Basketball is a fun and exciting hobby that can improve your fitness, coordination, and teamwork skills. You can play basketball with friends, join a local team, or practice on your own. All you need is a ball, a hoop, and a court. Basketball can also help you make new friends and enjoy some friendly competition. If you are looking for a hobby that is challenging, rewarding, and fun, basketball might be the perfect choice for you.
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Basketball
as a hobby
Categories: Team Sports
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Helpful content to get started
We curated content to familiarize you with basketball as a hobby and to inspire and help you get started.
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Basketball is not only a fun and exciting sport, but also a great way to improve your health, fitness, and skills. It can strengthen your muscles, bones, heart, lungs, and brain. It can also enhance your coordination, agility, balance, speed, and endurance.
Basic lingo for orientation.
Gameplay Basics
- Double Dribble: Dribbling, stopping, and then starting again — a violation.
- Dribble: Bouncing the ball while moving.
- Foul: Illegal contact with an opponent.
- Jump Ball: How games often start — both players jump for a tossed ball.
- Pivot: Keeping one foot planted while turning with the other.
- Possession: Which team has the ball.
- Traveling: Taking too many steps without dribbling.
Streetball & Pickup Game Terms
- Call Your Own Fouls: No ref? Players agree to self-regulate — and argue a little.
- Check Ball: Used to start or restart possession — offense gives it to the defender, then gets it back to begin.
- D-Up: Short for “defense up” — a call to lock in defensively.
- ISO (Isolation): A one-on-one offensive play — teammates clear out to let you go to work.
- Make It, Take It: The scoring team keeps the ball.
- No Blood, No Foul: If it wasn’t rough, it wasn’t a foul.
- Pickup Game: An informal, unorganized game you can join or start anytime.
- Skunk: When a game ends early because one team is up by a big margin (e.g., 11–0).
- Streetball: A looser, more creative style of basketball, usually played outdoors without refs.
Slang & Culture
- Airball: A shot that misses the rim and the backboard completely.
- And-One: A situation where a player is fouled while making a shot and gets a free throw as a bonus.
- Ball Hog: A player who never passes.
- Brick: A bad miss — usually hits the rim or backboard hard.
- Buckets: Points or shots made. (“He’s getting buckets today!”)
- Clamps: Lockdown defense. (“He’s got clamps!”)
- Handles: Dribbling skill.
- Heat Check: Taking a wild shot just because you’ve been hitting everything.
- Wet: A perfect, clean swish shot.
Positions & Roles
- Big Man: Informal term for centers or power forwards.
- Center (C): Usually the tallest; focuses on rebounds, blocks, and post play.
- Point Guard (PG): Handles the ball and runs plays.
- Power Forward (PF): Strong, physical player near the hoop.
- Shooting Guard (SG): Usually a strong shooter and scorer.
- Small Forward (SF): Versatile player — defends, scores, rebounds.
Common Moves & Techniques
- Block: A defensive play where a player deflects or stops a shot attempt.
- Crossover: Switching dribble hands quickly to shake off a defender.
- Dunk: A shot where a player jumps and slams the ball into the rim.
- Euro Step: A quick, side-stepping move toward the hoop to avoid a block.
- Fadeaway: A jump shot taken while leaning back — creates space from the defender.
- Layup: A shot close to the basket taken while running and jumping.
- Pump Fake: Faking a shot to trick the defender into jumping.
- Spin Move: Using a spin to get around a defender.
Team Play & Strategy
- Assist: A pass that leads directly to a basket by a teammate.
- Fast Break: Quickly pushing the ball upcourt for an easy basket before the defense sets.
- Pick and Roll: An offensive play involving a screen and a cut to the basket.
- Rebound: Grabbing the ball after a missed shot attempt.
- Screen: An offensive move to block a defender and create space for a teammate.
Fun Formats to Know
- 1-on-1 / 2-on-2: Focused, skill-heavy formats — great for practice.
- 3-on-3 (Half-Court): Great for parks or small groups. Often scored to 11 or 15.
- Around the World: Another shooting game — score from different marked spots.
- HORSE: A shooting game — copy the other player’s shots or earn a letter.
- King of the Court: A rotating 1-on-1 challenge. Winner stays on.
Term Videos
How to break the ice and make a start. One Aha! moment is all you need.
- Watch a basketball movie for inspiration.
- Buy a basketball and pump.
- Find the nearest basketball court.
- Shoot some hoops and practice drills with a basketball training app or YouTube tutorials.
- The rest will happen by itself.
First Steps Videos
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Step-by-step tutorials.
How-To Videos
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Essentials to have.
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Further reading.
- Basketball for Health: Should We Hop and Shoot for a Remedy? – Mayo Clinic Proceedings
- Basketball – health benefits | Better Health Channel
- Benefits of Basketball: 10 Physical and Emotional Benefits
- Individual characteristics of physical and mental development and their connection with regular physical exercises when playing basketball – PMC
- Playing Basketball: How It Can Benefit Your Overall Well-Being
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What are the basic skills of basketball?
The basic skills of basketball are dribbling, passing, shooting, rebounding, and defense. Dribbling is bouncing the ball with one hand while moving or standing still. Passing is throwing the ball at a teammate. Shooting is throwing the ball toward the basket. Rebounding is grabbing the ball after a missed shot. Defense is preventing the opponent from scoring.
How can I practice basketball by myself?
You can practice basketball by yourself by doing drills that improve your skills. For example, you can practice dribbling with both hands, shooting from different distances and angles, doing layups with both hands and doing free throws. You can also use a wall or a rebounder to practice passing and catching. You can use a basketball training app and YouTube tutorials. If you have a backyard, consider buying a basketball hoop.
How can I find people to play basketball with?
Try to motivate and recruit friends. If no luck, try the Fullcourt app. If no luck, visit the nearest court and things will happen by themselves. As a beginner, be humble, rebound, defend, and pass first and often.
FAQ Videos
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Additional advice for beginners.
- As a beginner, be humble, rebound, defend, and pass first and often.
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Additional information
| Activities | |
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| Participants | |
| Skills | Adaptability, Agility, Balance, Communication, Concentration, Core Stability, Hand-eye Coordination, Motor Coordination, Multitasking, Physical Endurance, Physical Fitness, Resilience, Self-esteem, Spatial Ability, Teamwork |