Dribbling a basketball should be one of the first fundamental basketball skills a beginning youth basketball player learns. Dribbling occurs when the player controls the movement of the basketball through bouncing the ball to the ground with one hand while preventing his or her opponent from hindering the ball movement.
If you want to learn how to dribble a basketball, we can help you get started by laying out these five basic fundamental points in regards to how to dribble a basketball:
1. Use Your Fingers, Not Your Palm: When dribbling a basketball, utilizing your fingers from the tip to the pad of the hand provides you the easiest avenue to maintain control and speed of your dribble. When dribbling the ball, you need to separate your fingers apart from each other instead of keeping it together. If you use the palm of your hand, you will lose control of the basketball.
2. Relax Your Fingers: When you place your hand on the ball when dribbling, make sure your hand sits comfortably on the basketball. You do not want stiff hands when dribbling a basketball. If you have stiff hands, your fingers will not maintain good control of the basketball and you will lose the ball.
3. Keep the Ball Low: when you dribble the ball, you want to make sure the ball stays below your waist. The higher you dribble the ball, the easier the opponent guarding you can steal the ball away. The key to successfuly dribble the ball low lies within your body posture. You need to make sure to drop your hip and bend your knees while you place your feet shoulder width apart.
4. Practice Using Both Hands: The theory that humans learn more quickly at a younger age applies with dribbling the ball. Make sure you practice dribbling the basketball with both your right hand and your left hand. If you know how to dribble with both hands, you will have an easier time manuevering around the court without getting the ball stolen from you.
5. Keep Eyes Up: After you master the first 4 steps, you must now keep your eyes off the ball while dribbling the ball. Keeping your eyes up when dribbling the ball enables you to look around the court and locate open teammates to pass the ball to. Also, keeping your eyes up helps you identify where you are on the court. Dribbling the basketball while closing your eyes provides a good way to learn how to dribble without looking down at the ball.
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