basketball
...was ball handling for three straight hours in the sun. We did so many different drills with so many repetitions that it made us sick. I was happy when practice was finally over. First, because I learned lot of good basketball skills and second because after this practice I can’t really say that I worked harder in my ten year basketball career. It was during this practice that we learned a variety of ball-handling drills that made this segment of game much more interesting for us. For example, we did drills such as races between the cones while dribbling one or two balls at the same time or chasing each other while dribbling the ball and having it under control. We would do these drills until everybody felt confident with the skill we were learning. Numerous repetitions made practices mentally very tough. In order to become a solid basketball ball-handler, you have to know the following guidelines for ball-handling. First, you need to know how to hold the ball and where to hold it. The ball needs to be on your left/right hip (depending on if you are right or left handed) in a position of triple danger for defensive player. This means being able to dribble, shoot, or pass from that position in the quickest possible time. This position gives you an opportunity to do that. Then you need to know how to put the ball on the floor and protect it. If you are dribbling with your right hand, you need to turn sideways (left hip closer to the defensive player) and your left hand must be between the ball and defensive player. Therefore, you make it hard for him to get the ball out of your possession. You need to do be able to this with either your right or left hand. After this you are learning more complex skills, such as dribbling between your legs, crossover (switching hands by dribbling), behind the back (same as crossover just behind the back) and spin move (where you have a strong dribble with your right hand and then pivot around your left foot after which you keep dribbling with your left hand, same if you are starting with left hand). All of these ball handling techniques you can use in a game to go by the defensive player easier. Therefore, by successfully completing one of these moves you give yourself space for a shot or for an easier pass. The next step, and most important one, in the process of learning how to dribble is doing all these fakes (moves that are helping you to trick defensive player and go easier by him) while running without making a mistake. We use different drills to practice this. For example, imagine yourself sprinting while dribbling (of course not looking at the ball), stopping all of sudden and changing the direction and hand by doing one of th...