Everything ball

1. The Court and Equipment

Court Size

• Length and Width: NBA courts are 94 feet long and 50 feet wide. High school courts are usually 84 feet long.
• Three-Point Line: The distance depends on the league:
  • NBA: 23 feet 9 inches from the hoop.
  • FIBA: 22 feet 1.75 inches.
  • High school: 19 feet 9 inches.
• Key (Paint): The area under the hoop is 16 feet wide (NBA) or 12 feet wide (high school and college).

Equipment

• Hoop: 10 feet high, with a rim that is 18 inches across.
• Basketball Size:
  • Men’s pro/college: Size 7 (29.5 inches around).
  • Women’s pro/college: Size 6 (28.5 inches).
  • Youth: Size 5 (27.5 inches).

Shooting Mechanics and Tips for Accuracy

Shooting requires perfect technique and consistency. Focus on the following aspects:

• Proper Stance: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and weight on your toes.
• Shooting Form: Hold the ball with your shooting hand underneath, and your guide hand on the side. Extend your arms and flick your wrist.
• Follow-Through: After releasing the ball, keep your arm extended with your fingers pointing towards the basket.

To improve, practice free throws and spot shooting drills to increase your shooting consistency.

2. Game Length and Structure

Time Format

• NBA: Four quarters, 12 minutes each.
• FIBA: Four quarters, 10 minutes each.
• NCAA (Men's): Two halves, 20 minutes each.
• High School: Four quarters, 8 minutes each.

Time Rules

• Halftime is 15 minutes.
• Overtime lasts 5 minutes until one team wins.
• The clock stops during fouls, out-of-bounds plays, timeouts, and free throws.
• Teams have 24 seconds (NBA/FIBA) or 30 seconds (college) to take a shot that touches the rim.

Conditioning and Strength Training

Basketball players need endurance and strength. Key areas to focus on include:

• Endurance: Running and sprinting drills will improve stamina.
• Strength: Exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, and planks build leg, core, and upper body strength.
• Plyometrics: Box jumps and other jump training exercises improve explosive power for better jumping and agility.

4. Player Actions and Violations

Dribbling Rules

• Traveling: Taking more than 2 steps without dribbling.
• Double Dribble: Dribbling, stopping, then dribbling again or using both hands at once.

Passing

• Players pass the ball to teammates using chest passes, bounce passes, or overhead passes.

Violations

• Backcourt Violation: Bringing the ball back into the backcourt after crossing the midcourt line.
• 3-Second Rule: Offensive players can’t stay in the opponent’s key for more than 3 seconds.
• 5-Second Rule: A closely guarded player must pass, shoot, or dribble within 5 seconds.
• 8-Second Rule: Teams must move the ball past half-court within 8 seconds (NBA/FIBA).

5. Scoring and Shooting

• Field Goals: Worth 2 points inside the three-point line or 3 points beyond it.
• Free Throws: Worth 1 point, taken from the free-throw line after fouls.

6. Defensive Rules

• Stealing: Defenders try to take the ball from the offense.
• Blocking: Players can block shots but must avoid goaltending, which is touching the ball as it’s going down toward the hoop.

Defensive Violations

• Illegal Defense (NBA): Teams must follow man-to-man or zone defense rules.
• Defensive 3-Second Violation: A defender can’t stay in the paint for more than 3 seconds without guarding someone.

7. Fouls

Personal Fouls

• Called for physical contact like pushing, holding, or hitting.

Team Fouls

• Teams can only foul a certain number of times per quarter (NBA: 5). After that, the other team gets bonus free throws.

Technical Fouls

• Called for bad behavior like arguing with referees or delaying the game. Results in 1-2 free throws and possession for the other team.

Flagrant Fouls

• Rough or dangerous contact leads to flagrant fouls, which may include free throws and possible ejection of the player.

8. Substitutions and Timeouts

• Substitutions happen during stoppages, and there is no limit to how many a team can make.
• Teams get a set number of timeouts (NBA: 6 per game). Timeouts last 60 or 30 seconds.

9. Strategies

Offensive

• Pick-and-Roll: A ball handler and a screener work together to get a scoring chance.
• Fast Break: Quickly moving the ball downcourt to score before the defense gets set.

Defensive

• Man-to-Man: Each defender guards one offensive player.
• Zone Defense: Defenders guard certain areas of the court instead of specific players.

10. Special Game Situations

• Jump Ball: Used to settle disputes like when both teams grab the ball at the same time.
• Free Throws: Given for fouls. Players must stay behind the free-throw line until the ball touches the rim.
• Overtime: If the game is tied at the end, extra periods of 5 minutes are played until one team leads.