JumpUSA.com Topic #324
 
Good Game = Good Hands: A Super Difficult Ball Handling Drill
 
 
The great Magic Johnson has always recommended working out with tennis balls to improve your basketball handle. Here's a terrific drill:

 

1. Get two tennis balls.  Dribbling a tennis ball is a lot harder than dribbling a basketball -- It can teach you hard lessons about fingertip control in a hurry. 

 

2.  Stand facing the X on the wall, about eight feet away.

 

3.  Dribble one of the tennis balls with your right hand.

 

4.  With your left hand, pass the other ball at the X on the wall and catch it as it bounces off the wall.

 

5.  Try to keep this up for as long as possible, then switch hands and keep going.
 
6. When you master the drill facing the wall, try standing sideways to the wall and catching the ball off the wall looking straight ahead, using only your peripheral vision.
 
Don't expect to be able to do it well the first few times you try it. With practice, coordination will come naturally and the skill will be automatic. Your off-hand will be much stronger and better with the ball, and you'll be much more comfortable going to your left as to your right.