How to Throw a Bounce Pass in Basketball

A team that passes well is very difficult to defend. A good passing team can move the ball effectively and present easy opportunities for scoring. In order to be a good passer, it is important to understand the fundamentals of passing. This article focuses on the basics of the bounce pass.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Basketball
• Hard surface for ball to bounce
• Teammate

1. Get in proper position. When making a pass, you should start in triple threat position ... feet are shoulder width apart, knees are bent, protecting the ball from the defender.

2. Decide which pass is most effective for the desired end result. You can choose a chest pass, bounce pass, overhead pass, lob pass, wrap-around pass, or lead pass. In this case, we are a choosing a bounce pass as it will be the most effective way to get the ball to our teammate.

3. Place your hands on the left and right side of the ball, holding it with your fingertips. Your thumbs should be on top of the ball while your fingers are on the side.

4. Bring the ball to your belly button and point your elbows straight out.

5. Focus on your target. For a bounce pass, you want the ball to arrive at your teammates belly button. Therefore, you will need to pick a spot on the floor that you will use as a target so when it bounces off that spot, it arrives at your teammates belly button. This spot is 2/3 of the distance from you to your teammate. For instance, if you are 15 feet from your target, you want the ball to bounce off the floor 10 feet away from you (2/3 of 15 feet is 10 feet). That spot is your target.

6. Keep one foot stationary and step towards your target with the other foot.

7. While stepping towards your target, extend your arms towards your target. This extension is a downward motion as you are passing it to a spot on the floor.

8. While extending your arms, quickly your thumbs downs towards the floor.

9. Release the ball towards the target(the spot on the floor). As you release the ball, your thumbs should complete the rotation and will be pointed down at the floor with your hands facing outward. This will encourage a snapping of your wrist which will provide velocity to the ball. In addition, this snapping puts some backspin on the ball which will make it easier for your teammate to catch.

10. After the completion of the pass, you should be in the following position:
    1. Body is pointed at the target
    2. One foot in front of the other (the foot you stepped with)
    3. Knees bent
    4. Arms fully extended in front of you at about a 45-degree angle towards the floor
    5. Hands facing out
    6. Thumbs are pointed at the floor

Tips & Warnings

• The pass should skip quickly off the target(the spot on the floor) and into your teammates belly button. Be sure to put some velocity on the pass. If you cannot get the pass quickly to your teammate, it is probably too far for you to try a bounce pass. Your should probably use an overhead or other pass in that case.
• Take it slow when you first start going through these steps. It is important that you do this properly.
• Once you have the fundamentals of this pass, you can start to move through the steps quicker.
• As with any pass, be sure that your teammate is open and your pass will not be stolen by the defender.
• As you advance in this skill, you can minimize the time that you focus on the target so you do not tip off (telegraph) your pass to the defender.