What is a Point Guard

A point guard is usually the leader of the teamand generally has the role of setting up the entire offense. A point guard should be able to handle the ball, see the entire floor, and be able to effectively talk to the other teammates on the floor. Throughout this article I will give you all the information you need to be your team's point guard.

Handling The Ball:

Handling the ball is easily the most important thing to being a point guard. In order to be the best ball handler possible, you should have at least one "go to" move. This move would be the one that you feel the most confident performing, and should be able to create space between you and your defender.



On top of a "go to" move, you should have 2 or 3 secondary moves that you can use to change up; you should feel comfortable enough to perform these under moderate pressure.

You should practice performing these moves with your head up. This is very important, as you will be surveying the floor when dribbling, and will not have time to look at the ball.

Seeing The Floor:

Another important aspect of being a point guard is being able to see the floor effectively. As a point guard one of your jobs will be finding the open man for the open shot.

In order to better see the floor you will have to be able to dribble with your head up. Practice dribbling up and down the floor scanning the floor side to side.

Passing:

Passing the ball is also extremely important. You should be able to comfortably whip the ball around the court. Passing is important due to the fact that if your teammates are open, and you fail to get them the ball, your team will fail. As a point guard you need to be able to find your teammates on the floor for easy looks.

You should incorporate pass fakes into your arsenal to keep the defender off balance. Try to avoid making to many careless behind the back, or between the leg passes, they are successful sometimes, but are far less accurate than traditional passing techniques.

Creating Your Shot:

As a point guard shooting is not your main job. However, it will be very helpful to you and your team to be able to create your own shot. In order to do this, you need to create a gap between you and your defender. The best way to do this is to "show him your back."

To show your back to a defender means just that, face away from him, make contact between your back and his chest, then explode off making a move, thus creating space for you to shoot.

This method is quite effective when getting into the lane, however it should not been done outside the three point line.

Leadership:

As a point guard, you should have confidence in yourself and your teammates. You should be able to recognize defense and get your team in the right set. You should be vocal in games and in practise.

Let your teammates know when they do something wrong, and congratulate them when they do good. Set the tempo at practices. Make sure everyone knows that you can't slack off at practice.

Have A Relationship With Your Coach:

This is another important part of being a point guard. Your coach has got to have confidence in you. In order for you to correctly perform your job, your coach must have enough faith in you to be able to trust you to call a play with the game on the line.

When the stadium is packed and noisy, a coach will not always be able to call the play. This is where the point guard comes in. He must be able to recognize defenses and set his team up.

Thanks to Gary (aka live4this13) and www.teenbodybuilding.com for creating this fantastic article.