# Two questions regarding hands



## Sir Patchwork (Jan 12, 2005)

1. How much does your hand size have to do with how good of hands you have? How much of it is just coordination? 

2. If hand size does play a big part in how well you can recieve and handle the ball, should it become part of the pre-draft measurements? It might seem silly, but wingspan kind of seems silly too until you get used to it year after year. 

I look at some examples like Kwame and Tyson, who are both physically imposing in their own way, and would probably be superstars if they had great hands, but that's just something that was overlooked at draft time. They both have little girl hands. 

Then you have a 2nd round pick like Carlos Boozer, who might have the best hands in the league. The way he vacuums the ball in never ceases to amaze me. He can literally grab it out of flight with one hand and already have it palmed. At draft time, he was just another undersized power forward, but I think his hands have allowed him to do some great things with rebounding and also scoring (obviously catching the ball when it comes your way is a big part of scoring).


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

1. It's about three things a. Handsize b. The mental makeup where it's not even a thought that you're gonna get the ball c. Having "soft hands" and the right form for bringing the ball into your hands. Most players lack in one of those departments, and the guys with the best hands are usually very blessed with one of those attributes.

2. No, you'll pretty much be able to see how good a guy catches when you're scouting him.


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## f22egl (Jun 3, 2004)

Kwame Brown has one of the worst hands because he has really small hands. Michael Jordan said that he should've taken note of the fact that Kwame Brown, a 7 footer, cannot palm a basketball with one hands. I wouldn't call Brown uncordinated but he simply isn't strong mentally and disappears for large periods of a game.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

i think having good balance is important because you have to be able to reach out for a ball and not fall over or be more worried about catching your balance than the ball. the other things is you have to be aware. a lot of guys who have bad hands let the ball hit them before they notice its coming. watching tim duncan has really helped me notice those 2 things. i dont think a lot of big men could catch a lot of over thrown lobs he has to reach for or low bounce passes he catches because he has such great balance.

im not sure if hand measurements would be very helpful since you need strong hands too. though scouts should definitely make a note of hand size. and MJ really should have noticed kwame cant palm a ball


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## Hibachi! (Sep 18, 2003)

I think it's part mental and part hand eye coordination. I mean obviously you can't have ridiculously small hands. But almost every NBA player can palm a ball with ease but even if you can't its alot of confidence. The majority of the players that play nervous try to move before they get the ball. Alot of it is just a matter of not seeing the ball all the way into your hands. C-Webb has some of the greatest hands in the NBA yet they aren't all that big. It's just a matter of coordination the other part is mental, like a wide receiver.


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

For power players, I think the biggest advantage that comes with hand size is the ability to protect the ball. If your hands engulf the ball, it's going to be harder for people to take it from you. If you have smaller hands, you're presenting more leather for people to slap at. It also goes without saying that the easier you can palm a ball, the easier time you're going to have controlling it with one hand, which helps with dunks and layups.

Small hands shouldn't prevent anybody from being able to catch passes.

As for measurables, I wouldn't put a ton of stock in hand size. Unlike height and wingspan, small hands are a pretty easy thing to overcome (unless you want to be a great dunker). Look at Ben Wallace. He has notoriously small hands but doesn't have any problems protecting the ball or catching passes.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

As a former player, I think hand size is important on the higher levels of basketball because these passes are being rifled in through traffic. If the passes were always soft, sure guys like Kwame and Tyson would catch it. Although this would all be taken care of, if we taught our bigs when they were little to handle the ball in practice to get them more familiar with the ball. Not every big with small hands can't catch. The art of the bounce pass is magnified when you're dealing with the Kwame Brown's of the world.


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

Kwame can't palm a ball? I have a hard time believing his hands are THAT small.


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## tempe85 (Jan 7, 2005)

I know Marion has huge hands which is one of the reasons I think he has to shoot in a very unorthodox way (at least why that might work better for him). 

Just look at those mits (for that matter look at the wingspan!):










Barbosa might have even bigger hands relative to his height:


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## streetballa (Dec 5, 2006)

tempe85 said:


> I know Marion has huge hands which is one of the reasons I think he has to shoot in a very unorthodox way (at least why that might work better for him).
> 
> Just look at those mits (for that matter look at the wingspan!):
> 
> ...


Damn! those are some huge hands right there.


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## Hibachi! (Sep 18, 2003)

Tyson Chandler and Kwame Brown are both perfect examples of just poor mental ability when it comes to catching and holding onto the ball. If you watch either of them play as SOON as they get the ball down low they are moving and you can tell they are nervous. They start going every which way trying to fake their defender out. But the problem is that alot of times they move before the ball gets in their hands, and ala football that's a big no-no.


