Basketball Dribbling and Ball Handling Video Clips, Fundamentals, Drills, and Tips
Most coaches use dribbling and ball handling interchangeably. Though they are linked, the 2 skills are definitely separate.
Dribbling and controlling the ball is a skill that can be practiced alone and is separate from the other ball skills on the court. Ball handling, however, involves knowledge of the game and integrates dribbling, passing and decision-making.
Practicing and improving your dribbling is a simple task. There are innumerable dribbling drills that are in use today that are challenging and effective. The set of drills that have come to be known as "Maravich Drills," (after the late ball-handling wizard Pete Maravich) are widely known. They include drills such as passing the ball around your body, dribble figure 8s, spider dribbling, drop and catch.
Practicing and improving your ball handling requires imagination, as you have to put yourself in game situations.
One of our favorite series of ballhandling drills that helps develop better ballhandlers is the Maravich series! Watch it below.
9 Tips To Improve Your Dribbling & Ball Handling
Here are 9 tips from pro coach Don Kelbick.
Dribble the ball hard. The more time the ball spends in your hand, the more control you have of the ball. The harder you dribble, the quicker it gets back in your hand.
Head up at all times. Look at the rim or a spot on the wall during all practice.
Use your finger tips to control the ball, not your palm.
Use your imagination. Picture when and how you would use each of the dribbles.
Teach mentality. There is too much dribbling for no reason in our game today. I like to teach that the primary purpose for putting the ball on the floor is to get a lay-up. If you don't have an opportunity, don't put it on the floor.
Basketball is a game of length. Work on lengthening the dribble. Work to get your opportunities with 1 dribble. You don't beat defenses with your dribble. You beat people with your feet; you SEPARATE from your defense with the dribble.
Basketball is also a game of angles. Try to move in straight lines. Whenever you make an "East-West" move (something that takes you toward the sideline), re-capture a "North-South" path (direct line to the basket) as quickly as possible.
Don't do things in 2 dribbles that you can do in 1.
Practice outside your comfort zone. Experiment; go faster than you are used to, use your imagination. When working on new skills, don't be concerned with losing the ball. Just pick it up and do it again. If you practice only things that are comfortable, then you will never improve.
More Ball Handling Tips and Articles
Executing The Basketball Pick and Roll
The Importance of the Back Up Dribble and How It Reduces Turnovers Against Pressure
A Secret to Chris Paul's Success - Change of Pace
Handling Ball Screens Like Steve Nash
Chris Paul Hesitation Move & The Importance of Counter Moves [VIDEO]
Other Blog Posts About Ball Handling
Dribbling Practice
"Maravich Drills" are very good at getting players comfortable with the ball. Below are some examples.
Dribble Figure 8's - Spread legs about shoulder width. Dribble the ball through and around legs in a figure 8. Can be done multiple ways - front to back, back to front, low dribbles (as many dribbles as possible with dribble about shoe height), as few dribbles as possible (high dribble about waist high), can even be done walking. For even more of a challenge, try the drill with one hand instead of two.
Spider Dribble - Feet spread about shoulder width. Dribble the ball between your legs in the following manner - left hand, right hand in front of your legs; left hand, right hand behind your legs. Work to as fast a possible.
Drop and Catch - Hold ball between your legs with right hand in front of your body, left hand behind. Drop the ball and exchange you hand position and re-catch the ball before it hits the ground.
These are just examples. There are too many of these drills to list here. Pete Maravich devised these drills out of his imagination, his need for challenge and his drive to improve. You do not need to be bound by other people's drills; challenge yourself to come up with your own drills.
Dribbling Warm Ups
I prefer to practice skills in combinations that are relevant to multiple aspects of the game. It saves time and instills a great sense of urgency.. It
saves time and has a great sense of urgency. One of the ways I do this is to add dribbling into my stretching exercises.
Hamstring Stretch - While dribbling with your right hand, cross right leg over left. Bend at the waist, touch the floor with your left
hand and bring your dribble down to shoe top level. Hold for an 8 count. Reverse position and switch hands.
