Palming a basketball is something you see players do often. At the NBA level, palming the ball with ease is pretty common. Seeing this, knowing the size of your hands aren’t too big, you might start to wonder “Are small hands bad for basketball?”
The answer to this question is that smaller hands could give you some problems with certain things while playing the game of basketball. For instance, if you need to palm the ball to go up for a dunk, or do an acrobatic layup, it may be harder for you in comparison to someone who has large hands.
However, if your passion is basketball, having small hands shouldn’t take you away from the game you love.
In What Ways Could Smaller Hands Help Basketball Players?
Despite being at a disadvantage, there are some postives that can come with smaller hands when it comes to basketball. Below we will go over multiple ways having smaller hands may actually help you.
Ball Control When Dribbling
Have you ever tried to dribble a tennis ball? You may have realised that it’s pretty hard because of the size of your hand in comparison to the ball. With smaller hands, you may be more adept at controlling a basketball during dribbling drills and movements, because the ball fits better in your hand.
Speed When Dribbling
With larger hands, it may be harder to dribble the ball as fast as someone with smaller hands. This is why you often see point guards control the ball much faster than taller players, who have larger hands.
For example, take point guard TJ McDonnell for instance, he has very tiny hands, yet when he receives the ball he’s lightning quick, and you can’t tell that he only has 7.5” by 7′ hands. The average hand size in the NBA is 9.5 inches in length.
Kawhi Leonard is someone who has extremely large hands, and when you see him dribble, it’s not necessarily quick like TJ, it’s more controlled, but it seems as if he can’t move as fast with the ball. This is likely due to the size of his hands, which are 9.75/11.25 inches long.
Smaller Hands Don’t Get In The Way Of Your Jump Shot
Shaq’s hands are 10.25/12 inches, which is on the larger side. Shaq has missed the most free throws of all time, which is largely due to his hands. his hands were so big in comparison to the ball, it was hard for him to shoot with ease, without his hands getting in the way.
On the other hand, Steph Curry has 9 inch hands, which is slightly below average, and he’s considered the best 3 point shooter of all time, and also has the best free throw shooting percentage of all time as well.
As you could see, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and having small hands isn’t as bad as it seems.
How Can You Palm a Basketball With Small Hands?
If you have smaller hands than the average person (not talking NBA players), there are several things you can do to help you palm a basketball and gain an advantage over your opponents. Some of these tips include:
Work on strengthening your wrists and forearms
This will help improve the sensitivity of your hands, making it easier for you to close and squeeze your fingers around the ball as needed. You can do this in multiple ways including using a hand grip strengthener, and practicing palming a basketball. The more you try it, the more you could potentially improve your control.
Stretching Your Fingers
The combination of stretching your fingers along with strengthening them is often what you need to be able to palm a basketball. One way to do this is by placing your fingers on the surface of a wall, and gently moving them back as far as possible. You can then hold this position for 10 seconds before releasing, repeating several times a day until you notice improvement.
How Can Someone Dunk The Ball With Small Hands?
If you’ve done all of the above in order to try and work on palming the ball, but still have had no luck, you may need to try a different approach. A few ways to dunk a basketball with small hands would be to use two hands, and cuff the ball using your wrist to assist in the motion.
Use Two Hands
Using two hands is a way to ensure that you could dunk the ball without losing it. However, using two hands is more difficult due to the fact that you don’t get as much extension as you do with one hand, so in order to dunk with two hands you’re vertical jump may have to be a little bit higher.
Cuff The Ball Using Your Wrist To Assist In the Motion
Another way you could try to dunk with small hands is by cuffing the ball between your hand in your wrist/forearm. This will help you make sure the ball doesn’t slip out of your hand. Just like the two hand dunk, you won’t be able to extend as much, so you’ll need to make sure you have a good enough vertical leap to do so.
In Summary
Having small hands could hurt you in certain circumstances but it’s no reason to give up on your basketball career, or hobby of playing basketball in your spare time.
If you found this post to be helpful, please share it wherever you can, as it will help others struggling with small hands learn how they can still excel at the sport of basketball.
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