Basketball Dribbling Tips

Basketball season is underway and the equipment to play is fairly simple- a ball, a court with a net and the right pair of shoes. It also takes skill. The first step to playing is learning the correct way to dribble.

Basic Dribbling

To get into position to properly dribble, get down in the basketball stance, which is knees bent. If you are right handed, place your left foot slight forward and vice versa if you are left handed. Use all your fingers to grasp the ball and and push it down with your palm. Don’t slap the ball but bounce it. Keep your eyes up and avoid looking at the ball. Control the movement and don’t let the ball go past your waist. The hand bouncing the ball should be relaxed. Then, switch hands and practice with the hand you don’t favor. Dribbling well with both hands will make you a better ball player. If you have two balls, dribble both at the same time.

Crossover

Once you have gotten confident with basic dribbling skills, try the crossover. This move helps to keep the ball away from the defender. Again, get down in the basketball stance with knees bent, start with the right hand and bounce the ball in between your legs to your left hand. Repeat going left to right Practice getting the crossover wider and wider, and again, keep your eyes up and don’t watch the ball.

To step it up a notch, invest in two cones and practice a figure eight in both directions, starting with your favored hand and then switching. You will notice that your hand will move positions when you move the basketball in different directions.

The next skill to learn is the crossover behind you. Start with your favored hand and push the ball behind you to the ground and bounce it back with the other hand. After this exercise feels comfortable, go from the front to the back and around.

With dribbling, the key is to keep your knees bent, relax the hands and look up rather than at the ball. Once you feel comfortable dribbling, work on getting the ball into the net.