Lower Body and Achilles Stretch - Dribble waist high while standing up. Step as far forward with your right leg as you can, keeping
your back straight and your left heel on the ground. At the same time bring your dribble forward of your right foot, keeping the ball at
shoe-top height. Hold for an 8 count and then stand up. Switch legs and dribble hand.
Crossover - Same as above except, step forward with left leg. As foot goes to the floor, switch hands, right to left, keeping
dribble shoe top height. Cross back when standing up.
Through Legs - Same as above except instead of crossing over, put ball through legs at shoe top height.
Multiple Through Legs - Same as above except put ball through legs 3 times (left, right, left) on quick, successive dribbles
shoe top height.
Torso Twist - Spread legs outside of shoulder width, dribble with right hand. Keeping legs straight, bring ball across body to
left side, outside left foot and dribble at shoe top height behind left foot.
These are just samples. You can develop a dribble stretch for any part of the body.
Two Ball Dribbling Drills & Videos:
I think the most effective way to improve your dribble, however, is by using 2 balls. Any dribble or drill you can do with 1 ball, you can do with 2.
Stationary practice at first will build confidence. Stand on the baseline and try to control both balls. Then start to move. Go half court, then full court. Follow
the lines around the court or in any route you can come up with.
To see more DRILLS & VIDEOS Click Here.
The difference between dribbling and ball handling is intent. Dribbling is the skill of controlling the ball as you bounce it to the floor. Ball handling (at least 1 aspect of ball handling) is what you do with that dribble.
Whether you use it to go to the basket, make a passing angle, escape from pressure or anything else, those situations have to be imagined and practiced.
Here are some situational drills:
Full Court Lay-ups - Start on the baseline. Dribble full court with right hand in 5 dribbles and make a lay-up, come back with left hand. Then reduce the number of dribbles to 4 and then to 3.
Chair Changes - Place a chair about 21 feet from the basket. It can be on top, on the wing, or in the corner. Start about 8-10 feet beyond the chair. Dribble straight at the chair. At the chair, use a change of direction dribble (crossover, inside out, behind back, etc) to go beyond the chair and make a lay-up. Try to get to the point where you only need one dribble to get to the lay-up. Practice all the changes.
Two up - Two back - Set a chair such as in the drill above. Take 2 hard dribbles at the chair. When reaching the chair, take 2 backup dribbles. After the second dribble, push ahead into 1 dribble lay-up or pull-up jumpshot.
Dropstep Dribble - (works on footwork and ballhanding)
Chair Curl - This is another great multi use drill. It combines shooting, ball handling and speed and high intensity change in direction.
Chair Curl Phase 2 (With 2 Chairs)
Two Ball Dribbling Drills & Moves - Excellent way to improve one on one moves.
Basketball Pick and Roll Drills
Shooting drills can also be adapted to work on ball handling aspects by adding changes of direction and pivoting to create 1 and 2 dribble opportunities for either jumpers or lay-ups.
Once you have developed a feel for the ball, it's very important that you practice your ball handling in competitive, game-like situations with defenders present. In the DVD 30 Competitive Skill Development Drills, you will find 12 drills that are specific to improving your ball handling skills in game-like situations.
More Dribbling and Ball Handling Drills
Coaches, go here for more Dribbling & Ball Handling Drills
Players, go here for more Dribbling & Ball Handling Drills
Recommended Training Resources:
Youth Ball Handling & Workout App - Over 200 ball handling and footwork drills. 24 Different Levels.
SKLZ Court Vision dribble goggles will help you develop better ball control and improved awareness of the whole court. They force players to handle the ball with their head up to survey the court...(more info)
How to Dribble a Basketball (3 Killer Drills for Beginners)
Dribbling the ball well in basketball is the one true skill that can separate you from the rest of the competition. The ability to handle the ball in a way that renders the defense helpless can affect the flow of a game and put you in control.
Those new to the game may need a brief definition of what exactly dribbling is in the game of basketball. It is the act of bouncing the basketball up and down as you move down the court in order to avoid traveling. Even though some players on basketball teams may handle the ball more than others, dribbling is a skill that will be used by every basketball player to some degree.
