Defense wins games, and one of the
most exciting defensive plays you can make, is to block an offensive player's
shot. Blocking shots will force the opposing team to respect your defensive presence,
and you will be able to create more scoring opportunities for your team.
Here are some tips to help you block
more shots on the basketball court.
Increase Your Vertical Jump
When I was in High School I used to
rely mostly on my athleticism to get blocks. At first I didn't think much of
it, but I realized that blocking shots will earn the respect of your teammates
and your competition. The opposing team will think twice about throwing up a
weak lay-up when you're lurking around just waiting to send the ball to the
other side of the court.
A high vertical jump allows you to
get more blocks without having to focus too much on timing and patience. For
the average guy, getting a block requires great timing and focus, but when you
have hops, you can get blocks despite a lack of focus or timing.
When you can jump out of the gym,
getting blocks becomes inevitable. As long as you take defense seriously, you
will find yourself getting blocks left and right.
Timing/Patience
There are two ways to block a shot;
in a 1-on-1 situation and in a help defense situation.
In order to get blocks in any of the
two situations you need to have good timing. Good timing requires you to play
disciplined defense and it requires you to be patient.
Don't jump until the offensive
player's feet leaves the floor, or the ball leaves his hands. Don't be a
jumping machine, you can get blocks without jumping if you play good defense. I
can't tell you how many times I blocked somebody without even jumping.
Basketball rewards disciplined
players who take defense serious, so if you want to get more blocks, you need
to be patient and focused on defense.
Experience
Blocking shots requires you to
anticipate what the offense is going to do. So basically, you need to be able to
read and react to what the offense throws your way.
This means you need to get in the
right place at the right time and rely on your past experiences and your
opponent's previous behaviors to dictate where you need to be in order to make
a good defensive play.
Jump straight up and don't lean
towards the defender. After playing organized basketball for years, I realized
that referees will call a foul almost automatically if you lean towards a
defender as you jump up for a block.
The more experience you have the
better. So, play 1-on-1 and lots of pick-up games and seek out opportunities to
block shots and you will become a better shot blocker.
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