Some may be surprised but this is actually a problem for a lot of basketball players. If you have large hands you probably don’t have a problem or need any sort of help with palming a basketball but if you are someone with normal-sized hands or small hands that matter, this may be something of interest to you.
Now if you want to be able to dunk, and you have tried out a vertical jump program like Vert Shock for example, it is one thing actually getting up in the air, but to be able to actually control the basketball in the air and dunking it, is another problem some encounter. The truth is the easier you can palm the ball in your hands, the easier it will be to dunk a basketball for example.
In the NBA, players like Michael Jordan and of course, Kawhi Leonard – The CLAW – are famous for their big hands in the NBA and they often use this ability to palm the ball to their advantage on the basketball court. It also helps to be able to palm a ball to dunk consistently and better.
Palming a basketball helps you become a better dribbler, it helps you dunk, and it also helps you do certain moves others can’t even dream of.
When people want to be able to dunk and try a vertical jump program like Vert Shock for example, they find some obstacles along the way. The main obstacle is normally being able to jump high enough to get the ball above the rim, and it is also being able to actually control the ball throughout the dunking motion. If you don’t know how to palm a basketball properly, it will hold you back from being a good dunker.
You should be happy to know that learning and training to palm a basketball isn’t actually very hard to do, even if you have small hands. If you have ever tried to palm a basketball before, you may be saying, “I wish my hands were bigger so I could palm this basketball”. There are limitations you have to deal with, but with the correct practice and technique, it is possible for just about anyone, and just know it isn’t that hard.
There are two important factors that you do need to look at that INFLUENCE the ability to palm a basketball. In this article, I will be covering both of these factors and some methods you can use to improve your ability to palm a basketball.
The following two important factors that influence your ability to palm a basketball:
- Hand Size
- Strength and Palming Technique
Hand Size
It should be pretty obvious to you. When palming a basketball it is pretty obvious that the size of your hands plays a big role in your ability to palm a basketball.
Look at Kawhi Leonard for example. He has some of the biggest hands I have ever seen and he really uses this to help him in many ways in basketball. It gives him the advantage and he can palm the ball with ease with one hand.
The truth is you can have excellent technique or power, but the closer your fingertips are together, the smaller your hands are, and the smaller amount of pressure you can apply on the basketball inwards.
HAND SIZE PLAYS AN IMPORTANT RULE
Hand size plays a very important role in helping you palm a basketball. Although you can train yourself, it may be impossible for some people who have extremely small hands.
For those of you with smaller hands, you may be able to palm a basketball, but the level of strength and technique would have to be higher than most. You would have to train more as well and work harder. Yeah, I know it sucks, but it is something you have to go through.
Technically, there really isn’t an actual measurement that determines whether or not you can palm a basketball, but there are realistic numbers you can look at.
It isn’t all about the length of your wrist to middle finger but rather, hand span matters more. Your hand span is the distance between your thumb and pink when you spread out your hand to its maximum length. In reality, you can have a shorthand length but a really high hand span with wide hands.
Now obviously other things like finger or grip strength also play a role. Having a really good grip strength can most of the time make up for small hands.
It is true that the average minimum hand size where you can comfortably palm a basketball is 7.5” in hand length and 8 ¼” hand span. In order to comfortably palm a basketball after proper training strength and technique, these are the numbers you should be aiming for.
If you have these measurements, don’t expect to be able to palm a basketball with ease. It may seem a little bit tricky but with proper training, you can easily be able to palm the basketball comfortably. It is all about training your technique and grip strength.
How To Measure Hand Length and Hand Span
In order to measure your hand length or hand span, it is as simple as having some sort of measuring tool, whether that is a ruler or a tape measure.
For you to measure your hand length, you need to measure from the base of your hand where your wrist is, to the top of your middle finger. Below is an example of where you should be measuring
For you to measure your hand span, you need to spread your pinky and thumb as far apart as you can to your maximum capacity, spread across from your measuring tool. In most cases, you should be using a ruler to measure. Please follow what is shown below.
Technique and Strength
When it comes down to palm a basketball, there is more to it than just hand size. As a matter of fact, your technique and palming skills are VERY IMPORTANT and almost more important than your actual hand size.
