How To Improve Your Ball Handling Skills

Ball handling is a fundamental skill.in basketball that requires constant practice and dedication. Whether you’re a beginner looking to develop a solid foundation or an experienced player aiming to enhance your skills, incorporating ball handling skills into your training is crucial towards your success regardless of your position. In this post, we will go over a wide array of ball-handling drills to help you master your basketball skills. These various drills will cover aspects of dexterity, agility, ball control, and hand-eye coordination that will allow you to be the most effective player on the court while enhancing your confidence to be able to thrive on during your games.

 

Dribble Warm-Up

 

It is always important to start with the basic stationary dribbling drills to make sure you are ready to start training. These drills are able to help you warm-up your fingertip touches, pound dribbles, and figure-eight dribbles. Proceed by doing the High Knees Dribble where a player is able to combine dribbling with high knee raises to warm up your legs while improving coordination between the upper and lower body. After that, the next best warm-up drill to execute is the circle dribble where you are able to create a circle on the court using cones or markers. This would be able to focus on maintaining control and quick changes of direction.

To improve your basketball skills, it is crucial to be consistent in practice and dedication are key. It is important to add and instill a variety of different ball handling drills for beginners into your routine. This will help you develop better ball-control, coordination, and agility on the court. This will proceed to move onto warmup drills to prepare your body and mind for the workout ahead. Proceed to focus on stationary drills to improve ball handling skills with a better understanding of the ball control skills that will lead you to perform in a game situation. Lastly, continue to push yourself to be the best version of yourself and try your best when you are training.

Stationary Ball Handling Drills

There are many great drills to help focus on upgrading your skills to be the best basketball player. One thing that is most commonly asked is if stationary ball drills work. We are confident that they will help you become a better player. Start by working on two-ball dribbling. Dribble simultaneously with both hands, focusing on maintaining control and keeping the balls at an equal height. It is hard to master at first but the more you focus on making sure you are able to perform this, then you will be successful in this craft. Make sure to take your time and it is more than fine to start out slow. The most important thing is to improve your skills. The next drill to focus on is the figure eight drill. To begin this drill, create a figure-eight pattern with the ball and proceed to move it around your legs. Make sure to keep a low stance to get the most out of this drill. Keeping a low stance is also important for the Spider Dribble drill. This drill involves dribbling the ball between your legs, alternating between front-to-back and side-to-side motions. Feel free to increase your speed and complexity of this drill as you go on. Lastly, focus on perfecting the Crossover Dribble. Practice quicksand-controlled crossovers by alternating between hands. The more that you practice this drill, continue to gradually increase speed and intensity.

           

Ball Handling Drills

This is a very important aspect of basketball that will take your game to the next level. These drills are designed to be challenging and rewarding so that you can be a better leader on the court. To execute a zig-zag dribble, set up cones or markers in a zig-zag pattern on the court to dribble the ball while weaving through the cones. Make sure to focus on maintaining control and speed. After, proceed to speed dribble where you sprint to one end of the court to the other while dribbling the ball at your fastest speed. We recommend having a partner to time you when doing this drill as you would be able to see how much better you have become at dribbling at your highest speed. Dribbling the ball full court is one of the most effective ways of becoming a better basketball player. Start by dribbling the ball from one end of the court to the other where you can use the same or numerous dribbles. For example, you have the option using the crossover, behind-the-back, and between-the-legs dribbles for this drill. Feel free to use any other ones that you feel would be helpful to your game. This will help you with the focus and concentration needed to be a faster dribbler but with a lot of control.

 

Dribbling Without the Ball

It is obviously very ideal to have a basketball when working on dribbling but there are many great ways of training that don’t require training on dribbling. One simple exercise is to look at finger taps where you are able to put a ball between both of your hands and tap it amongst your fingertips. Another non-dribbling exercise that we recommend is doing strength and conditioning training. Continue to work on your game by doing strength workouts to enhance your overall athleticism and body control. These workouts are very helpful in making you a better basketball player, but they are not supplemental or considered a replacement by doing the actual work where you work on your skills with an actual basketball. Regular muscle memory with a basketball is essential to developing your control that is required for dribbling in actual realistic games.

Does a Weighted Ball Help?

One common thing that we get asked is if dribbling with a weighted ball does help. It is truly beneficial to dribble with a weighted ball. This will be very useful when improving your dribbling skills. This will also help hand speed, quickness, ball control, and stability. By being able to work with a weighted ball, it is important to know what weight to start with. It is important to find a weight that would be perfect for you and not too much. You can check by seeing how you are able to perform by checking your confidence with each weight. It is perfectly normal to start at a lighter weight. We actually recommend this. Also, please be cautious of yourself and the people around you because this could lead to improper technique and injury. Please consult with a coach or trainer before doing this so you can have an extra set of eyes and proper advice for how you would be able to become a better dribbler.

The most imperative aspect when training is being able to focus on training with proper technique. Understanding how I can practice better ball handling on your own time is what will make a difference in positive performance. This will help make a gradual increase in your skillset if you are able to do these drills properly. It is also important to have a low stance and stay relaxed throughout the exercises. It is also crucial to practice drills with both hands. By practicing with both hands, you are able to be a difference maker on your team and be a leader on the court as this is a skill that is heavily sought after with coaches. This also presents you with a higher likelihood of remaining in the game at the final moments where the team that you are on is going to need you to showcase your skills. Continue to dedicate regular time to focusing on improving your basketball skills. Always remember to stay motivated and enjoy the process of becoming better. Basketball is a rewarding sport that is also very fun to play. The more you enjoy the process of getting better, the more likely you will be able to enjoy learning other drills that will take your potential much higher to be a star player. 

       
The huupe will be able to help you with your handles unlike any of your other opponents. With the screen on the backboard, you are able to train with and learn basketball ball handling drills from our trainers today! You are able to have that needed 1-on-1 training to focus on your craft while being able to get the best advice from elite professionals whose goal is to make you the best player that you can be. From the training above, you are able to make yourself the best player possible by being able to know the proper training and technique to maximize the most out of these training sessions. Something else that we are truly proud of is the fact that these training sessions are fun and accessible. This is the ultimate goal for anyone who asks themselves how can I practice ball handling drills at home. With huupe being able to be in your driveway, you are able to have the best trainers in the world at your fingertips. The trainers that are available on the huupe are extremely passionate about taking your game to the next level but emphasize the importance of having fun with what you are learning from these drills. The trainers are able to have an intense workout all while making it a very enjoyable process for anyone who is interested in becoming the best player that they aspire to be. The huupe will be available for order this fall and can be purchased through the website.