Ball Handling!!

[Burgz V2]

i think im weird......i shoot better going to my left but i drive better going to my right.lol....im right handed....i can take one dribble left and pull up like melo.....when i go right tho i go hard to the basket.is that strange?

im right handed but drive better going right. a lot of players are like this. if you're always getting forced left might as well make that the way you wanna go lol

[Thorpesaurous]

You know, I coach, and I played for 30 years, and I've always had issues teaching people ball handling stuff. I was a PG, and my handle was extremely tight. You wouldn't mistake me for an and1 guy, but you weren't gonna take it from me in general either.

For me, a lot of ball handling drills are more about testing one's ball handling than they are about getting it better. I know growing up my court was maybe a quarter mile from my house, and I walked there every day. I would try to go through my legs every step, and by the time I got to high school, if I didn't make it, I'd go back and start over.
Things like around the back circles, figure eights, spider dribbles, low taps, even spinning the ball on my finger, always felt more like I was doing them because I could, and it proved I was a good ball handler, not because they were making me better, although I'm sure they were.
I always like to run with the ball. If we ran suicides I dribbled while I was doing it. I just never carried a ball. I also remember as a kid sitting watching tv and hanging my legs off the couch and dribbling in rhythms. Under a leg, under both legs, under the other leg, frontwards, backwards. But that was just stuff I did.
I did have a routine warming up. I'd start at a corner, go up the sideline doing inside outs, a spin at mid court, a half spin at the circle, an up two back two at the other circle, around the back at the other sideline, then charge the elbow, make a hard crossover, and go to the bucket. I'd do it a few times from each corner, sometimes switching up the mix, but always that same format.

I use that same warm up routine as a drill in practices now. In fact I just started this year coaching 7 year olds, and I'm tempted to use it with them. Mostly I coach middle schoolers.
I also do some timed ball handling stuff. A minute of up two back twos (a wildly undertaught move in my opinion), kill the grass (which is a free ball handling in the FT circle where you try to hit as much of the area as possible), and things like running with the through the legs moves. And warmups with around the backs and finger taps and stuff.

[Money 23]

I dribbled everywhere I went in order to actually hone the skill. Worked on my left constantly. Dribbled tennis balls in the house. Watched players with great ball handling and attempted to emulate their style: Zeke, KJ, Iverson, Marbury, Francis, White Chocolate

[KungFuJoe]

I think it's normal to feel more at ease dribbling the opposite way then pulling up for a jumper. In other words, if you're right handed, it will feel "smoother" dribbling to your left, then pulling up.

At least that's the way it is for me.

[01amberfirewv]

I also do some timed ball handling stuff. A minute of up two back twos (a wildly undertaught move in my opinion), .

What are these?

I agree that most drills build more confidence than anything. It is important to make sure you apply them to game situations and of course spend as much time dribbling as possible.

[Thorpesaurous]

What are these?

I agree that most drills build more confidence than anything. It is important to make sure you apply them to game situations and of course spend as much time dribbling as possible.

Up Two Back Twos are sometimes called drag dribbles, or pull dribbles I've heard too, but my HS coach called the U2B2s.

Frankly it's more the back that matters. The drill is a simple V shape. You go up two dribbles with the ball in you're right hand, then slide backwards, ball in the same hand, sort of on your back hip, keeping space between the defender and the ball. Then you dropstep that left foot, snap a crossover (sometimes I'd go behind the back, or through the legs), and attack again two dribbles left handed, and again drag the ball back. We'd do 30 second sets with two groups for a 5 minute session.

This move I didn't learn until I was a junior in HS, and honestly it had an impact on me. It's very applicable. Most young players go forward. Go forward at all cost. That's how I played. Attack, and if that fails, attack again. Sometimes moving laterally to get around someone, but the idea of going backward almost never occurred to me. Once I learned this technique, I found it incredibly usefull. Head into a trap, along the baseline, drag it back, and watch the defenders come toward you, creating space behind them for cutters. And every shooter knows there's no one easier to beat off the bounce than a defender coming at you, so by pulling back quickly, you can kind of create that effect. Defenders are now coming at you, and you're acceleration forward will seem more dramatic. Attacking the seam of a zone and it gets pinched off, drag that dribble back and create space behind it. Coming up court into a 1-3-1 trap? Put that foot on the half court line (which is not over and back mind you) let the trap come, drag it back to the backcourt, and all that space opens behind the trap, plus you can snap that cross over and get under the trap back to the middle of the court.

It's just a very practical move that doesn't look all that flashy.

[01amberfirewv]

IC, we call them retreat dribbles where you pull the ball back and go. I need to spend more time on that with my jr. high team, they can't handle pressure.

[Thorpesaurous]

IC, we call them retreat dribbles where you pull the ball back and go. I need to spend more time on that with my jr. high team, they can't handle pressure.

I coach middle school too and this is a staple for us. I get two two hour practices a week, and we do individual skill stuff at least an hour of our 4, and this is a go.

[01amberfirewv]

I coach middle school too and this is a staple for us. I get two two hour practices a week, and we do individual skill stuff at least an hour of our 4, and this is a go.

We get to share the gym 5x a week for 1.5 hours and its still not enough

[LT Ice Cream]

I know this sounds kind of silly but like a lot of guys have said, watch your favorite pros. A lot of ball handling is confidence. I like to watch guys like Jennings and CP3 cuz of how confident they are when they make moves.
When I play ball, I just envision making moves like I saw them do it on YouTube. It's when you start second guessing your handling skills you start fumbling.

Of course, you have to actually practice as much as possible as well.