAYS. I remembered at high school I was hit in the face because I was looking on my opponents rather than on my teammates. So look at the ball always
- Catch the ball with open wide arms when your teammates perform a chest pass and one hand pass
- To catch a bounce pass, make sure that you look where the direction of the ball is going after it’s performed.
- Softly catch the ball. Make it smooth when catching the ball
- Never ever hesitate to catch the ball.
