If you want to be good at basketball, by far the most important thing you need to work on is your ball handling. Whether you're a guard or a bigman, you need to have the skills to handle the basketball under pressure. If you can't handle the ball under the pressure you'll never unlock your true potential. With the right dribbling exercises, anyone can develop the skills needed to handle the basketball.
In my opinion, anytime you're dribbling the basketball you are performing a dribbling exercise. Whether you're fooling around with your friends in a game of 21 or you're in an intense basketball game, the moments when you're dribbling the basketball can be looked at as a type of dribbling exercise. Some dribbling exercises are more beneficial than others, and some help with specific ball handling situations and don't address others. The point is you want to do different types of dribbling exercises that address all aspects of dribbling. You can't go to your basketball court and play a couple games of 21 and say that you've completed a full ball handling workout because in 21 you don't have to break a full court press or break down a defender and dish the ball to your teammate, you don't even have to dribble. So let me lay out the two types of dribbling exercises.
First you have stationary ball handling exercises. These are drills that are done while standing still and dribbling. A stationary dribbling drill can involve crossover dribbles, between the leg dribbles, and many of the other types of dribbles. You won't be doing any walking or running, just focusing on dribbling the basketball in a stationary position. These exercises can be done with one or two basketballs. Stationary dribbling drills are highly effective for beginners but are still effective for intermediate and advanced ball handlers, especially the ones that neglected to learn the fundamentals of ball handling.
The other type of dribbling exercise is the movement dribbling exercise. Movement exercises are the exact opposite of stationary exercises. Movement dribbling is much more difficult than stationary dribbling and this is the type of dribbling that the more advanced basketball players focus on. Movement dribbling can be walking, jogging, and running. If you can master movement ball handling exercises you will be a force to reckon with. Not only do movement exercises benefit your ball handling but they also help get you in good shape because they take a lot of energy. Usually after a good 45 minute movement dribbling drill session I'm exhausted and drenched in sweat. This goes to show that you can even get your daily cardio workout while you're doing movement dribbling drills. Movement exercises are very efficient but you want to have a good mixture of movement and stationary exercises in your workouts.
The ultimate success formula for ball handling would be to include stationary and movement ball handling exercises in your training.
In my opinion, anytime you're dribbling the basketball you are performing a dribbling exercise. Whether you're fooling around with your friends in a game of 21 or you're in an intense basketball game, the moments when you're dribbling the basketball can be looked at as a type of dribbling exercise. Some dribbling exercises are more beneficial than others, and some help with specific ball handling situations and don't address others. The point is you want to do different types of dribbling exercises that address all aspects of dribbling. You can't go to your basketball court and play a couple games of 21 and say that you've completed a full ball handling workout because in 21 you don't have to break a full court press or break down a defender and dish the ball to your teammate, you don't even have to dribble. So let me lay out the two types of dribbling exercises.
First you have stationary ball handling exercises. These are drills that are done while standing still and dribbling. A stationary dribbling drill can involve crossover dribbles, between the leg dribbles, and many of the other types of dribbles. You won't be doing any walking or running, just focusing on dribbling the basketball in a stationary position. These exercises can be done with one or two basketballs. Stationary dribbling drills are highly effective for beginners but are still effective for intermediate and advanced ball handlers, especially the ones that neglected to learn the fundamentals of ball handling.
The other type of dribbling exercise is the movement dribbling exercise. Movement exercises are the exact opposite of stationary exercises. Movement dribbling is much more difficult than stationary dribbling and this is the type of dribbling that the more advanced basketball players focus on. Movement dribbling can be walking, jogging, and running. If you can master movement ball handling exercises you will be a force to reckon with. Not only do movement exercises benefit your ball handling but they also help get you in good shape because they take a lot of energy. Usually after a good 45 minute movement dribbling drill session I'm exhausted and drenched in sweat. This goes to show that you can even get your daily cardio workout while you're doing movement dribbling drills. Movement exercises are very efficient but you want to have a good mixture of movement and stationary exercises in your workouts.
The ultimate success formula for ball handling would be to include stationary and movement ball handling exercises in your training.