When you are watching a basketball game you often see almost every player blowing their hands before the jump ball or before the game starts. They also do some pre-game rituals and every person thought that their pre-game rituals would help them win.
The question is why do basketball players blow on their hands? It was asked on Reddit but the thread has been archived so I decided to research it to satisfy your curiosity on why basketball players blow on their hands. Continue reading!
Reasons Why Basketball Players Blow On Their Hands
I researched some reasons regarding this topic and these are the reasons why basketball players blow their hands:
Warm Their Hands
Playing in cold countries is very difficult, especially if your hands are getting cold that you literally can’t move your fingers. Players blow on their hands before the game to warm their hands, playing with cold hands can affect your shooting consistency.
The arenas in the NBA are using a centralized aircon, that is why NBA players blow on their hands before a game to keep their hands cozy.
Improves Ball Handling And Grip To The Ball
Have you ever tried dribbling the ball with cold hands? It is hard, right? It is hard to dribble the ball perfectly if you are having cold hands and having cold hands can have a huge effect on your grip.
One reason why the basketball players blow on their hands is to improve their hand grip so that they can easily dribble the ball and palm the basketball. Blowing your hands will give heat on your hands and that heat would give you a good grip.
To Ease Their Mind
For sure, you felt nervous the first time playing basketball with some dudes that you don’t know right? Sometimes we are feeling nervous before the game starts, and sometimes because of nervousness our hands feel cold right? You can’t play with your full potential if you are feeling nervous and your hands feel cold.
So one reason why basketball players blow on their hands for them to remove nervousness and to make their hands warm. If you are feeling nervous and cold, one way to get rid of it is to blow your hands, it will surely help you to ease your mind.
To Remove Sweat In The Hands
When you play basketball for hours you will notice your hands are getting wet, and it is annoying to dribble the ball while your hands are sweaty.
Sweaty hands can give you a turnover because having sweaty hands can affect your ball handling. It could also affect your shooting because the ball might slip into your hands and go from a different angle. One reason why the basketball players blow on their hands is to make their hands less sweaty and perform better.
3 Exercises To Improve Hand Grip For Better Dribbling And Palming
A strong grip will not only help you to palm a basketball, but it will also help your overall game. Having a strong grip will give you more control when you dribble the ball, it will also give you a better touch when you shoot.
Fingertip Push-ups
Improving your forearm strength would be helpful to improve your hand grip, but this is not the only thing you need to focus on. You should also focus on your finger strength. Strengthening your fingers will help you to palm a basketball.
This video will teach you how to execute the right fingertip pushup:
Dribble With One Finger
Perform squeezing exercises with your finger to improve your hand grip. Use a basketball to perform this exercise. This exercise would help you to palm the ball.
Watch the tutorial below on how to execute the squeezing exercise well.
Squeeze Exercises
Perform squeezing exercises with your finger to improve your hand grip. Use a basketball to perform this exercise. This exercise would help you to palm the ball.
Watch the tutorial below on how to execute the squeezing exercise well.
Conclusion
Blowing your hands before a basketball game will surely help you to perform better. I used to blow my hands before the game and the reason is to make me feel more confident, especially if it is a finals game or if many people are watching. Blowing your hands is a practice that you need to do every single game.
