Basketball is a great sport for all kids. It requires very little equipment, you can play just about anywhere as outdoor courts are common, and it’s fun for kids!

The problem is that if you’re a parent you may not know how to “coach” basketball, or you may not know how to give proper advice to your kid to help them be a better player. And both of those are completely okay. 

Also, you may be the kid and just not know where to start. 

The good thing is that we have you covered.

Some good places to start are ball handling and shooting. In this article we are going to go over specifically the dribbling drills that you should be doing as a beginner or youth basketball player who may want to get better.

Children will develop at differing rates, and remember there is nothing wrong with messing up (we actually highly encourage it.) 

Here are some drills we do with our young athletes from all across the world:

Our TOP 5 Drills for Beginners and Young Basketball Players

These are great drills that you should be doing for players of all ages to help warm up the hands.

Taps/Wraps/Slaps 

This is especially important for young athletes so they learn to get a feel for the ball and not just how to dribble. These should be done before any dribbling drills for young athletes.

We have developed an app where for just 1$.99 a month, you can get access to over 200 drills and excercises that will challenge you to become a better basketball player. Learn more here.

Taps will help with finger pad control and speed, just tapping the ball from one hand to the other as fast as possible. Wraps will work on using the whole hand to control and move the ball, as well as working on speed of the player’s hands. And Slaps will just help the player have a better feel for the basketball in their hands. 

We have a dribbling routine on Youtube that you can watch here

Pounds 

High Pounds are great for athletes. They need to get used to trying to pound the ball as hard as possible.

There is a better chance the ball goes to where the brain wants it to go when it is forcibly moved, and it is easier to control when the ball has some steam on it (too hard could be harder, but the better you get the easier it gets). 

The goal for the player should be to try and put a hole in whatever surface they are dribbling on. 

Low pounds

These will be the same as your normal pounds, but you’re just going to be dribbling the ball much quicker. So you will be working on your hand speed. The only reason it should be quicker is because the distance covered by the ball will be shorter, other than that almost everything will be the same. 

Cross over wall touches 

Here you’re going to be facing a wall and just do continuous crossovers from one hand to the other.

This drill is great for getting players to understand how to move, develop quick hands, and help protect the basketball. Every time the player goes to touch the wall, they should be touching directly in front of the center of their body.

They should also go as fast as they can without worrying about messing up. Mess ups happen but that’s how we get better. 

Cone zig zags 

This is just something that all basketball players should be doing.

It’s important to change directions quickly in basketball, and it´s important to be able to do it with a basketball. The cones here can vary in distance and the move can vary at each cone.

The object of the drill is to just go as quick as possible, be as explosive as you can from one cone to the other, and to test your handle. If you want to progress past crossovers, here is a good chance to try out between the legs, behind the backs, and combination moves. 

There are many different drills that you can do when you start playing basketball. We believe that sticking to a routine that works is the best thing you can do when you are learning how to play basketball. 

We hope you liked this article, and do not forget to check out all of our drills on our Youtube channel. Also, we have an app that for as little as $1.99 a month, you can get access to over 200 drills and excercises that will challenge you to become a better basketball player.