Most professional basketball players couldn’t just palm a basketball as they do now DAY 1. Unless you are Kawhi, MJ, or Shaq for example, you can’t just do it DAY 1.
As soon as you are able to palm the ball, it is just a matter of working on it and spending more time palming the ball to maintain the ability to further strengthen your muscles. It will be able to be consistent and once you know how to palm a ball, you should still be practicing so you can further develop those muscles used when palming a basketball.
In order to feel more comfortable palming a basketball, you need to work on something called grip strength. With grip strength, there are three different types that you need to look at.
- Crush Grip: This is the grip between your fingers and your palm. This is the grip you use for “crushing” stuff or shaking hands for example.
- Support Grip: This grip is the ability to maintain holding something. It is needed if you want to keep a hold of something. An example could be when you are at a gym when you need to hold onto a barbell or some machine for example.
- Pinch Grip: This grip is the most important. It is the grip between your fingers and your thumb.
PINCH GRIP IS THE TYPE OF GRIP STRENGTH YOU NEED FOR PALMING A BASKETBALL
However, it is important to note that there isn’t much carryover between the pinch grip and the crush grip. The crush grip requires more strength with your 4 biggest fingers, and the pinch grip requires more strength in your open-handed state, mainly with your pinky.
The first thing people do is look at hand grippers to improve their grip on their hands. Hand grippers do strengthen your hand flexor muscles, which are the muscles used to crush things, but when it all comes down to palm a basketball, there are better ways to train for it.
Your main focus should be on your PINCH GRIP.
Now for some of you, you are looking to increase your grip on a basketball to help you dunk a basketball and although that will help, you still need to be able to have the ability to vertically jump high enough to dunk a basketball. If you want a way to help increase your vertical jump check out my article on a vertical jump program called Vert Shock, a vertical jump program designed to help you increase your vertical jump.
How to Strengthen Your Pinch Grip
As you already know, you need to focus on your pinch grip and strengthen that. In order to comfortably palm a basketball, you should do the following exercises.
Progression Palming – Use Different Basketball Types and Sizes
The simplest way to really work your way up towards palming a basketball is to work on palming different basketball sizes and types. You need to start small and work your way up. Different sizes of basketballs have different levels of grip. Normally if you are working with a new, clean, rubber basketball, it will have the highest amount of grip. The more the basketball is used and worn out, the less grip the ball will have. A leather basketball which is the one used in NBA games, will be smoother and slick, and ultimately harder to grip.
Even though you may think it is better to start off with a full-sized leather ball like the pros, it is better to start off small. Start with a small rubber ball for example, and work your way up. Use different types of basketballs to help you with your progression such as a rubber women’s ball and then you can work your way to a leather men’s ball.
I would recommend that once you feel comfortable enough to move to gripping a basketball, start off by holding each basketball for 20 seconds. Once you can do that comfortably, you can move up. Here are the basketballs you should be working your way up towards.
Follow in this specific order:
- Women’s Basketball → RUBBER = hold for 20-30 seconds
- Women’s Basketball → LEATHER = hold for 20-30 seconds
- Men’s Basketball → RUBBER = hold for 20-30 seconds
- Men’s Basketball → LEATHER = hold for 20-30 seconds
As soon as you feel like you can hold a women’s rubber basketball for a few sets of 20-30 seconds, you can move up a tier. Something to know is that you won’t really develop and strengthen your grip unless you can palm a basketball for at least 5-10 seconds at a time. This is why if you can’t afford to start off with regular men’s basketball, and it is why it is better to start off smaller, otherwise, you would be just wasting time.
Fingertip Pushups
This may sound like an odd one but it is a very effective workout and it is one of the workouts you can do that does not require any sort of equipment whatsoever.
In order to perform a fingertip pushup, is pretty easy. Just perform a standard push but instead of using your hands with your palm flat on the ground, lift your palm up with your fingertips. Your body should be supported by your fingertips and feet of course, and from there just perform a regular push-up. This is more challenging than a normal push-up so if you are someone who struggles with push-ups, you can start off by using the women’s push-up technique with your knees on the ground. Again, there is no shame in that.
