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)
5 Things You Need To Know To Be a Great Ball Handler
By Jeff Haefner
You can be an extremely effective ball handler by knowing and practicing 5 things. Most players and coaches make
things too complicated. But dribbling effectively is simple. You don't need lots of moves. You just need EFFECTIVE moves.
Here's all you need to know to be effective at any level.
1 - You need to develop a feel for the basketball.
Developing a feel for the ball consists of drills that are stationary and slow moving. You will improve your hand-eye coordination, hand quickness, ambidexterity, throwing, catching and other important aspects of ball handling.
These drills consists of the Maravich series, one-ball dribbling, one-ball dribbling through cones, two-ball dribbling, two-ball dribbling through cones, tennis ball dribbling, and the Steve Nash passing series.
These drills are also great to put at the beginning of your warm up as a stepping stone to more intense drills.
A huge mistake that many players and coaches make is that they spend too much time on this. While it is important, especially for beginners, limit yourself to 5 to 6 minutes of each practice. The reasoning is that you can get very good at these drills, but you neglect the components below, you won't have the ability to handle game situations. If you can dribble 3 basketballs while juggling 5 tennis balls at the same time, it looks cool and it is a neat circus trick that is great for marketing, but it is a circus trick. It is not going to make you a better basketball player. The majority of your ball handling should be functional which means that they simulate game-like situations. Can you get down the court in 3 to 4 dribbles with either hand? Can you stop on a dime? Can you change speed and change directions like Chris Paul?
If you are able to dribble 3 balls and juggle 5 tennis balls at the same time, I would say that your hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and hand quickness are extremely good and you probably don't need to focus on them any more. You probably should spend more time on shooting, footwork, athleticism, and functional ball handling.
2 - You must be able to dribble the ball down the court at any speed (all the way from walking up to sprinting) with both hands with your head up.
Pretty simple but important, right? You can simply dribble up and down the court at different speeds.
3 - You must be able to change your pace.
It's good to incorporate change of pace in your dribbling drills.
Chris Paul is the
expert at changing speeds (pace). That allows him to get the defender off balance.
Practice changing the pace from walking, slow, medium, fast, and full speed. You can change the pace from slow to fast, medium to full speed, and any
other combinations you can imagine.
4 - You must be able to dribble while moving backwards.
So now instead of going forward, you need to be able to back out of traffic and so on. That's where the
back up dribble comes into play.
Simply, get in a position where you are protecting the ball and shuffle forwards and backwards up and down the court.
Next, you can practice running forward at a faster speed, come to hockey stop, and shuffle a couple of steps backwards.
Mix it up so you can handle any situation.
5 - You must have a primary dribble move and a counter dribble move.
If you perfect a go-to move that's very difficult to stop, good defenders will adjust to stop it. That's when you add your counter move to completely
keep the defender guessing.
I prefer the cross over as the primary move and the inside out as the counter move. You might use the hesitation move and the crossover.
That's it! Perfect those five things and when it comes to dribbling, you'll have the dribbling ability to handle almost any situation. Should you also
practice other things for ball handling? Sure. Now do you need apply the technical skills to competitive drills to handle game situations like transition, ball screens, handling traps, etc.? Yes. Do you need to improve your athleticism to make you a better player in every aspect of your game? Yes. But I'm telling you, that these are five extremely effective methods to give you the technical skill to handle any situation.
You can use the back up dribble all the time -- you use it when approaching a trap, when approaching defensive traffic, when getting cut off in the lane, when breaking the press, when breaking a player down one on one, etc.
You can then incorporate the cross over in lots of situations. If you advance the ball and get cut off you can back up dribble and then cross over to break down your man and blow by him. You can cross over to change directions and bring the ball to the other side of the court. You can cross over to the passing angle to your teammate. You can cross over to split a ball screen. You can cross over on the fast break to get by the defender. You can cross over to eventually set up your counter move (the inside out). So next time instead of crossing over, fake out the defender by giving the inside out move and then blow by the defender.
You still need to practice a lot, but I think this will simplify your life greatly by focusing on a few really effective dribbling techniques instead of
trying to practice all kinds of moves and techniques that don't really help. The techniques above are the the most effective dribbling moves that I know.
How To Become A Great Ball Handler
If you'd like to become a great ball handler, check out the Progressive Ball Handling & Footwork Workouts App.
It provides a step-by-step process with professionally designed videos and workouts. It has over 200 drills and 24 levels of workouts.
What do you think? Please leave your thoughts and comments below.
basketball, instruction, storage, care, ESPANDER.com.ua.
Respect! You can't sit on an inflated basketball and hit it with your feet, like a football, with the force of throwing a ball on a hospital object - as a result of this ball, it quickly loses its shape and comes into disrepair.
Inflate a basketball in the appropriate manner: put 1-2 drops of special oil on the opening of the nipple or the neck, take the ball by the panel, where the nipple is located, insert it into the new neck, inflate the ball to the value indicated in the vice tables.
We strongly recommend vicarious oil. Special oil is not only ahead of valve slippage and nipple walls, but it also makes the material of the nipple more elastic, protecting it from drying out.
The head is also due to a special buti for inflating balls, and the tip of the head is due to buti equal, smooth, without sharp edges and burrs.
