How to Hold the Basketball The way you hold the basketball in your hands moments before taking your shot is one of the most important things in shooting a basketball. If the angle of your elbow and placements of your hands are wrong, your basketball is more likely to go flying in the wrong direction than towards the hoop. In order to achieve the best possible shot, you're going to want to make sure your elbow angle is a perfect (or very close to perfect) 90 degrees. This makes sure that you are able to create the best amount of force to reach the rim and make a basket. Not to mention that hand placements and angles are an action-reaction force because any change in either of these things causes the ball to move differently.