3 Drills to Improve your Ballhandling Skills
One area that all players need to improve on is ballhandling.
What does that mean?
Too many times players let the ball handle them, rather than handling the ball! YOU need to be the one in control of the ball and dictate where you want it to go, not the other way around.
This is very important for beginner-intermediate players. Too many times we see players slapping the ball, when really what they need to do is maintain hand-contact on the ball for as long as possible.
Here are 3 drills you can do on your own to help solve this problem:
East-West Ball Manipulation
Find a line, a crack in the pavement, a cone, another basketball, something for you to dribble over top of.
Keep your hand on top of the basketball and dribble side-to-side over top of the obstacle. In order to do this you need to maintain hand contact on the ball for as long as possible.
Do this drill 25x per hand
2. Pocket Crossovers
Do the same motion as the east-west drill, but now you want to bring the ball beside your hip (called the pocket) and then in a smooth motion continue the ball into a low crossover.
Repeat the same motion on the other side
Complete 25 crossovers dribbles
3. Pocket Through the Legs
Complete an east-west pattern and bring the ball into your pocket. Hold it there for a brief moment and then continue putting the ball through the legs.
Complete 25 through-the-legs dribbles
