basketball dribbling drills

Through The Legs & Go

October 16, 2019 By Anna Fergison

Players learn to dribble through the legs and go to the basket for the shot.

Starting a couple feet behind the arc, take a dribble forward with your left hand.
Bounce the ball through your legs, crossing over to your right hand.
Explode out of the crossover with a had dribble towards the hoop.
Finish at the rim with the right hand.
Secure the board, run back out to the wing and repeat. Make 5 layups starting from the right wing, then move to the left wing and finally the top of the arc.

Experiment with change of pace, using different speeds to maximize the effectiveness of the crossover.
If you’re having a hard time imagining a defender, you can put a chair or cone down to emulate one.

October 14, 2019 By Anna Fergison

Players learn to dribble two balls in opposite directions at the same time.

Set up in an athletic stance with one ball in each hand.
Machine Gun Dribble: Put one ball in each hand. Rapidly dribble both balls simultaneously in front of your body, machine gun style. Try to keep the ball 6-12 inches off the ground.
Repeat for 30 seconds.
Alternating Machine Gun Dribble: Rapidly dribble the balls one at a time, so one ball is up and the other is down at all times.
Repeat for 30 seconds.

Master the one ball drills before proceeding to two balls.
Try alternating between machine gun and alternating machine gun every 5 minutes.
Make it harder: Do the drill while walking up and down the court. Forwards and backwards.
Make it easier: Dribble the ball higher and slower.

October 1, 2019 By Anna Fergison

Players learn to switch hands and whip the ball around the legs while dribbling.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Using your right hand only, whip the ball around your right leg, behind your back and through your legs from back to front.
As the ball passes through your legs, it should bounce off the ground and come back to your right hand.
Repeat the same motion for 15 seconds.
Switch hands and whip the ball around your left leg using your left hand for 15 seconds.

Keep your feet on the ground as you bounce the ball between your legs.
Make it harder: Keep the head up at all times. Look at the rim or a spot on the wall.
Make it easier: Stop between each rep to collect yourself, then start again.

August 27, 2019 By Anna Fergison

This is a great ballhandling drill that focuses on making sure your players are releasing the ball and not loting it upwards to get more time.

Start holding the ball, with your left hand in front and your right arm behind your leg.
Release the ball and switch hand positions, catching the ball before it hits the ground.
Continue for 30 seconds, going as quickly back and forth as possible.

August 8, 2019 By Anna Fergison

This drill focuses on using a light touch when dribbling, and making the ball “skid” on the floor, instead of bouncing sharply.

Take a wide stance, knees bent and dribble the ball from one hand to the other in front of you.
You want the ball to almost skid on the court instead of taking a direct bounce up.
After running the drill in front, run it behind your back.
You can also run this drill to halfcourt and back.Â When running the drill in motion, you can dribble in front like when stationary, you can also dribble between the legs.
You can also run the drill in motion while dribbling behind the back.

Make it easier: Slow down the pace, and get in a good side to side rocking motion.
Make it harder: Take your dribble on the move, such as going to halfcourt and back.