Let’s take a look at some drills and techniques to help you learn how to dribble a basketball. Once you have these down, you just need to put forth the effort to become a great dribbler.
Dribbling Technique
If you watch someone dribbling the ball really well, it doesn’t look too hard to master. The secret is that dribbling really isn’t a hard skill to learn, with the proper technique and hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours of practice anyone can learn to dribble.
So what are those proper techniques?
1. Stay Low
Having a low center of gravity helps with dribbling in many ways. You are in a stable position to run while dribbling and are able to endure physical defenders and keep the ball. It also helps with our second step on technique, which is to make sure to keep the ball as low as you are.
2. Dribble Ball Low
A general rule of thumb while dribbling the ball is to keep the height of the bounce between your knee and waist and never dribble it higher than your belt line. The lower the ball, combined with your body also being low, the more difficult for the defender to steal the ball from you.
3. Keep Your Head Up
This step will take some time to master. Dribbling with your eyes up and not on the ball is hard initially, especially during a game. But once you are able to both dribble and survey the court, you are in a much better position offensively. Maybe a teammate is open for a basket, or maybe you are open for a jump shot if your defender is not guarding you closely. There are a number of situations that you may not be aware of on the basketball court if you don’t have your head up while dribbling.
4. Fingertips, Not Palm
The ball should rarely ever touch the palm or heel of your hand while dribbling. Using your fingertips, instead of your palm, can give you more control over the ball. If you were to use your palm your technique would look more like you are slapping at the ball instead of bouncing it and receiving it with your fingers and a softer touch.
5. Bounce The Ball Hard
Once you have mastered how to dribble the ball you are going to want to make sure you bounce the ball hard to the ground. In your dribbling motion, your arm will extend and your wrist should snap forward while your fingertips push the ball to the ground. Bouncing the ball hard ensures the most efficient motion and gives you a better chance of the ball bouncing with enough speed to return to your fingers each time.
3 Killer Dribbling Drills for Beginners
1. Stationary Dribble
While this drill may seem too easy, it is used in practice and drills at all levels of play, including in the NBA. While they use the drill as more of a warmup, it is highly effective at the beginner level due to the repetitive nature of the drill.
For the Stationary Dribble (also called “Pounding”) drill, you will bend down in a low athletic stance and quite literally pound the ball to the ground as hard as you can. Remember to keep the ball between your knees and waist when you are dribbling. This drill is great for your muscle memory and also gets you very acquainted with the act of dribbling at a basic level. You can switch hands for this drill and “POund” with both your left and right hand to practice with both.
2. Stationary Crossover Dribble
The crossover is one of the most effective moves in basketball if done right. It is a change of direction move, like the between the legs or behind the back move, where you dribble hard in one direction and then plant your foot, dribble the ball across your body to your other hand, and quickly change the direction of your move.
A great starter drill for the crossover is a stationary move where you get into an athletic stance and continuously cross the ball over for a period of time. Once you get the hang of it, compete with yourself: count how many crossovers you can do in one minute and try setting a new high score every day.
3. Zig Zag Dribble
Now that you have gotten the hang of dribbling in a stationary position, let’s add some moving with our dribbles. This drill will involve approximately 100 feet of straightaway distance, preferably the length of a basketball court.
You will start in one corner of the basketball court and begin to dribble diagonally up the court until a certain point, usually marked with a cone or chair, and then make a change of direction move back towards the sideline of the court. You can start with crossovers at the cone or chair and work your way up to changing direction between your legs or behind your back in the drill. The video linked in the title does a great job of showing the full scope of the drill.
Best Dribblers in the NBA Today
There are so many talented ball-handlers playing in the NBA, which makes it tough to pick out only a few. However, the two I chose are on another planet in terms of their ball-handling and may all go down in history as some of the most talented dribbers ever.
James Harden
Harden is one of the top scorers in the league each year and the main reason is because of how talented a dribbler he is. His moves are all very complex and he uses several moves in a row during most of his attempts to get to the basket. He is a deadly outside shooter too making defenders have to guard his jumper which helps his chances of blowing by them for a layup.
