Basketball Fundamentals- Lead Passing
Lead your team through your passes
It is essential for every team to have a leader, but that is not the topic of this article. We are talking about leading your teammates with your passes. It is an art learned by few, but it will allow you to have a competitive edge on your competition if you can perform the skill properly. SiP.com is here to give you a few tips on the skill of leading your passes, and you should be able to accomplish this skill in your next game or practice.
Let us first talk about why leading your passes gives you an edge. It is simple, if you are passing the ball to a teammate and they have to stop their movement to accept the pass, you are giving your teammates’ defender a chance to catch back up and possibly steal the pass.
It also gives you an edge because your teammates will have a much better chance of making their shot if the pass is leading them. On the other hand, your teammate will have a better chance of making a pass to a teammate that will lead to points for your team.
Now that we know why it is important to be able to lead your teammates with passes, let us begin to discuss how you can accomplish this task out on the court.
First, you need to know when to execute a lead pass. The most common situation when this type of pass is necessary is when your teammate is breaking towards the hoop and has a step on their teammate. Leading the pass to your teammate will allow them to receive the pass and easily lay the ball into the basket.
The second situation when the lead pass is useful is when you are trying to direct your teammate into an open area of the court. This is a difficult type of lead pass, but it can be the one skill setting yourself apart from your competition. What you need to look for when you have the ball is an open area of the court, and a teammate to move to that area to receive a pass. The best way to direct your teammate to the open area of the court is to guide them to the area by making a pass to that area.
The key is to be able to make this type of pass without turning the ball over. There are two ways to turn the ball over with this pass. One, you pass the ball out of bounds because your teammate had no clue you were going to pass the ball to that area. To avoid this, the lead pass to an open area of the court needs to be talked about in practice. The second way to turn the ball over is not to lead the pass enough for your teammate, and the defender picks the pass off. This can also be avoided by practicing this for of passing in practice.
Having the lead pass skill in your toolbox as a player will help you win games and look good doing so.