Two-ball Dribbling Drills

Any guard who wants to further develop their dribbling will benefit tremendously by using 2-balls at all times. Practicing with 2-balls at all times will help develop both hands and build strength in the fingers. This is a video clip of a high school player demonstrating good 2-ball dribbling form. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below.


Ball-handling is one of those skills that I find have generally been improving over the past decade or so, especially since the growth of playground ball, a lot of players have developed this area. With the increasing use of offenses that rely on the dribble like the Dribble Drive Motion, this is a critical area that all your players must develop including post-players. However, having said that, a lot of players are underdeveloped on their weak hand which the 2-ball dribbling should improve.

Here are the key points from the video:

1. Keep your head up. You'll notice the player is always looking ahead. You can't see your teammates if you're looking down at the ball. Always keep your eyes on the rest of the court to see your teammates and the hoop.

2. Use your fingers. You must develop strong finger strength. You dribble with your fingers and not the palm of your hand.

3. Pound that ball. The reason why the video goes in slow motion is because the player is pounding the ball so hard that you can't even see the crossover. That is how you beat your defender, by pounding the ball hard.

For DVDs and videos, Gagnon Baker has some good ball-handling fundamentals, but I like Lorenzo Romar's DVD on game-relevant ball-handling. I also have plenty of notes so head over the X's and O's Basketball Forum to take a look and see what I have.