The Cross Over Movement Blog

On another site, I saw a question about stationary ball handling drills and their efficacy for varsity players. The first response was that Bruce Pearl uses stationary ball handling drills, implying that if it is good enough for Pearl’s players, it is good enough for a varsity team.

Is that the only measure of a drill? Should you use a drill just because a famous coach uses it? Are any of Tenneessee’s players even really good ball handlers?

Are stationary ball handling drills effective for varsity players? In my opinion, it depends what you are developing. The question suggested the stationary drills are not gamelike, which seemed to indicate a lessening of their value. A stationary ball handling drill is not gamelike, unless players dribble in one position during games.

Furthermore, a stationary dribble and a dribble on the move differ in the way the angle of the hand as it receives and releases the ball.

However, a stationary drill can be used to develop the feel for the ball and confidence with the ball. Ball handling drills, in general, can be used for different reasons, not just to improve a game move. I use drills to train basic coordination, hand-eye coordination, hand quickness, reaction time and more.

The question also suggested that dribbling two balls is even less gamelike than a stationary dribble. I disagree. Dribbling two balls is basic overloading. Dribbling two balls on a sprint practices the same dribble used in a game more closely than a sttaionary dribble with one hand because of the way the ball is received and released.

When choosing a drill, we need to understand why we use this drill. Doing a drill because a famous coach does the drill is not a good reason. How does the drill fit into your development program? What do your players need to develop? Where is their weakness and their strength? What drill is most useful to improve a weakness or challenge a strength? How can you apply a skill which was trained “not gamelike” to the game? These are the questions coaches must ask and answer about the drills they use. Why do you use a particular drill? If you don’t know, or if the answer is because a college coach uses it, it is probably time to re-evaluate the drill’s purpose or eliminate the drill altogether.