ATTENTION! Always vicorate the vowels for the nipple or the ball, in the other case, you risk damaging the nipple and lose it without a ball.
The amount of grip that is recommended for balls made of different materials and in different types of winding:
Riven gri
Recommended vice (bar)
Recommended vice (psi)
Basketball rubber balls, size 5-7
0.7-0.9
10-13
Basketball rubber balls, size 3
0.6
8-9
Basketball balls made of natural and synthetic skins, size 7
0. 7-0.9
10-13
Basketball balls with natural and synthetic skins, sizes 5 and 6
0.7-0.8
10-12
It is recommended to check the vise in the balls after the help of the monometer.
Rolling the ball creates a pressure and over the world stretching tension on the materials, from such preparations of the ball, with which the term of the ball's service is very fast.
Rolling the ball also negatively affects the game characteristics of the ball, first for everything on yoga.
Take care of that sight.
After skin irritation wipe the ball with a damp cloth. At the time of the strong, vicorist fabric, soaked in a warm miles pink. Do NOT at any time do not beat up abrasive cleaning cats, and also take care of the retailers and aggressive speech.
Let the ball dry naturally. If the ball is already wet, wipe it with a soft cloth. Dry the ball in a well-ventilated room, give it heat, at a temperature of + 20-25 ° C and a moisture content of 60-65%. Avoid direct sleepy changes and do not dry the ball nearby, or on the surface of the scorching devices. Trivals of mud, water, increased temperature lead to an increase in the physical powers of the ball and, as a result, its game characteristics, short term of service.
It is recommended to store the balls in a dry ventilated area at a temperature of 5-25 C and an air humidity of 50-80%. The balls are due to protection from falling direct sleepy exchanges, diva, gases and chemical speeches.
Balls made of synthetic and composite skins should be taken away and transported in a puffed-up look. In the other case, the deformation of the material of the coating and the opening of the panels is possible.
Thank you for the miraculous smile and brilliant wins! :)
Why basketballs are orange and how they differ
It would seem that it can be difficult to choose a basketball
It would seem that it can be difficult to choose a basketball. We all imagine a heavy orange ball with a relief structure and a characteristic dense sound when rebounding. But not everything is so simple. Today there are many manufacturers and types of basketballs. We will tell you how they differ and what you should pay attention to when choosing a ball that is right for you.
Destination, or on what court you are going to play
First you need to decide exactly where you are going to play. Outdoor or indoor, in other words, indoors or outdoors. Indoor parquet courts are perfectly smooth, and an expensive basketball with good grip, made of genuine leather or high-end synthetic materials, is suitable for them.
But such balls are absolutely not suitable for open areas with asphalt or other types of coverage: from frequent impacts on a rough surface, they will wear out and quickly become unusable, and you will waste a lot of money and will not get any pleasure from the game. For outdoor areas, special balls are made from coarser materials: rubber or hard synthetics.
There is another type of ball: universal. They are usually made from high-quality synthetics, which provide good adhesion to smooth parquet, but do not wear off after a couple of games on a rough asphalt surface. Finding a quality versatile ball is not an easy task.
What color to choose
We are used to the fact that all basketballs are orange. For a long time this was true, because it was a requirement of the official league.
The first leather balls were brown and got lost on the court, so they were painted bright orange. But now the rules are not so strict. Manufacturers are experimenting with different colors of balls, and you can already find red and blue, as well as black models in sports stores.
What you need to know about basketball sizes
We have decided on the court and color of the perfect ball for our game, and now the most important thing is to choose the right size.
Basketballs, although they look the same, differ in diameter and weight. Each team and league has its own variations. Let's figure it out. It's not all that difficult.
The largest balls - "sevens" - are suitable for adult men's teams. They are considered standard according to the FIBA (International Basketball Association) classification. The “sixes”, which women's teams play in official matches, are also considered standard.
For junior teams, adult balls are too heavy and voluminous: they are uncomfortable to hold in the hand, and a good shot into the basket requires a lot of effort, so “fives” are ideal for children, which are smaller in volume and noticeably lighter. These balls are used by players under the age of 12 in competitions, and they are also often used for playing mini-basketball.
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.
If you can dribble 3 basketballs while juggling 5 tennis balls at the same time, it looks cool and it is a neat circus trick that is great for marketing, but it is a circus trick. It is not going to make you a better basketball player. The majority of your ball handling should be functional which means that they simulate game-like situations. Can you get down the court in 3 to 4 dribbles with either hand? Can you stop on a dime? Can you change speed and change directions like Chris Paul?
The techniques above are the the most effective dribbling moves that I know.
7-0.9 
Avoid direct sleepy changes and do not dry the ball nearby, or on the surface of the scorching devices. Trivals of mud, water, increased temperature lead to an increase in the physical powers of the ball and, as a result, its game characteristics, short term of service. 
We all imagine a heavy orange ball with a relief structure and a characteristic dense sound when rebounding. But not everything is so simple. Today there are many manufacturers and types of basketballs. We will tell you how they differ and what you should pay attention to when choosing a ball that is right for you. 
Each team and league has its own variations. Let's figure it out. It's not all that difficult. 
