Basketball Fundamentals

 

Basketball Fundamentals can be broken up into 5 main categories and include;

1) Footwork

2) Shooting

3) Dribbling

4) Passing

5) Defence

All these skills are the basis of Basketball and having a good foundation in these areas allows for a greater skill development and allows higher standards to be achieved. These are skills that are extremely important to be introduced at the young age groups but must also continue to be developed at the highest levels. There are many examples of players at the highest levels working on their footwork and basic skills to continue their improvement. You only need to search online to see the plethora of videos of top-class players continuing to develop their basic basketball fundamentals.

Below is an example of a Skills Checklist Basketball WA have used with their Under 12 program;

Movement Fundamentals/Footwork

	Skill	Competency
A	Triple Threat
B	Change of Direction
C	Change of Pace
D	Stutter Stop
E	Jump Stop
F	Stride Stop
G	Forward Pivot
H	Reverse Pivot

 

Dribbling Skills

	Skill	Competency R	Competency L
A	Speed Dribble
B	Change of Pace
C	Retreat Dribble
D	Crossover
E	Behind the Back
F	Between the legs
G	Onside
H	Stutter
I	Combination

 

Passing and Receiving Fundamentals

	Skill	Competency
A	Chest Pass
B	Bounce Pass
C	Overhead Pass
D	One Handed push pass L
E	One handed push pass R
F	Passing off Dribble
G	Pass & Catch on run

 

Layups

	Skills	Competency
A	Layup Right hand
B	Layup Left hand
C	Layup off Dribble
D	Layup off Pass
E	From Halfway
F	Full Court Layup

 

Shooting Preparation and Technique

	Skill	Competency
A	Squared Up – Feet to Target
B	Balance in Stance
C	Ball in Shot Pocket
D	Ball on Finger Tips
E	Eyes on Target
F	L-Shaped Elbow
G	Power from legs
H	Off-hand act as a guide
I	Lock and Snap Follow Through

 

Defensive Fundamentals

	Skills	Competency
A	Close Outs
B	High Hands
C	Short Choppy Steps
D	Drop Step
E	Defensive Slide
F	Box Out

 

Thanks to BWA for their coaching resources.