Sports have been around for many years. All civilizations have developed some type of sport. Hunting is a sport, fishing is a sport, archery is a sport, all these things that the early people did in order to live were considered sports. Today basketball is a major sport played throughout the world. In basketball the goal is to score more baskets than the other team. Five people from each team are on the court at all times. Even if a player commits a foul, they stay on the court. Every time you have the ball, you have three options.
You can pass, dribble, or shoot. Sometimes shooting is not your best option because you may be too far away from the basket or there are people guarding you. Dribbling the ball is by bouncing in on the ground with one hand only. If both hands touch the ball, that is a double dribble. A basketball game starts off with a jump ball. Usually the tallest player on the team or the best jumper does this. The ref throws up the ball at center court in front of one player from both teams. The players jump and try to hit the ball to their team.
The basket your player is facing during the jump ball is the basket you will be shooting at during the game. Now you have the ball. The wide half circle around the basket is the three point line. If you shoot the ball behind that arc you get three points. If you are inside the arc you get two points. If you are shooting and an opponent hits your arm that is a foul. You get to shoot from the foul line which is the line parallel to the basket with the small half circle on the top. Each shot you make from there is worth one point.
If you stop dribbling and you take more than two steps, you may be called for traveling and the other team gets the ball. If you go out of bounds the other team gets the ball also. When you do not have the ball you are on defense. Stay in front of the man you are guarding and keep your hands up to avoid them from shooting the ball, since the less they score the better chance you have of winning. Now that you know how to play, join a team and get out there. You never know how good you are until you try.
