1

The 1 Must Have Ball Handling Skills-hoopskills.com

The #1 "Must Have" Ball Handling

Skill

-by Coach Dave Stricklin http://www.hoopskills.com

With NBA stars today like

Chris Paul and Derrick Rose

having such an array of ball

handling moves and skills it is

no wonder why the ability to

dribble the basketball is

getting more attention today

than ever before.

Whether you are a guard or a

post player, the ability to

handle the basketball is a

significant aspect that every

basketball player should have in their game. However, because of

the increased attention that the "ankle breakers" are receiving many

younger players are shying away from the basic skills that are

needed in order to handle the ball effectively.

There are many essential moves that one should master when it

comes to handling the basketball.

Moves such as a cross-over, between the legs, behind the back and a

spin move should all be acquired throughout ones playing career if

the athlete desires to play at a high level such as in high school or in

college. But perhaps the most important tool that one should learn

is not a move at all, but rather a skill.

2

The 1 Must Have Ball Handling Skills-hoopskills.com

This skill truly separates the good ball handlers from the great ones.

Although it is the single most important skill needed, it is so basic

that most coaches mistakenly assume that players already know

how to do it and so fail to teach and emphasize it. The skill is simply

having the ability to change speeds while dribbling the basketball.

Whether you are an experienced varsity player for your local high

school or a parent coaching his child's third grade team, everyone

can benefit from this skill. There are three phases to teaching this

skill: acceleration, stopping on a dime, and hesitate the re-

accelerate.

If one can master this basic skill he or she will then be able to apply

these principles to all their other moves and bring up the ball against

all sorts of pressure.

1. Acceleration: The objective of the first part of the move is to

accelerate to your top speed as quickly as possible while keeping

control of your dribble. Obviously with so many different levels of

athletic ability this top speed can greatly vary depending on the

athlete. In order to gain maximum speed I want you to visualize an

Olympic sprinter. If you have ever watched a sprinter you probably

noticed how their heels never touch the ground as they are

constantly on the balls of their feet. While this may be slightly

uncomfortable at first, this one tip will definitely increase your

speed. However, to most people's surprise this is the least important

phase of the skill.

2. Stopping on a Dime: Depending on one's speed this can be

difficult. The laws of physics say that the faster you move the harder

it is to stop. Unlike the acceleration phase where one wants to be on

their toes, deceleration requires that you contact the floor with your

entire foot, usually by planting your heel first. This will decelerate

you quickly and bring you literally to a shoe screeching stop.

3

The 1 Must Have Ball Handling Skills-hoopskills.com

3. Hesitate and Re-accelerate: The hesitation is the most

important aspect of the skill because it is the single factor that

separates the good ball handlers from the great ones. The hesitation

is going to allow you to create the necessary space to blow by your

defender. Here's what happens - You dribble as fast as you can and

then suddenly stop on a dime. Since your defender doesn't know

exactly when you are going to stop he is not going to stop at the

same time and will undoubtedly take an extra step. Once he stops

he will want to recover and will very likely come out of his defensive

stance and slightly rise up. Now you are going to hesitate long

enough to make him think he has a chance to recover and as he

shifts his weight and starts

to return to you, you are

going to accelerate once

again and blow right by

him.

In teaching the hesitate and

re-accelerate phase to our

players we use the rule of

three. Before accelerating

each athlete must count to

three before taking off

again.

Here is a drill we use in

teaching this very important

skill and we call it simply the

Stop N Go. We like this drill

because we can have

multiple players working at

the same time and they can

work on improving both their left and right hands. We have them

use their right hand on the way down and left hands on the way

4

The 1 Must Have Ball Handling Skills-hoopskills.com

back. Players will line up evenly across the baseline in three or five

lines depending on the number of players in the drill.

Each player can have his own ball or you can just give one ball to the player at the front of each line.