9 Drills to Improve Your Basketball Dribbling Skills
Getting better at basketball won’t happen without sweat, hard work and hours on court. And basketball dribbling skills are the place to start. They’re the foundation you build everything else on.
Repeating dribbling drills for basketball requires patience and focus. But it will pay off. The more you practice, the more your muscle memory builds. That means you’ll have options to call on when a defensive player is trying to steal the ball, when you’re looking to make quick changes in direction, or when you’re buying time in a tough game.
We’ve compiled a list of nine techniques you can work into your training - from basic practice right through to advanced basketball dribbling skills used by Under Armour’s brand partner Steph Curry.
General pointers for basketball dribbling drills
Before running through our drills for dribbling in basketball, here are some general pointers:
Get dribbling basics right
We’re going to assume you know the basics and can bounce a ball while walking. But here’s a quick refresh:
Keep your head up and scan the horizon - don’t look at the ball
Dribble the ball with your fingers, not the palm of your hand
Your fingers should receive the ball as it bounces up, and it shouldn’t go any higher than your hip
Practice often
The only way to get better at dribbling is to practice often. Ideally, you should be doing some basic basketball drills for dribbling every day - as little as 10 minutes will help. Before games or playing with friends, try and do some basketball ball handling drills as a warm up too.
Some basic equipment is helpful
Apart from the most basic basketball ball handling drills (which use nothing but a ball), you’ll benefit from some equipment:
Cones (you can also make your own - plastic water bottles are one option)
Tennis ball
Chalk
9 basketball dribbling drills to up your game
Here are 9 of the best dribbling drills for basketball. We’ve divided them into basketball dribbling drills for beginners, intermediate and more advanced players.
Ball handling drills in basketball for beginners
Starting out? Here are some key basketball dribbling drills for beginners.
1. Crossover
A crossover is one of the most important ball handling drills in basketball for beginners. It replicates a key move on court - switching the ball to the other side of your body so you can move past an opponent. It also makes you work both your dominant and non-dominant hands.
Get into position by bending your knees and with your feet beyond shoulder width apart and your arms bent at the elbow and angled out to the side. Keep your core tight and look forward.
Bounce the ball directly down with your dominant hand, then as it bounces up you’ll control it on the outside of the ball, then push it down mid-way between your feet and up to your left hand. Bounce it directly down once with your left hand, then return it to the right.
You’re looking to dribble fast and strong, and aim to keep the ball below knee height.
2. Ladder dribbles
This is a great basketball dribbling drill for ball control. Grab a piece of chalk, and mark out a ladder on the court (place each ‘rung’ about one foot apart).
To do ladder dribbles, you move forward with the long side of the ladder to your right. You then bounce the ball in the space between each ‘rung’, with one bounce per space. Once you reach the end of your ladder, you turn around and dribble back with the other hand, so the ladder is to your left. As you get more confident, up the pace.
Doing ladder dribbles trains you to bounce the ball at a consistent speed and rhythm while moving.
3. Pocket pound
A pocket pound is designed to train you to dribble hard and fast while retaining control.
Bend at your knees and get into an athletic stance. Begin bouncing the ball with your dominant hand while looking straight ahead (you don’t move in this drill). It’s called a pocket pound because the ball should come no higher than the pocket on your basketball shorts.
This is a great dribbling drill for basketball beginners because it trains you to bounce the ball with speed, power and consistency. Do pocket pounds for 30 seconds with each hand.
Intermediate dribbling drills for basketball
Mastered the basics? The next three drills will boost your ball control and give you more skills to blindside your opponents.
4. Figure 8 dribbles
In figure 8 basketball dribbling drills, you move the ball in a figure 8, back and forth around your legs. Being able to confidently move the ball behind you means you can move it away from the sweeping hands of your opponent.
Get into position with your feet just beyond shoulder-width apart and face forward. You want a slight bend in your knee. Keep your core tight.
Begin bouncing the ball in your right hand, and keep it below knee height. After a couple of bounces, move the ball so it’s bouncing between your knees, then bring your left hand behind you to receive it. Bring it round to the outside of your left leg and back to the middle, before passing it back to your right hand, to complete the figure 8.
5. Between the legs
This is another essential dribble drill in basketball. Once you’ve mastered it, you’ll use it on court all the time to keep your opponents guessing.
Get into position with your feet just beyond shoulder width apart. With a slight bend in the knee and a tilt at the waist, begin pounding the ball with your right hand while looking straight ahead. Next, step your left leg a full pace forward (step it directly ahead, not across the body). Bring the ball so it bounces directly below you, pass it through to your waiting left hand, and step back to starting. You then repeat the move in the opposite direction.
6. Cone touch dribbles
There are tonnes of basketball dribbling drills with cones. This is a good one to start with. It gets you to adapt your dribbling as you move around the court - as you would in a real game.
Lay out 10 cones around your court at random. Now, dribble between each cone and, as you get close to a cone, crouch and tap it with your free hand. Switch the ball to the other hand, and dribble over to the next cone and tap it with the free hand. Continue till you’ve tapped all the cones.
Advanced basketball dribbling drills
Take your training to the next level with these challenging ball handling drills in basketball.
7. Tennis ball handling drill
This is one we learnt from our brand partner Steph Curry - in this 2020 video. It makes you do different things with each hand, forcing you to multi-task and focus - which will boost your match awareness.
Grab your basketball and a tennis ball and get into an athletic position and begin pounding the ball with your dominant hand. Now, with your other hand, toss the tennis ball in the air and catch it while continually pounding the basketball with the other. Then, switch hands.
8. Figure 8 partner drills
This is another one we learned from Steph in the 2020 video. It’s as much about focus and the mental game as it is about your dribbling skills.
Get a training buddy to stand a couple of metres in front of you while you begin doing figure 8 drills. Your partner will then throw up a random number of fingers, and you call out how many they’re holding up. Sounds easy? Try it. The focus required to process the information and count while also doing a figure 8 makes this super challenging.
9. Single leg crossover
Here’s a final basketball dribbling drill from a 2020 video shoot with Steph that will push your balance, spatial awareness and focus to the limits.
Stand on one leg, and begin doing crossovers (for added difficulty, balance on an unstable foam or remove your basketball shoe). Gradually ramp up the speed, then switch legs. The need to balance here will really amp up the challenge.
Everything here is built to make you better
By using these basketball dribbling drills in your daily training, you’ll quickly start to see major improvements in your ball handling, focus and control - and have more options to call on in game play.
You can practice drills even better with Under Armour basketball shoes, performancewear and accessories. Using the most advanced tech and tough designs, this gear helps you move with maximum confidence and power.
