How to Do Basketball Tricks

Step 1

The first and most common basketball trick is learning how to spin the ball on your finger.

Step 2

This trick requires a bit of practice, but can be picked up easily with a small amount of persistence. To spin the ball on your finger, start with the ball in both hands and throw the ball up in the air so that it is spinning rapidly in a clockwise direction. After you throw the ball upwards, take you dominant hands pointer finger and see if you can balance the spinning basketball on your pointer finger or your middle finger. The centrifugal force of ball should help it remain in place for several seconds.

Step 3

After the basketball starts to lose its rotation you will need to use your off hand to hit the ball on the side of the ball (don't hit the ball directly or you will knock it off your finger) to help it continue to spin. Once you have mastered spinning the ball on your dominant hands pointer finger, try and switch the ball from finger to finger so that you can spin the ball on all five fingers. If you get really good, you can try and perform the same trick on your non-dominant hand.

Step 4

A second trick involves two basketballs. Start with one ball (ball 1) squeezed between your leg and the other ball (ball 2) in your hands. Throw ball 2 up into the air and quickly grab the ball 1 from between your legs. As ball 2 starts to fall towards the ground, make sure you align the ball 1 in your hands directly so that ball 2 hits ball 1 directly and displaces it to the ground.

Step 5

Once the ball 2 replaces the ball 1 in your hands, ball 1 will fall to the ground and bounce up in the air. Once ball 1 bounces in the air, use ball 2 to catch ball 1 on top of ball 2 (it might take some time to balance one ball on top of the other). Once you have both balls balancing on each other, try and throw the top ball towards the hoop for a made shot.