Rebounding can be an overlooked skill at times. People never realize how tough it can be to be an amazing rebounder. Those people need to step in rebounders' shoes and discover how amazingly wrong they are.
One thing that I hate is when people say, "Come on. You're at least 4 inches taller than that guy. You should have grabbed that missed shot easily." Sure, height is a great help when you're a rebounder, but it's definitely one of the bottom things basketball the list of most important things to be a rebounder. Rebounding takes physical strength, determination, positioning and aggressiveness.
Physical strength isn't extremely necessary to be a rebounder, but if you're fighting for a board against a guy with twice the muscles you have, it's going to be tough. Upper body strength is the key here. If you're reaching up to grab a board at the same time your defender is, your upper body strength helps you to rip the ball away from him. Vertical can definitely help in rebounding too. Jumping 5 inches higher than your opponent is definitely going to help you out-rebound your opponent.
If you think that you can't grab a rebound, then obviously you're not going to grab it. Be determined in yourself that you're a better rebounder than your opponent, and that small boost of self-confidence will definitely help you out. If you're a smaller guy, don't tell yourself that you have no chance of grabbing a board. Just jump as high as you can and fight for it. I personally love the feeling when I've got a guy that's almost twice as big as me and at least a 6 inches taller than me who's trying to box me out, and then I fight around him and grab the rebound. I've seen many smaller players give it all they've got to fight for position against a taller player and rebound the ball.
A great rebounder knows where to position himself to get the best chance of rebounding the ball. Obviously the best position you can have is in front of your defender. If you are already in front of your defender and boxing him out, the best thing you can do is push him backwards and keep your arms out to make sure he doesn't get past you. Keep on feeling him to know where he is, and if he gets in front of you, the only option you have is to fight back for position. If you're fighting for position, the person who is boxing you out usually fall for a fake. Take one step one way, and the quick burst to the other way and fight for that position. Don't be afraid to get rough. Just make sure you don't jump over him, because that will definitely be a foul. Another great way to get position is predicting where the ball will bounce off the rim, and moving to that position.
If you watch the NBA you will notice that some the best rebounders are the aggressive ones. Take Kenyon Martin for example. In my personal opinion, he's one of the most aggressive NBA players. He will play as rough as he can to grab a rebound. If that ball isn't in anybody's hands, then he will try his absolute hardest to grab that ball. Here's my take on aggressive rebounding. Imagine you haven't eaten in weeks, and your opponents have full stomachs that are greedy and want all the food. Pretend the ball is a nice juicy steak with honey basketball sauce smothered all over it. When that ball hits the rim, you don't want the well-fed opponents to eat your food, right? So do whatever you can to get your hands on the juicy steak and stop your opponents from getting it. If you're creative enough of thinking this while playing a game, then this analogy can help you out.
Being a rebounder definitely takes some toughness. But if you have these four characteristics, rebounding will be seem to be easier to you. Stay aggressive and you'll be out-rebounding opponents like it's nothing.
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