How to Get Better Hands for Catching a Basketball. With all of the focus on dribbling and shooting, an often overlooked aspect of a well-rounded basketball player is his/her hands. In other words, how well they can catch a pass, grab a rebound or secure a loose ball. There are some big-time college coaches that will only recruit players that have good hands. In this article I will map out a very easy exercise for developing better hands. Not only will it give better tactility to your hands, it will also increase hand-eye coordination and hand quickness.
Stand about 12 feet from the wall with a basketball.
Throw a hard chest pass at the wall.
Watch the ball as it is coming back to you and catch it. After catching, secure it by pulling it into your chest with elbows extended.
Continue to throw passes at the wall until you successfully catch five in a row without fumbling in any way.
At that same 12-foot distance, throw the pass at the wall so it bounces back to you. This will require you to throw the ball lower on the wall.
Watch the ball as it is coming back to you and catch it. After catching, secure it by pulling it into your chest with elbows extended.
Continue to catch the bounce passes until your successfully catch five in a row without fumbling in any way.
Mix up catching chest passes and bounce passes. Purposely throw passes that will come back to you high, low and at different angles. This will allow you to develop quick hands that can catch any pass thrown in your direction.
Once you have consistently caught passes from the 12-foot position, move up to a 9-foot distance and repeat.
As your skill level progresses, continue to move closer to the wall to continually challenge yourself.
Tips
Be sure to be in an athletic postion (knees bent, back straight, head up) when catching the passes.