How to Anticipate the Direction of Basketball Rebounds

In order to excel at rebounding in basketball, you must learn how to anticipate the direction in which a missed shot is likely to rebound. Great rebounders note shooter propensities and other signals that suggest where a missed shot is likely to go. By watching for clues, players can significantly increase their rebounding statistics on both ends of the court.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. During practices and games, study your teammates’ shooting techniques. Notice where the basketball tends to bound when your teammates miss shots.
2. During your own shoot-arounds, pay attention to where your own missed shots tend to go.
3. Take similar notes of the shooting styles and propensities of your opponents. Do so during live play and while reviewing any available game films. Individual players develop different propensities. Some players place great arc on their shots, which tends to cause the basketball to bound high. Others shoot a flat shot, which causes missed shots to bound more sharply forward.
4. During games, watch the basketball after it is shot by a player and before it reaches the goal. Look for indicators of obviously missed shots and adjust your floor positioning so that you are well-positioned for where the basketball will likely come down. Missed shots bounce differently depending on the direction from which they are shot. Straight away shots, when missed long, tend to hit the back of the rim, near the backboard, which causes the ball to bounce high and straight back toward the shooter. A similarly overshot baseline shot will skim off of the far side of the rim and continue in the direction of the shot.

Tips & Warnings

• A badly undershot basketball can glance off of the underside of the rim and bound straight downward very quickly. Be prepared for such misses so that the ball does not strike you in the face.