5 Drills to Improve Ball Handling

• By Tyler Linderman

Steph Curry has gone from an overlooked high school scorer to an NBA MVP.

Why? Steph has the unique ability to create his own shots. Not only is he a premier shooter, but he handles the ball as well as any point guard in the league. And it’s this ability to handle the rock that makes way for his legendary shot.

Think you have what it takes to dominate? In this article, we’re going to look at 5 ball handling drills that can turn you into a Steph Curry-esque guard.

With each drill, remember to stay low, keep your back straight, keep your head up and never let the ball come above your waist.

1. Zig Zag Drillrill

The Zig Zag dribbling drill is one of the simplest, most effective drills in basketball. The key to this drill is keeping your form solid while practicing a variety of moves to switch direction and develop multi-hand dexterity.

Let me start by emphasizing that the whole point of this drill is to develop BOTH hands. Don’t favor your good hand. The key to great ball handling is equivalent skill in both hands.

Start in the back right corner of the court and dribble with your left hand to the elbow. Use a simple crossover to switch the ball to your right hand and dribble to the sideline.

Next, use a crossover again to switch the ball back to your left hand and dribble to the half court line. Crossover again and make your way to opposite elbow, and then finish off with one last crossover and a trip to the far corner.

This drill takes you from one end of the court to the other, practicing a change of direction move each time.

You should continue running this drill alternating through the following moves with each cross-court trip:

Basic crossover

Between the legs crossover

Spin move

Behind the back

Quick stop

The key to any basketball drill is to treat it like a game situation. In fact, if you find yourself or your players loafing during the drill, have them pair up and go against a defender. You will want to practice these moves at 100% so when the game has started, you feel comfortable using these moves with either hand. 

2. Two Balls, Two Handsands

Ball control is key to becoming a better ball handler. The next few drills all focus on ball control and strengthening your wrists, forearms and confidence in controlling the ball at all times.

There are many variations to a drill that I call 2 Balls, 2 Hands. The key to this drill is to 

become more confident in your ability to handle the ball with both hands.

You can practice this drill by simply sitting on the bottom bleacher at your local gym, grabbing 2 basketballs and just dribbling them by your side. You are going to want to keep them low to the ground and make sure you feel comfortable with the ball in your off hand. I used to do this every day for about 5 to 10 minutes before practice or a game while other teams were using the gym floor.

The second variation of this drill is to take 2 basketballs and practice dribbling while walking down the court. Again, you want to make sure you stay low and stay in control at all times. Go slow to begin with and focus on form and control, then, as you get more comfortable, you can speed up the pace.

During these drills be sure you keep your head up, so that you can see the court around you while dribbling.

3. Low Dribble Drillsills

The final drill may be the most important. The biggest mistake I see among young guards is dribbling the ball too high off the ground. The higher you dribble the ball, the more time it takes to move between your fingertips and the floor, which allows the defender more time to knock it away. When dribbling the ball, you should always stay low to the ground with a good bend in your knees, your back straight and your head up.

Start the drill off slow by walking down the court, making sure to maintain good form. While walking, be sure to practice some change of direction moves like a cross over or between the legs crossover. You will notice how much quicker the change of direction is happening when you keep the ball low.

Once you get to half court, simply turn around and come back. As you run through subsequent reps of this drills, speed up the pace and add a defender. Instruct the defender to reach in and attempt to steal or knock the ball away anytime they see a small opening. You want your offensive players to realize the value in keeping the ball close to the ground.

Here Coach Dave Severns of the Los Angeles Clippers explains the Pound Dribble Technique.

Source: Elite Ballhandling & Passing

4. Finger Tip Drillsills

Finger dexterity gives you a greater feel for the ball when it is on your fingertips. This skill is good to have not only for dribbling, but as a basketball player in general. When you only need to have your fingertips on the ball to know exactly where it is, you have a greater ability to use your eyes and find the open player.

For fingertip drills, take a ball and hold it out in front of you. Start to quickly bounce the ball back and forth between your fingertips as fast as you can. Remember to only use your finger tips for this drill. Don’t let the ball touch the palm of your hand

After a few seconds, raise the ball above your head and repeat the process, bouncing the ball between your fingertips. Finally, repeat the drill while keeping the ball low around your knees. As you get more comfortable with this drill, practice changing the heights at which you are bouncing it between your fingertips without stopping.

After a few weeks of running through these fingertip drills, you will be able to do them with your eyes closed and know at all times where the ball is simply by feeling it at your fingertips.

5. Ball Slapslaps

To become an elite level ball handler, you are going to need to have strong hands, wrists and forearms. So much of being a good dribbler comes down to the strength in your lower arms, allowing you to maintain better control of the ball.

The Ball Slap Drill is as simple as it sounds, take a basketball and slap it with both hands repeatedly. It may not feel like it is doing much, but eventually, you will feel your hands getting stronger and find yourself holding onto the ball in more difficult situations.

The easiest time to do this drill is before practice or a game, when you are waiting on others to get off the court, or during pregame warmups. Any time you have a ball in your hand but aren’t running a drill, just spend a few moments slapping the ball.

Own The Ball, Own The Courtourt

These 5 drills are extremely time efficient ways to make you a better ball handler. You should try to run through all 5 of these drills before every practice and game to maximize the results.

Remember to keep your head up, your back straight and the ball close to the ground. If you own the rock, you can own the court.

Once you've mastered your handles, the next step to playing like Curry is learning to create your shot off the dribble.