Of all the skills required to become a truly great player in this great game, you must master the skill of ball handling.  Certainly, shooting is important!  Equally important is playing great defense and tenacious rebounding.  But if you can’t protect the ball, pass, catch, and dribble, you will have a hard time.  The first step to becoming a player is the development of your ball handling skills and abilities.

Ball handling is the “great equalizer” in the game of basketball.  As a team, you may be overmatched in size and athleticism, but if each player is adept at passing, catching, dribbling and protecting the ball you will often upset superior teams.  A positive turnover margin will definitely be a factor in each game and you will not beat yourself.  As an individual, you can create a “niche” for yourself in this game.  Regardless of your size or athletic ability, there is a place for great ball handlers on any team.

I will discuss four fundamentals that I feel are necessary to master this skill.  They are:  A) protecting the ball; B) passing; C) catching; and D) dribbling.  Please take note of the order in which I will present them.  The order goes from most important to the least important.

A) The Fundamentals of Protecting the Ball

   1) You protect the basketball with your body and your speed.  The successful player will learn how to keep their body between the ball and the defenders by pivoting and good footwork.  In teaching players how to protect the ball, we use the phrase—“chin the ball”!  We mean that literally.  Tuck the ball under the chin to protect it.  You protect it from behind with your body.  You protect it from your left and right with your elbows.  And you protect it in front with your eyes in that you pivot away from the defender when they step in to take it away.

   2)  You protect the ball when passing by stepping the ball past the defender and toward the target.

   3) You protect the ball when receiving the pass by stepping to meet the pass and thus shortening the passing distance.
  
   4) You protect the ball when dribbling by keeping your body between the ball and the defender, with your speed in the open court and dribble/drives, and by dribbling lower in traffic.

B) The Fundamentals of Passing

   1) Fake a pass to make a pass!  Fake one way and pass another.

   2) Step to the target!

   3) Pass away from the defensive player!

   4) Throw chest passes, one-handed push passes, or overhead passes on the perimeter!

   5) We like the bounce pass to feed the post player!

   6) Pass the ball with some “zip” on it.  We want the ball in our team’s hands the majority of the time…and a minimal amount of time in the air!

C) The Fundamentals of Receiving

   1) Jump to the ball to receive the pass.  This shortens the passing lane and lessens the amount of time the ball is in the air.

   2) Catch the ball with your eyes first!  Look the ball into your hands.

   3) Protect the passing lane.  Catch the ball with the outside hand and “fend off” the defender with your body.

   4) When you catch the ball, pivot and face your basket in triple-threat position.

D) The Fundamentals of Dribbling

   1) Save your dribble.  It is very valuable in keeping the defender at bay.

   2) Effective uses of the dribble include: 
      a) to bring the ball up court;
      b) to drive to the basket or penetrate inside the defense; and
      c) to create a good passing lane.

   3) You must be able to dribble the ball equally well with either hand. 
Don’t be half a player.

   4)  Keep your head and eyes up!  I always tried to get our players to center their eyes on an imaginary “X” high under the basket.  This allowed them to see the entire court.

   5) There are so many good dribbling drills that I will not go into in this
article.  I want to caution you to be careful in not focusing on the “tricks of the trade” and forget about the “trade”!

All too often, we think of good ball handlers as being guards.  This skill is so important to all positions.  A post player who can catch and pass is “worth their weight in gold”!  Remember…ball handling is the equalizer in basketball.

I want to encourage each of you to become great at these four ball handling fundamentals.  You don’t need a gymnasium.  You don’t need a basket.  You don’t need a teammate.  YOU ONLY NEED THE DESIRE TO BE THE BEST AND THE WILLINGNESS TO WORK UNTIL YOU ARE!!