How to Get Better at Basketball Dribbling
Have you ever wanted to learn how to dribble a basketball like a true professional? What if there was some class or course that you could find online that could help you? And does this ring a bell to you?
Player A ends up being the most stand-out player on the court. Why? Because he’s literally running circles around his opponents with the ball and hand – and he’s never losing control of it or dropping it!
If this is you, and this is where you want to be, then we’re going to help you figure out how to do all of the fancy dribbling that the pros do so you can improve your game too!
The Most Professional Master Class from a Real Pro Can Help
There’s one player out there who has been known to literally have some of the best scoring, and also has some records under his belt that still haven’t been beaten. Who’s that you ask? Well, none other than Stephen Curry. He recently released his own basketball training program, and one of the best things that you can find on it is how to handle the ball at all times – including dribbling. With extensive and detailed courses, his training is proving to make waves just like he did on the court!
Not Everyone’s a Prodigy
Believe it or not, you may be one of those who struggles from time to time handling a basketball. And when it comes to dribbling it, you might find out that handling the ball in different situations can be excruciating sometime as well. With the right gear while you’re doing this training, such as special dribbling gloves, you can improve your dribbling skills to even greater heights much faster and improve your game. Being able to handle the ball is the biggest part of the game, because it can literally do anything from helping you to avoid turnovers during passes, during shots, and more.
The most important thing to know about this, is that you can’t just become the best basketball player overnight. Let alone handle the ball like a pro. This is why you’re going to have to work hard in order to achieve that same success. Even if you’re just wanting to use it on the street, these courses and items can end up giving you the upper edge against your opponents, and even help you increase both offense and defense.
The Right Way to Dribble
A lot of people base their dribbling on their own personal comfort and think that they’re coming up with their own skills with it. If you’re one of these people, you need to stop what you’re doing right now, and learn the proper way to dribble. If you’re one of those who think you can dribble across the court and run like a track runner running a 2-mile race, then you’ve got it wrong. Here are some good tips that’ll help you prepare yourself for dribbling right.
Keep Your Position Low
The first thing you need to do is what’s called keeping a low profile. Keeping your stance low as you move with the ball is crucial because it allows you to have a better center of gravity over your opponent who’s trying to tower over you throughout the whole process. Not only that, but it’ll enable you to be able to pivot and turn faster and easier, because you’ll be centered around your core. The lower your stance can be, the harder it makes it for your basketball is going to be to steal.
Use Your Fingertips and Not Just Your Palms
A lot of players think that they just need to use their palms, or they can only use their fingertips. Believe it or not, you want to spread your hand across the entire surface of the ball so you can have more balance of where that ball’s going to be, and to minimize or maximize spin in the direction you need it to go. If you use your fingertips across the entire basketball, you’ll have more control over it. Combine this with some excellent dribbling gloves, and you’ll be able to learn how to control the ball even better while increasing ball handling skills and training your hands to always grab the ball right even when the position of your hand is shifting.
Always Dribble with Assertiveness
It may look like the pros are dribbling with a bit of finesse, but this isn’t a violin. Believe it or not, they’re always making sure they push the ball down to the ground as hard as they need to in order for it to reach their hands again. That takes some training for a lot of people, especially beginners. There are even designer basketballs that are out there to help train you with smart training and improve your control of the ball itself. What’s important when you dribble in order to accomplish this is the strength of your hands, arms, fingers, and wrists.
How to Handle the Ball the Best Way Possible
When it comes to dribbling, most people think there’s a long catch and release. The truth is, every single time the ball bounces upwards, you have to keep control of it. In order to do so, you want to keep your hand directly above the ball so that you can put your hand down when you need to.
You also want to keep the ball as low to the ground as possible. This will give you an edge over your defenders because since it’ll help you keep control, especially if you’re already in a low stance, you will be keeping it more protected. And the most important thing is that you don’t want to just practice with your dominant hand. This is something that many players make the mistake of, and you know what happens? Their moves become predictable.