Finger Stretchers
Finger stretchers are different from hand grippers. This small, cheap tool, is a good aid for learning how to palm a basketball. These stretchers are a great way of training your finger muscles in isolation. They are VERY CHEAP and will strengthen all of your muscle groups with the PINCH GROUP which is very important and good.
Notice that some call them resistance bands as well.
Palming a Basketball Horizontally
The truth is that gravity is going to be your enemy in a lot of things. In basketball, when palming the basketball, gravity plays a big role. In order to train your hand to palm a ball, something you can is to start palming your basketball horizontally, parallel to the floor and ceiling.
When performing this sort of workout, you should feel your hand start to hurt with a burning sensation running down your forearm if you hold the ball in that same position long enough. Make sure to not overtrain, but you also need to make sure you don’t undertrain. I would try this once a day and also record how long you can hold it in that position. Every day, try to beat your time from the previous day, whether that’s by one second or more. As you improve, the longer you hold the ball, the better you can grip and palm it. Once you feel comfortable and it starts to become easier, make gravity play an even bigger role, make it harder for yourself by angling the ball towards the floor to make it harder for you.
Plate Pinch Gripping
This is an exercise you can do to increase your grip strength. You can only do this exercise if you have access to the gym or weights.
This is a handgrip exercise and it REALLY HURTS. It helps build your finger-pinching power. To do this you need to grab a pair of weight plates, and you need to pinch each plate with each hand so that your thumb is on one side of the plate with your FOUR other fingers on the other side. You should be standing up with the plates, with your arms to your side, fully extended. Pinch the plates with your fingers as hard as you can. Hold the pinching for as long as you can until your grip begins to fail. Make sure to handle the plates on the floor carefully, so that you don’t drop them on your feet and hurt them.
I would advise that if you do decide to go this route, you should start off with just 5 lbs and then work your way up to 10 lbs. You can also try this by just using your THUMB and PINKY with them being on opposite sides. Hold this for at least 20 seconds. Your pinky is very weak and crucial when gripping so it is better to build your pinky. Do not be afraid to go lower than 5 lbs if you have to.
Just make sure to do a few sets with each hand and to try and hold it for at least 20 seconds. I would recommend holding it for as long as you can, but 20 seconds is the recommended time.
Climbing
What many don’t know is that climbing is probably the best all-around workout to increase your strength training.
It is said that athletes with the best all-around grip strength are climbers. This is because of the grip work you are doing with your hand and forearm while climbing. People with crazy grip strength are normally those who are climbers.
Climbers use all sorts of different muscle groups when climbing and as a result, you are training all kinds of handgrip when climbing.
I would recommend that if you don’t have access to a rock-climbing wall of some sort, you can try a hang board, which is pretty cheap and not really too expensive.
Hand Stretches
There are some stretches you can do for your hands and fingers that could potentially increase the surface area that you are trying to palm a ball with. It could also strengthen muscles and ligaments that have to do with palming or gripping.
You can try the following hand stretches, and doing so may just help you get a better grip:
- Finger Lift → place your hand on a flat surface with your palm down. Gently lift your thumb and then lower it. Repeat this for the rest of your fingers. You can follow this by lifting all your fingers up at once and then lowering them. Repeat 10 times.
- Finger Bend → bend down each individual finger one at a time, and hold each stretch for about 10 seconds. Once you are done stretching each individual finger, stretch all fingers and hold them for 30 seconds.
- Finger Stretch → stretch out fingers as far as they can go and hold for 30 seconds. Repeat 10 times
Does It Matter What Basketball You Use?
I would say it does. Some basketballs just naturally have more grip than others do. If you are using a basketball with rubber material, those are much easier to grip than those regulated basketballs with leather.
It also depends on how WORN the basketball is. The more you use your basketball, the more worn out it becomes and the more grip it loses. When I first bought my NCAA Wilson Basketball, it felt fresh and brand new. It was a leather ball and all the grip was there. The more I use it the more worn out it becomes. A year later, most of the grip was gone. It is still a great ball but just not the same as it was when it was brand new, and ultimately it became a lot harder to grip the ball. Things like this for example matter.
The basketball the NBA uses is genuine full leather and it is smooth and hard to palm.
At the end of the day, it does matter what basketball you use. You need to make sure you start at an easier basketball to grip and then work your way up. Aim for those rubber basketballs first before you move up in tier.