Kyrie Irving
Irving can get by his defender and to the basket literally almost every time he touches the ball. He is known around the NBA as one of the best finishers meaning he can get to the rim, and once he does he usually always finds a way to put the ball in the hoop.
Irving looks like he has the basketball on a string on the court and has put together an impressive highlight reel of his dribble moves that should be studied by any player wanting to become great at dribbling the basketball.
Conclusion
Learning to dribble well can be tedious and involves doing the same task over and over again for hours before you can become great. However, the best players understand the importance of dribbling and work on it relentlessly.
Who are some of your favorite ball-handlers in the NBA today? Drop us some names in the comments section!
Japanese robot basketball player learned to dribble
FOX98
Author:
FOX98
December 31, 2021 16:14
Tags: Basketball Japan video robot technology
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The CUE series robot is equipped with artificial intelligence, thanks to which it is able to calculate the distance to the target and make a 100% throw. It takes him 15 seconds to calculate not only the distance, but also the perfect angle.
This black giant weighs 91 kilograms and is 209 cm tall. If earlier CUE could only make aimed shots into the basket, now his legs are equipped with wheels and taught to dribble. A little more and he will show all "people" how ideal professionals play.
2021-12-31T16:14:54+03:00
This black giant has a weight of 91 kilograms and a height of 209 cm. If earlier CUE could only make aimed shots into the basket, now his legs are equipped with wheels and taught to dribble. A little more and he will show all "people" how ideal professionals play.
But what is most interesting, almost from the very moment of its creation, the robot was listed as part of the Japanese basketball team Alvark Tokyo, and in 2018 it even beat people in the competition for throwing basketballs into the ring.
2021-12-31T16:14:54+03:00
But what is most interesting, almost from the very moment of its creation, the robot was listed as part of the Japanese basketball team Alvark Tokyo, and in 2018 it even beat people in the competition for throwing basketballs into the ring.
Source:
In June 2019, he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for "the most successful number of consecutive free throws made by humanoid robots."
Source:
ANTIFISHKI All about politics in the world
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Tags: Basketball Japan Video Robot Technology
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90,000 Randy Uittman: “Wall can not work normally” - basketball
Washington head coach Randy Whittman said why the team leader did not play in the second match of the Eastern Conference semi-finals with Atlanta (90:106, 1-1).
Wall injured his left wrist during the first meeting, which he played to the final siren. The decision that the point guard would remain on the sidelines was made shortly before the start of the second match.
"The tumor is too big now, so Wall can't dribble properly," Wittman said.
The Wizards said that Wall should be back "any day now." His participation in the third match is in doubt.
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If you don't have an opportunity, don't put it on the floor.
Below are some examples.
You do not need to be bound by other people's drills; challenge yourself to come up with your own drills.
Hold for an 8 count and then stand up. Switch legs and dribble hand.
Any dribble or drill you can do with 1 ball, you can do with 2.
Stationary practice at first will build confidence. Stand on the baseline and try to control both balls. Then start to move. Go half court, then full court. Follow
the lines around the court or in any route you can come up with.
24 Different Levels.
It is the act of bouncing the basketball up and down as you move down the court in order to avoid traveling. Even though some players on basketball teams may handle the ball more than others, dribbling is a skill that will be used by every basketball player to some degree.
It also helps with our second step on technique, which is to make sure to keep the ball as low as you are.
Using your fingertips, instead of your palm, can give you more control over the ball. If you were to use your palm your technique would look more like you are slapping at the ball instead of bouncing it and receiving it with your fingers and a softer touch.
You can start with crossovers at the cone or chair and work your way up to changing direction between your legs or behind your back in the drill. The video linked in the title does a great job of showing the full scope of the drill.
He is a deadly outside shooter too making defenders have to guard his jumper which helps his chances of blowing by them for a layup.
However, the best players understand the importance of dribbling and work on it relentlessly.
It takes him 15 seconds to calculate not only the distance, but also the perfect angle. 