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## jericho (Jul 12, 2002)

Hand size? Sounds like a Jerry Krause obsession.

Having very large hands can augment shooting difficulties, but doesn't mean someone will necessarily be a bad shooter. Large hands can make it easier for a big man to protect the ball in the paint, but don't mean that he necessarily will have "good hands." Kwame's issues with catching and protecting the ball are more from the neck up than from his wrists down, in my opinion. 

David Thompson is a good example of overcoming whatever mild challenge is imposed by having smaller hands. He had pretty famously small hands, and during his aerial acrobatics would sometimes wrap the ball against the lower part of his forearm to control it, in lieu of palming. But he did fine...


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

Barkley had to cup the ball too.


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## bballlife (Oct 5, 2003)

Sir Patchwork said:


> 1. How much does your hand size have to do with how good of hands you have? How much of it is just coordination?


As long as your hands are average size or larger, it comes down to concentration, coordination and comfort or composure. Players who have bad hands usually suffer from some type of anxiety or lack of focus, and they do things like rush themselves on a catch. That said, if you have smaller hands, certain passes, like bounce passes with a lot on them, can easily slip out. Because most of the players in the NBA have average or large hands, most of the problems with "bad hands" come from deficiencies in one or more of the areas I mentioned. 




> 2. If hand size does play a big part in how well you can recieve and handle the ball, should it become part of the pre-draft measurements? It might seem silly, but wingspan kind of seems silly too until you get used to it year after year.



Absolutely. In general, the larger the hands, the more control you have on the ball in certain situations, when finishing, for example. When you see player like Wade get in tough situations and still make the remarkable finish, a lot of this is because he has more control, because of his large hands. Wingspan is one of my favorite measurements because it really is a huge advantage to a player. They have the ability to reach the ball on a rebound before another player, they have the ability to poke away balls, and make more impact in terms of help defense. They have an advantage, depending on their mechanics, to release the ball where it is difficult to block.





> I look at some examples like Kwame and Tyson, who are both physically imposing in their own way, and would probably be superstars if they had great hands, but that's just something that was overlooked at draft time. They both have little girl hands.


Kwame has the worst hands in the league, and the problem isn’t hand size, his hands are average size for a guy his size. His problem is anxiety, and having no composure. 



> Then you have a 2nd round pick like Carlos Boozer, who might have the best hands in the league. The way he vacuums the ball in never ceases to amaze me. He can literally grab it out of flight with one hand and already have it palmed. At draft time, he was just another undersized power forward, but I think his hands have allowed him to do some great things with rebounding and also scoring (obviously catching the ball when it comes your way is a big part of scoring).


Yes, but do not forget, Boozer also has an above average wingspan wich helps him big time on both sides of the ball.


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## bballlife (Oct 5, 2003)

_Dre_ said:


> Barkley had to cup the ball too.


He didnt have to. Barkley had or has above average wingspan and hands.


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## Kuskid (Aug 18, 2004)

I'm 6 foot and have small hands for my size, and I catch absolutely everything. Obviously having some big mitts can be a big help, but without good hand-eye coordination and composure it's useless, I've seen this proven true again and again with a couple guys I play with.


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## Dre (Jun 20, 2003)

bballlife said:


> He didnt have to. Barkley had or has above average wingspan and hands.


I strongly believe he cupped the ball, I've seen it on here many times. I don't know why he would if he didn't have to though.


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## bballlife (Oct 5, 2003)

_Dre_ said:


> I strongly believe he cupped the ball, I've seen it on here many times. I don't know why he would if he didn't have to though.



Yes, he occasionally cupped it, a lot of guys did, Jordan would cup it at times, but Barkley still dunked quite easily and with quite a bit of force with either one hand or two.


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## Mateo (Sep 23, 2006)

I'm skeptical on this. If the theory goes that having "small hands", and by that you must mean small _for their size_, meaning their hands are the size of an average sized person, somehow slows them down on making offensive moves, that would apply to players of all positions. Yet I've never heard someone say a shooting guard couldn't score because their hands are too small. It seems to me that it's more likely that Kwame and others are simply fundamentally unsound, and do a poor jump of protecting the ball as they go up.


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## Ryoga (Aug 31, 2002)

Big hands are very important to pretect the ball while driving and to finish.
The biggest advantage jordon had on kobo is that he had those hands so huge that it was very tough to strip the ball away from him, while it's easier to the same Bryant.


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