Dribble more
Repetition is the biggest key to improving your basketball skills. Walking to the store? Bring a basketball. Going over to a friend’s house? Bring a ball. Hanging out in your backyard? Spend some time dribbling the ball! The more time you spend with a ball in your hands, the better you will be.
Dribble with the pads of your fingers
Don’t just hit at the ball with your palms; learn to control the ball with the pads of your hands. This will make changing direction, speed, and power of your dribble easier to control. When you push down on the ball, this will also help you to follow through which will help to control where the ball hits the ground.
Bend your knees!
Staying low to the ground will help you in all facets of your game! It’s not just about basketball too! Staying low will help you move laterally, change directions, and react quickly to the defense.
Pound your dribble
The harder you pound the ball, the less time it’s out of your hand. The less time it is out of your hand, the more control you have over it. The more control you have over the ball, the less opportunity the defender has to steal it.
Keep your feet moving
When you don’t stop moving, your defender doesn’t know when or where you’re going with your dribble. Work on your footwork. Do ladders, quick feet, change of speed. Changing your speed is one of the major keys to beating your defender. Watch how Kyrie Irving changes pace to beat his defender. He’ll take a quick step and then rock back, switch hands and see where the defender is.
