The definitive guide to improving basketball ball handling – Episode 1

Before I get into some backstory, I wanted to let you know this is the first of several episodes which will be a full-on definitive guide to basketball ball handling…. Read on and learn more…

The Internet is great for a lot of things.  One of them is the ability to find and view information quickly, easily, and often FREE! I remember growing up and working to be a better basketball player, particularly improving my ball handling. There were two main sources where I found drills.  The first was in a few old books in the library.  Mostly there were some bad pictures of the drills then a write-up on how to do them.  The other was an old “king ball” VHS that a friend of mine had.  I watched it several times to try to memorize the drills.  I wrote in my notebook my own descriptions of how to do the drills and I kept that notebook and pulled it out each time I went into my basement or outside into the driveway to work on my ball handling. Eventually, I memorized the drills and didn’t need the notebook anymore.  I eventually did some experimenting on my own and created some of my own drills.

TODAY… you can find hundreds if not thousands of drills on the Internet.  There are so many videos out there you probably couldn’t watch every ball handling video in a lifetime.  There are some REALLY impressive ball-handlers out there.  I see some other trainers and they impress me with their ability to do what basically amount to ball handling “tricks”. I will admit that some of these guys are awesome and can definitely do more fancy stuff with a basketball than I can do.  However, does that translate to actual game situations?  For many of them, it may… but there is a difference between fancy dribbling and being able to handle the ball with pressure, having your head-up to see the defense, knowing what your teammates are doing, reading the defense, and so on.

If you REALLY want to be good, what you need is a good plan with the right progression and a strong work ethic.  This is really episode 1 of our series on basketball ball handling.  Through this series we are going to teach (and for some of you, remind) you all the important pieces of ball handling… and you may be SURPRISED that some of what you learned from your coaches at some point was not correct (like only using your finger-tips when you dribble).  Ball handling also overlaps with other important skills like scoring, finishing, and passing… and it is critically linked to FOOTWORK.  So we are going to touch on some of those things as well.

We are going to go through the basics of why and when you should dribble, how you should handle the ball, and different types of dribbling.  Then we will cover the mechanics of dribbling and basic footwork required for effective ball handling.  From there, we are going to move on to the theories around the best way to improve your ball handling and how you should practice.  Lastly, we are going to get into drills and some advanced information on ball handling.

This is really the product of 25+ years of practicing, playing, coaching, training.  Everything you will read is a combination of stuff I learned, things coaches taught me, different learnings from teammates or fellow basketball junkies…

Players– if you are in high school and you want to play in college or you are in grade school and want to play in college… get your foundation right by following along in this series… then get ready to take your handle to the next level.

Parents– if your son or daughter is interested, it is time to get them on the right path.  Share this with them and pick up the keys to great ball handling to help them out.

Coaches– Keep an open mind and think through this.  E-mail me with questions or opinions, I am open minded and always willing to discuss.  My goal is to provide you with something you can use with your players and teams.

updates in series:
part 2 – when and why to dribble

photo credit: the very talented Keith Allison