Now that we’re full swing into the NBA season, it’s the perfect time to watch, learn, and train for your upcoming basketball tryouts this winter! You might be the best shooter or rebounder in the world, but if you have trouble taking care of the ball, you’ll find yourself missing out instead of playing. No matter your position, facilitating the offense, keeping the ball moving, and not turning it over are key attributes that any aspiring athlete should strive for. Becoming a stronger dribbler should be on the to-do list for just about everybody — so in order to help with that journey, we’ve lifted a few of our favorite basketball dribbling drills from our Training Center article on the art of improving this part of your game. Our favorites:
Alternating Two Ball Dribble With Movement:
- Alternate dribbling two balls with one in each hand.
- When one ball hits the ground, the other ball should be at the top of its bounce.
- Take ten steps forward and then, again, backpedal to your initial starting point without stopping, adding speed as you get comfortable.
- This one will likely take you a long time to master as it not only challenges you to dribble two balls at once, but will focus on your motor-skills at the same time. Can you pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time? Most people can’t right away and this dribbling drill is the same idea.
- Note: Don’t look down while dribbling! Being able to dribble without looking means you’ll be more comfortable in-game when you’ll need to look for open passes and ways to score.
Simultaneous Two Ball Dribble With Stationary Power Dribbling
- Repeat the drill above but dribble at the same time instead of alternately bouncing them.
- After alternately for twenty seconds, power dribble for twenty seconds, then switch back. Soon enough, you’ll be able to swap styles seamlessly.
- Try power dribbling from your knees, waist, and shoulder-level heights, this will help you with building muscle memory and overall ball control.
You can find the rest of our tips right over here! But don’t forget that your basketball tryouts are right around the corner, so don’t delay in getting out there and improving your skills. Although professionals make dribbling look easy, remember that they’ve practiced, trained, and put everything they had into working on their game. Every time Stephen Curry crosses his defender over and hits a three-pointer, realize that he couldn’t always do that and only hard work got him to that peak performance. We promise if you focus your efforts on improving, you will — so don’t give up!
