How To Teach Dribbling

   In part 2 of this youth dribbling series from Coach Jeff Huber, you’re going to learn…  * How To Teach Dribbling… Including Shooting At The Floor * External and Internal Cues - And How To Best Incorporate Them For Better Learning * The Best Approach For At-Home Dribbling Workouts  Also, if you missed part 1 of the series which covered How To Teach The Most Important Skills In Youth Basketball and The #1 Youth Dribbling Issue, [you can read part 1 and part 2 in entirety here](   Now, here's Jeff and part 2 of the series...   How To Teach Dribbling  With the above in mind, the first thing you must do is get players to dribble using their entire arm.   Here are a few ways to do that:  * Practice shooting the ball to floor - most coaches are familiar with having players hold the ball in their shooting pocket and shooting the ball up towards the ceiling. If done correctly, this results in locking out both the elbow and shoulder.  You want your players to do the same thing when dribbling, just in the opposite direction.   Start by having your players hold the ball in their shooting pocket (near their rib cage on their dominant hand side). This positions the dribbling hand on top of the ball, and the non-dribbling hand on the side, where it can easily come off.  [power dribble example] ​​ From here, have your players lock out their elbow and shoulder as they push/dribble the ball down to the floor. This teaches them the proper arm motion for dribbling. ​​ [power dribble example]  Initially you will want your players to catch the ball as it bounces back up. A good coaching point is that they want the ball to bounce right back up to their shooting pocket. As they become comfortable with that, challenge them to do two dribbles in a row, then three, etc. This is a good way for them to see themselves improving.   * Use external cues - when teaching, you can use either internal or external cues.   Internal cues make reference to things inside your body.   When teaching dribbling, an internal cue could be “lock out your elbow” or “dribble from your shoulder”.  External cues reference things outside your body.   When teaching dribbling, external cues could be “push the ball through the floor” to encourage force or “touch the floor” to encourage arm extension.  Research has shown that external cues are much more effective for teaching.  This is especially true for young athletes, who have less body awareness.   When teaching your players to dribble, use the external cues above, or come up with your own. If your player has a certain interest you can tie into a cue, it will be even more effective.   * Be patient and positive - learning is not a linear process. They might leave practice one way looking like they have figured this dribbling thing out. Then they come back the next practice looking like they're dribbling a medicine ball.  This happens! Rather than getting frustrated, keep encouraging them. This will help them stay motivated and working to improve.  * Make them use both hands - With all these teaching points and drills, it is important you make your players practice with both hands.  I cringe when I see old NBA highlights of Celtics’ legend Bob Cousy dribbling to his left with his right hand. While that might have worked in the 50’s, it won’t today.  And yet, in youth games you commonly see players dribbling only with their dominant hand. When they do this going the opposite direction, the ball is directly exposed to their defender.    Most won’t want to use their non-dominant hand because they don’t have confidence in using it. Well, they won’t gain that confidence if they never do it!  Effective learning requires psychological safety. Your players need to know it’s okay to make mistakes as they learn.  While this seems obvious, many coaches say one thing and do another.  They tell their players it’s okay to make a mistake but then they get frustrated when a player makes a mistake. Make sure your actions match your words!  Do Your Homework - Why Short Dribbling Workouts Are Important  Once your players have mastered the technique of dribbling, the game will open up in new ways.   There are hundreds of dribbling drills out there. You should start with the most basic. Have you players learn the pound dribble first. Then move to a crossover so they can change hands.  Once you’ve taught those things, consider making them “homework.” Assign dribbling drills for players to do at home in between practices. Send the drills to their parents to make them your partner in this endeavor. Reward players who do them!  These homework assignments should be brief (5-8 minutes).   By having the players do these drills at home, they can continue to improve in between practices. That will also free up more time in your practices for other teaching.   In part 3 of this series, we'll cover these topics... which is coming out soon!  * How To Gamify Your Dribbling In Practice * 4 Great Dribbling Games To Use At Next Practice!  Also, if you missed part 1 of the series, [you can read part 1 and part 2 in entirety here](.  Please share your thoughts and comments as well. You can either reply directly or [comment on the article]( on our website.  Here are some other related youth coaching and ball handling resources available as well.  [The Beginner Basketball Coaching System with Jim Huber - Ages 5 to 9](  [The Youth Basketball Coaching System with Jim Huber - Ages 9 to 14](  [Ball Handling & Footwork Workouts - For Individual or Multi-Player Use (Coaching Dashboard Also Available To Manage Team!)](    All the best,  Jeff Huber Breakthrough Basketball  This email was sent to {EMAIL} because you indicated that you'd like to receive emails and updates from Breakthrough Basketball on 2016-12-16 05:42:39. If you don't want to receive such emails in the future, please [Change Your Email Preferences]( or [Unsubscribe All]( Copyright © Breakthrough Basketball, LLC. All rights reserved. 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