Basketball Dribbling Drills - Stationary Drills

From the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook, @ http://www.coachesclipboard.net

Youth teams should do these stationary drills at the start of each practice, all season long. We usually precede these drills with our ball-handling drills. Do each of these drills for 30-60 seconds and move on so you can get through them rather quickly. Daily repetition will make the difference. Players can do these drills at home too, and in the off-season.

At practice, I have one of our better dribblers lead the drill at center court. The team spreads out in a circle around the leader who performs the various dribbling drills, while the other players follow his/her lead.

See the video clips of all these drills.

Up and Downs

Start by dribbling the ball in front of you so that the ball reaches your waist high. Gradually, bounce the ball harder and harder until you are dribbling the ball as high as you can without jumping. Then gradually dribble the ball lower and lower until you are on one knee, finishing as close to the floor as possible. Pound the ball quickly to keep it going. Then do it with the other hand. See ups and down dribbling video clip.

Kills

Dribble the ball waist high, then suddenly "kill" it by dribbling it as low as you can, hold this for a few seconds, then bring it back up to waist high. Do this several times with each hand. See "kills" dribbling video clip.

Circle Dribbles

This drill is similar to "Circles" (see Ball Handling) except now the ball is dribbled. Dribble around your left leg then your right. Next, using both hands, dribble around both legs which should be together. Next, kneel down on one knee and dribble around your body and under your leg. After that, switch knees and continue. Then, while on your knees, dribble around your body, using both hands. See "around each leg" dribbling video clip.

Figure Eight

This drill is similar to the ball-handling figure eights drill except now the ball is dribbled through your legs in a figure-of-eight motion. Use both hands and be sure to look up while doing this drill. See figure-8 dribbling video clip.

Back and Forth Under the Legs

Get crouched over with your right knee and leg forward. V-dribble the ball behind the extended leg. Repeat behind the other leg. See v-dribble under legs dribbling video clip.

Crossover Dribbles

Dribble with your right hand. Bounce the ball once on the right side, then cross the ball over in front of you by bouncing it to the left. The left hand now bounces it on the left once, and then crossover back to the right, where the right takes over again. Repeat this procedure. See cross-over dribbling video clip.

V-Dribble in Front

Start with the right hand and dribble once on the right side. Then dribble the ball in front you, as if you were going to cross over to the left side. Instead of getting it with your left hand, roll your right hand over the top of the ball, and bring it back to the right. Keep dribbling like this: right then cross over V-dribble. Repeat with the left hand. See front v-dribble dribbling video clip.

Side V-Dribble

Now do the v-dribble on the side. Do both left and right hands. See side v-dribble dribbling video clip.
For more difficult drills, try the spider dribbling drill, windmill dribbling drill, butterfly dribbling drill, shuffle dribbling drill.

Also try some of the 2-ball drills. There are demonstrations of all these drills in the video clips library. See the one and two-ball dribbling drills, and ball-handling drills.

See Dribbling for details of the control dribble, speed dribble, crossover dribble, in and out dribble, hesitation dribble, behind the back dribble, and through the legs dribble, spin move, and back-up dribble.