Did you recently hear about the basketball game knock-out and was curious what it is? Well, this article talks about how to play Bump and the benefits of playing it.
It was near the end of practice and the coach called us in for a huddle. He told us we did a good job that day and let us finish off practice with a schoolyard game.
He said we were going to play Bump.
Immediately after the team cheered, everyone got into a line behind the 3-point arc. There were 12 of us and I was the sixth person in line.
And this was a good thing because I had no idea what Bump was.
I didn’t know how to play it, what the rules were, and what the goal of the game was. I could’ve asked someone, but I was the new player on the team and was too embarrassed to do so.
So, I watched the players in front of me and tried to figure out how to play.
When it was my turn to shoot, all of my teammates just screamed and hollered, telling me to shoot the ball. I didn’t know what to do.
I got anxious and took the worst shot ever. It clanked off the backboard and somehow hit my opponent’s ball for a “bump.”
My ball bounced all the way to the left side wall and by the time I was able to grab it and run back for a shot, the guy after me had already made his shot.
I was eliminated. Just like that and all because I didn’t know how to play the game (or wasn’t willing to ask).
So, to help prevent this humiliation and shame from happening to all of you, here’s a guide on how to play the basketball game Bump (or Knock-out).
How to Play Bump
Bump is a pretty easy game to learn and to play. It only requires 3-15 players (5 to 10 players is best, in my opinion) and two basketballs.
As for the object of the game, basically, it’s a shootout game where your goal is to be the last remaining player.
Here’s how to play Bump:
The first two players in the line will go first.
You can either play from the free-throw line or the 3-point line. It doesn’t really matter. But I will say that playing with 3-point shots will be much, much more difficult.
Anyway, the goal of the first player is to make a shot swiftly so that he doesn’t get eliminated.
The goal of the second shooter is to score a basket as quickly as possible so that she can eliminate the previous shooter and prevent herself from elimination.
The aim for the third, fourth, and so on player is the same as the second player –to score quickly so that they can knock the previous player out and to prevent themselves from getting knocked out of the game.
Additionally, the shooters can bump their opponent’s ball away (bump it out of bounds or to the other end of the court, for instance) so that they can have more time to score or to eliminate.
Doing this can also reduce the pressure of scoring.
They can also try to toss their ball at the opponent’s ball to obstruct a shot or drive (however, this is difficult to do).
But some players don’t play with this rule.
And that’s the gist of the basketball game Bump. For a more detailed how-to and rules of the game guide, watch the video above.
Benefits of Playing Bump
Bump (or Knock-out) is a great game for working on shooting mechanics, scoring under pressure, and cardio.
It’ll teach you how to shoot -with good form- when you’re tired from running back and forth.
And it’ll also teach you how to score under pressure by forcing you to be calm like a Shaolin monk as your opponents try to hastily eliminate you (while you try to do the same thing to them).
Like this game? Click here to learn how to play American 21 next.
Final Thoughts
Bump is a great basketball game that can drill many fundamental basketball skills. It’ll train shooting, ball handling, reaction, and cardio.
It’s also just a fun, competitive basketball game to play with family and friends.
So, give it a try to have fun and to improve your basketball skills.
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P.S. If you’re struggling to get better at basketball, you may be doing something wrong. This is why you need to check out my Old Man Game Activity Guides and Planners.
They’re convenient training systems that will help you work on your fundamentals and conditioning.
Click here to learn more about them.