BASKETBALL DRIBBLING - PERIPHERAL VISION 

Quickly Become A Better Dribbler While Developing Your Court Vision  

On this page are basketball dribbling drills and peripheral vision/basketball dribbling drills.  Include these basketball dribbling tips as soon as possible in your youth basketball drills. 

Below are pet basketball dribbling peeves from a basketball coaching point of view.  Simply avoiding these will assist anyone questioning how to become a better basketball player. 
• Dribbling a basketball too much takes the rest of your team out of the basketball game.  Your team becomes easier to defend because your offense moves so slowly.
• Basketball players dribbling a basketball too high allow the basketball to be easily swatted away.
• Basketball players in the paint should be catching and, before the defense has time to react, shooting the basketball.  Too many players in the paint are catching, dribbling the basketball, and then shooting the basketball.  This allows the defense time to catch-up to the play and contest the shot.
• Basketball dribbling is a huge part of the game of basketball and all basketball players should be able to dribble a basketball as easily with one hand as the other.  There are no excuses for any basketball player not being great at dribbling the basketball with both hands.  

All players at all positions need to be good at dribbling the basketball.  Dribbling is the only basketball skill that makes basketball players comfortable handling the basketball.  If a basketball player wants to improve all basketball skills that player needs to make time for basketball dribbling drills.  You can see in high school, college, and professional basketball games most players are uncomfortable dribbling the basketball up court, they get rattled when a defender gets any where near them and make bone-headed decisions with the basketball.  So what do we see?  The same player dribbling the basketball up court on every play.  How much easier can we make it for our opponents?  This archaic strategy allows the defense to dictate your offense. 

If a defense is forced to deal with different players bring the ball up court they will need different defensive set ups which creates constant defensive confusion.  For example; there are three tall dunkers on a team where all five players are capable of handling the ball.  If one of the tall dunkers is bringing the ball up court, time after time that tall dunker can lob an alley-oop pass to another tall dunker for a dunk.  So opponents of this offenseare always playing out of position in an attempt to prevent these alley-oop passes.  That opens up mismatch doors all over the court. 

Players who read and incorporate the shooting drills in my NEW FREE Basketball Shooting Book, 'Basketball - It's All About The Shot' can cut down on shooting practice time and spend more time on their basketball dribbling drills without sacrificing their shot, becoming not only better shooters but better basketball players.  Because most players spend their solo practice time shooting, their basketball dribbling skills go under developed. 

Basketball dribbling drills involving peripheral vision using two basketballs: 
Dribble both basketballs simultaneously, dribbling a basketball with each hand.  Dribble from one end of the court to the other and back again, etc.  As you're dribbling these basketballs rotate your head from side to side with your eyeballs locked looking straight out.  You're doing this properly when the gym appears to be swinging back and forth.  If your vision is blurring you're rotating your head too quickly.  When you believe you're getting good at this basketball dribbling drill, and you'll know it when you're not stumbling around like a drunk anymore, pick up the pace.  Eventually you'll be running flat out with your head swiveling wildly about on your shoulders.  Remember, on this dribble drill to swivel your head only as fast as your vision is clear and not blurred. 

When you become proficient with this basketball dribbling drill set yourself up an obstacle course to dribble through and continue raising the level of difficulty of your obstacle course.  These court vision/peripheral vision basketball dribbling drills not only make you a better basketball dribbler, in quick order I might add, they simultaneously teach you how to improve your court vision to see the entire court - which in turn allows you to know where everyone is on the court at all times.  Knowing where everyone is all the time, good court vision, made Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Chris Paul, Steve Nash and Michael Jordan appear to have eyes in the back of their heads.  Practice these free basketball dribbling drills and include them with other basketball handling drills on this website, www.BasketballShootingCoach.com or any other favorite basketball dribbling drills you have discovered.