Passing Fundamentals

Chest pass — two hands from your chest, step toward the target, snap thumbs down and through. The workhorse for open lanes.

Bounce pass — same mechanics, but the ball bounces about two-thirds of the way to the target and arrives at their waist. Slower, but travels under reaching arms — great for feeding cutters and post players.

Overhead pass — from above your forehead, snapping wrists. Used for outlets, skip passes over the defense, and inbounds.

A good pass arrives where the receiver can do something with it: at their shooting pocket, or leading a cutter into space. "On time, on target" is the standard — a late pass to an open shooter is a bad pass, because open doesn't last.

Pass to the target hand a teammate shows, and pass away from the defender. A pass that makes your teammate reach back into traffic is a turnover you threw.

See the floor before you catch — great passers know where everyone is ahead of time. Use pass fakes: a convincing fake moves defenders' hands and feet, opening the real passing lane. Coaches say "fake a pass to make a pass."

One warning: avoid jumping to pass with no plan, and avoid "telegraphing" — staring at your target lets defenders jump the lane. Eyes can lie; passes shouldn't.