Youth Basketball Coaching and Player Development - Re:Ball handling practice for near beginners -

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David E
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Ball handling practice for near beginners - 2007/06/17 16:53 I would like to get readers' thoughts on how much of the allotted ball-handling time during practice should be spent on two-ball work and how much with one ball. Also, how do you vary this (if any) from summer to in-season? I coach sixth through eighth grade girls who come to me with some playing experience but usually without much skill. My job is to graduate eighth graders who are ready to play in high school.

I have gone up and down with the two-ball work during my twelve years in this position. This past season I probably did less than I ever have. Almost all our ball-handing practice was attacking a chair and finishing 1on0, or live 1on1 or 1on2. We did about five minutes of two-ball work once every two or three weeks. In past seasons we may have done that once or twice each week.

The result was that last year our open-court moves were terrific. Nobody could stop us in space 1on1. However, we were not as confident in controlled situations. I am seeing this same thing now in our early summer practices.

I feel that we need to increase the amount of two-ball work we are doing, at least in the summer, to build players' confidence in their handling, but what's the right balance? Or, do we just need to change the type of one-ball drills we are doing?

Ideas?

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coachmccormick
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Re:Ball handling practice for near beginners - 2007/06/17 18:02 First, let me plug my DVD, Great Ball Handling Made easy: http://www.fullcourtbasketball.com/retail/common/shop/prod_detail.asp?store_id=1&dept_id=3&pf_id=DVD%20%20_FCBBL_106579&

The DVD covers all the drills I use to develop game moves with beginners to intermediates.

As for two-ball work, I think ball handling is one area of instruction where creativity is paramount. A father sent his son to me last week for five straight days rather than send him to a camp. We did five different ball handling workouts in five days. We used two ball drills on two of the days. But, we also did one ball drills, quickness drills, anticipation drills, hand-eye coordination drills and we attacked the basket with moves every day.

In terms of improving confidence in controlled situations, two-ball drills may or may not be the answer. It depends what leads to the lack of confidence: poor ball control, inability to relieve pressure, not strong with the ball, lack of understanding as to what move to use, etc. Depending on your perceptions of the cause, the answer will differ.

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David E
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Re:Ball handling practice for near beginners - 2007/06/18 00:09 I actually have your DVD. It is an excellent product. I really like the progressions. One of the reasons I was questioning myself is that there are no two-ball drills included.

One reason I thought we might should increase our use of two-ball drills is I don't think we are pounding the dribble hard enough with our weak hand when we are relatively stationary. I think this leads to some poor ball control. I always tried to get the players to match the hands when dribbling two balls.

The other thing, which two-ball work probably won't help, is I think we do have a "lack of understanding as to what move to use" as you put it. It's sort of like chess where some players are great at tactical skirmishes but struggle in a positional battle when what to do is not so clear. Our players do well when the game is flowing and decisions are easy, but are not as effective when the game slows down.

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coachmccormick
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Re:Ball handling practice for near beginners - 2007/06/19 06:14 Here's a clip from the DVD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xidll0zmV_8

The two-ball drills are perfect for your purpose. Fr the second problem, I'd make sure they understand the space dribble and pull back crossover moves and work on handling the ball 1v2.

Also, reinforce my #1 rule of good ball handling: always go north-south. When a defensive player gets the ball handler's hips turned toward the sideline, the defender is winning. Use the space dribble to create space and square to the basket.

Young players never want to go backward. They only go forward even if forward is dribbling into the corner. Young players need to learn that a retreat dribble is a useful and necessary move.

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