Always make sure that you end up practicing with your weaker hand and leg as well. Learn to be ambidextrous with the ball, not just one of those who dribbles always to the right. You want to be able to catch your opponents by surprise at any time, and by doing this, you’ll give yourself the flexibility that you need in order to get ahead of the game, and stay ahead of the opponents as well.
Don’t Ball Watch
Ball watching is something that you only want to do when you shoot. But you never want to do this while you’re dribbling. It’s very similar to martial arts – you always want to keep your eyes on your opponents and obstacles that are in your way. If you practice keeping your head up while you’re running with the ball, then you are going to run the higher chances of getting the best in your game. The best ball handlers end up using all of their vision, both peripheral and seeing what’s right in front of them at all times. If you want to be a true professional, then you will train yourself with the motor skills necessary to know that there literally is no time when you should look at the basketball, because you are too busy dealing with your opponents.
One of the best methods once you get basic dribbling down, is actually to learn how to dribble with your eyes shut. Don’t worry, this is going to take plenty of practice, but once you master it, it’ll help you with your dribbling tenfold. You can enhance your training even more by using what are called court vision goggles. There are beginners and even pros that use these on a regular basis. What do these goggles do?
Court vision goggles make a player literally have to keep their head up to keep an eye on the entire court rather than the basketball. You can help react against defending opponents better when you use them.
Common Dribbling Moves
The basic dribble is when you learn how to dribble the ball the right way from a basic stance, or while moving with your dominant (or weak hand). However, there are special moves that look flashy, but there’s actually a time to use them during a game as opposed to just wanting to look cool.
Crossing Over with the Crossover
One of the things you need to do is learn the crossover dribble. This dribbling technique requires that you take a step and push off with the foot on the same side of your body as the basketball. When you do this to take a step, you’re going to push off with that food, and then pass the ball to your other hand. The ball literally makes a perfect V shape when you do a crossover dribble, bouncing off of the ground at the middle of your body.
Between the Legs
This is something that you see a lot of players do, but there’s actually a reason for it – your own protection of the ball. When you have a defender coming at you, you want to keep the ball as enclosed as possible. That’s why you may want to do a between the legs dribble. When you see players doing it out in the open, they’re not doing it for show, they’re just continuing to practice. What you do with this technique is similar to the crossover, but you’re going to pass the ball under your forward leg to the other hand (and often back again) just like you would with a crossover. You need to train your hands to catch the ball between the other hand.
The Roundabout Dribble (aka Behind the Back)
When you do this, you’re actually going to take a step forward with the foot that’s also on the same side of your ball while you’re dribbling it. Once you have the ball in your hands again, you push the ball behind your back so it can bounce off of the ground at the middle of your body, much like a crossover. Then you’re going to take your left hand behind you slightly and bring the ball back up to you. This move is an excellent way to keep a handle on the ball, while keeping yourself between the ball and a defender or screener.
Buying a Training Program
We mentioned that there are dribbling programs out there, and some of them do include excerpts from courses just like Stephen Curry’s Masterclass. Fortunately for you though, there are other stars that can help. One such program is the Can’t Be Guarded program – this twelve-week program helps you to increase your dribbling speed and ball handling using some of the greatest basketball players of all time as coaches. You’ll get drills, special training for certain moves, and more. It even helps you handle the ball during long range attacks and was created by one of the most world renowned coaches on the planet, Coach Rocky.
These programs may cost a bit, but you can see just how affordable they are by just giving them a shot. If you’re wanting to practice like a pro, then nothing should stop you, and all of the classes or courses mentioned in this guide are a true-fire way to make sure your game can improve – and they’re all worth the investment. Do you have to spend money to learn how to play basketball? Not always, but if you do, it’s okay. And these courses, plus sticking to the training programs, and more can help you increase your vertical jumps (which helps with ball handling while taking shots or trying to dunk), as well as improve your dribbling, passing, and more.
Conclusion
Dribbling a ball is one of the hardest things to master along with taking shots for most people. What’s worse, is that every smaller coach has a dedicated way that they teach kids to dribble, and this doesn’t always work at higher levels other than for beginners. If you’re wanting to learn how to dribble the fastest, and the best while handling the ball up and down the court, you can literally perform run by your opponent with the ball in your court so you never miss a beat!