Basketball Ball Handling Tips

Being a good ball handler is important, no matter what position you play.

Point and off-guards must have great dribbling abilities. But power forwards and post players should also have the ability to put the ball on the floor.

Having good dribbling skills makes you a well-rounded player. Improve your all-around game with these 6 tips.

6 things to remember about dribbling

What's the secret to being a good ball handler? Practice, practice, and more practice. There's no secret or easy way to make it happen. If there was, I'd definitely tell you about it.

But being good at most things that are worthwhile takes hard work. If you're looking for an easy way out, you're probably looking in the wrong place. Great ball handlers become great because they practice a lot, and practice more than anyone they are going to face on the court. They practice dribbling in their backyards, at the local park, during team practice, in summer leagues, and over time their skills improve. The way to improve is to practice a lot, and practice the right way.

Here are some tips for becoming a better dribbler.

1.) Practicing the right way means doing things at game speed, and in game-like situations.
Don't go outside and just dribble around at half-speed. That will help you, but not much. Practice at full speed, at game speeds to really make a difference and improve your game.

2.) Work on keeping your head and eyes up while you dribble. Don't look down at the ball. When you're in a game, you want to be able to see your teammates and opponents (in other words, have good court vision), so you need to keep your head up and not look down at the ball.

3.) Also work on staying low to the ground, keeping the dribble low, and having good control in terms of changing direction if and when necessary. And always keep the ball on your fingertips. You get better control and power on your dribble when you keep it on your fingertips.

4.) Work on using both hands, not just your strong hand. If you can only use one hand, you've really limited how effective you can be. Practice dribbling with you off hand so that you can dribble, and drive by a defender using either hand.

5.) Work on your footwork: being a good dribbler means going somewhere with the ball, coming to a good jump-stop, pivoting, and either passing or shooting the ball. Dribbling is a skill that is related to having good footwork (as almost every part of the game is). So work on good two-foot jump-stops, front and back pivots, and changing pace and direction. With a lot of hard work, you'll improve. Easy? No. But the hard work will pay off for you.

6.) Good ball handling skills aren't just important for guards and small forwards. All players should improve their ball handling skills. Even if you're a center or forward that doesn't do as much ball handling as a guard in a game, you still want to be a well rounded player. So even if you dedicate more of your practice time to center or forward-specific drills (offensive post moves, rebounding, etc.), you should still work on developing good dribbling skills. It can only help your game and make you a better all-around player.

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