Basic Dribbling Skills and Drills

Basic Dribbling Skills are the most important skills in basketball and to learn them is vital if you want to play. The best way to achieve good dribbling skills in a game of basketball is to watch this video and read the quality information below on "How to master the basic dribbling skills". Also read the drills section on how to practise once you've learnt them. And after time you will get better and better as long as you practise.

Courtesy of www.expertvillage.com


The Best way to dribble a Basketball

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Dribble below the waist- To avoid the ball bouncing too high, losing control and/or possession. Plus it makes it less likely that you will make a carrying violation

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Keep the Basketball beside your body- Not in front as this makes it all too easy for the defence to steal the ball.

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Don't Cross your legs - Make sure you always have the correct spacing between your feet which is shoulder width apart in order to make hitting your feet with the ball less likely.

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Dribble Low down - While dribbling below your waist makes it harder for the defence to steal the ball, making your bounce more intense and frequent decreases the chance of losing the ball.

Drills to use when practising

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Dribble on the spot- The very first thing you must master in basketball is to dribble with your strong hand on the spot. Using the technique described above to dribble in one place without moving your feet. Try lowering your body up and down and most importantly, don't dribble above your waist.

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Dribble with your opposite hand- The next thing you want to do is the exact opposite with your weak hand. It is usually advisable to practise more with you weak hand to develop a balance between both hands. Most people don't do this when starting out and is a huge mistake which can lead to the bad habit of just using the one hand.

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Dribble on the move- Similar to dribbling on the spot but without standing still. Move forward and keep your feet at shoulder width as much as possible. This isn't always easy to learn but is very important. Try doing this on a stretch of ground going backwards and forwards and then swap hands as you see fit.

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Dribbling with two hands- Dribbling with both hands at the same time is against the rules and will result in a double dribble violation. The ball must come into contact with the ground like one handed dribbling but the other hand must then bounce the ball. The alternation between the two can be in any order and not just left, right, left, right and so on. Practise this with the same fundamentals as before and remember to have the ball bounce near to your body in-front of your lower legs
You must remember that these are only the basic dribbling skills and that there are more complex techniques you can take on when you are ready and can be found in the Drills and Techniques section for when you think you are ready to move on.

You may choose to learn the basic dribbling skills in your nearest local court