Vision is a fundamental skill. The key is being able to “see the target; see the court; feel the ball”. This is an important
fundamental within dribbling for both principle and technique.
In the team game the dribble principle is used to get the fast break going and to beat a man with a change of direction. From this full court situation the dribbler goes into a controlling tempo technique, culminating with a one on one move to beat the defence for a shot or for pass as required.
As such the dribble is an important individual skill for all players but must be used correctly in game situations. The
choice between dribble and pass in the team game has been further complicated by “over dribbling” in the pursuit or guise of the “dribble, drive, kick” game. Over dribbling gives the advantage to the defence and tends to stop the other offensive team players from moving while they wait for the dribblers pass, if indeed it does come.
Our British players have not currently established the necessary controlled dribbling ability that is needed to play this style of game to best effect. As a result we have developed poor dribbling habits in pursuit of the dribble, drive kick game in the half court. Additionally in the full court situation we have continued the same trend of too much dribble. We are using the dribble rather than passing as the better option to move the defence. Lack of passing the ball (speed of ball movement) out of the back court is an issue because of this over dribbling. The opportunity cost is that lane runners are not receiving the ball early enough in the open court since the dribbler is on a mission to get to the ring themselves. Consequently the lane runners are hesitant and the fast break and open court play is being missed.
Dribbling with poor technique will also lead to turnovers. Dribbling without good “heads up vision” will lead to poor
decision making and poor spacing, which will impact on how other players will play and react.
Strategically it’s not about coaching or emphasising the dribble, it is really about minimising the misuse of the dribble by emphasising the phases and the correct techniques.
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The Dribble Has Many Situational
Uses (Phases)
In the team game the player should push the ball with a speed dribble (of between 4 or 5 dribbles maximum). Also within the team game any player should be able to control the dribble and consequently the defensive tempo. The control dribbler should recognise and be able to use the “dribble entry” principle to team offense patterns when the ball cannot be passed. Similarly a “dribble exit” away from the baseline is often used against a zone to create space. Our players should understand and be competent with all situational uses of the dribble. This will require effective coaching of the different techniques and better understanding of the purposes of the dribble beyond going fast with the speed dribble or going one on one with little technique.
The “control dribble” is a technique and also a phase where contact against a defender is likely and where technique should maintain the dribble in position against the most aggressive defence. The control dribble should be developed in all our British players. The arm bar, head up, body to body positioning contact and the use of the attack foot become key
techniques and are very important in this phase.
The “one on one dribble” phase can occur in both half court and the full court. In these situations the dribbler must be strong with both hands and work
effectively on each side of the body with either hand or combinations.
A quick effective crossover is a well
executed dribble from one side of the body to the other with an attack foot movement to gain an advantage of head and shoulders past the defender. In this phase the dribbling technique also includes footwork and use of the non dribbling arm and hand.
Therefore these different phases of dribbling requiring various dribble
techniques of crossover dribbles at speed on the move and from a control dribble position. The various dribbling skills should be understood, developed and used effectively, but not replace the use of a pass to move the defence.
Dribbling progression:
• a general “ball handling” phase • progressing to controlling the ball in
stationary positions with a controlling dribble
• then to dribbling and moving with the ball (walk/jog/change of direction with ball)
• then finally the speed dribble phase. • (See Ball Handling and Basic Skills
Checklist)
The “speed dribble” phase challenges the dribbler to move quickly but with control. The speed dribble technique uses a different hand position (towards the top half of the ball but behind rather than on top of the ball) than the control dribble. When we are speed dribbling and are required to make a one on one move we will refer to this as “moves on the move”. Examples of this are the “onside dribble” or the various crossover moves at speed in the full court when running.
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The dribble height in a speed dribble is higher than the control phase. Normally this control of the dribble through speed work is then transferred into lower controlled dribble with the one on one phase in the half court.