Setting DribbleUp Basketball Up

It’s a pretty easy process to get the whole thing working. Basically you:

• create an account on a computer (for some reason you can’t do from the app which is annoying)
• download the app
• log into the app. Either sign up for the monthly classes (first month is like 99 cents) or use the included drills (I highly recommend the classes, much more indepth)
• put the tablet or phone on the stand and start dribbling!

It will say though that the height of stand is not ideal. It’s great for tracking the ball but not so great for watching the action honestly. The height makes sense for soccer when you’re looking at your feet. I’ve got a video below which shows it in action during a class:

Basketball Feel

How does the basketball feel? Well, it kind of feels a little heavier than a normal ball, and doesn’t quite bounce as good as like a Wilson Evolution basketball. It just something to get used to, and as you can see in the video, after a while it doesn’t slow you down at all.

Classes

The coolest thing about this whole deal is the fact that you can take live or recorded classes from a variety of instructors who also measure your performance. You can go through the drills, and after every class you can see how you stacked up compared to everyone else in the class. I’m sure there are a few people who might be ‘cheating’ to get to the very top, but you can kind of see where the actual top performers are (which gives a good goal to shoot for).

They have beginner and advanced classes, along with freestyle and classes which also focus on specific hands. My son likes the advanced and freestyle classes the best, the beginner ones are too easy for him. The videos in this article are from the advanced class, here’s another example below:

Would I recommend the DribbleUp Basketball?

Absolutely, if your child is motivated at all and has time. If they’re in practice all the time, it might be too much. But if they have a lot of free time in the off-season or after school, it’s a great 15 minute add on to do. Each class is 10 to 20 minutes, so not too much of a time sink. I’m sure they messed around with different lengths till they determined that was the optimal length. Cost is around $10 a month, so not too bad IF you use it quite a bit. Like I would probably discontinue it during the season, but then re-enable it during the offseason.

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Dribbling outside

How does this work?  Basically, it kind of depends on your area.  For most people, it’s probably going to involve dribbling on the sidewalk or a park.  Parents, you’ll want to with your kid when he’s doing this if there’s any chance of traffic being around.  Basically, start developing a walking path, and have your child dribble the entire way.  Instead of a walk where they get bored, all of sudden they’re more excited because they have something fun to do, and can work on all kinds of skills just randomly while you’re walking.  They will lose the ball sometimes, which is why I say a parent must be there, as you don’t want to lose a ball into the street where a car might be driving by.

Since doing this with my kids, I can see a big difference in dribbling.  My youngest used to dribble above his head once he started going faster.  Now he’s a lot more under control, and is dribbling with a lot more skill than he was before.  You can easily see how this would add up pretty quickly.  A basketball court is about 100ft long.  That means you’d have to dribble back and forth 52 to 53 times to get to a mile.

If you tell a kid to dribble back and forth that many times he’s going to look at you like you’re crazy.  However, if you do a couple miles in the park, he’ll never say anything at all.  It’s because dribbling back and forth becomes ‘work’ after a while, but dribbling during a walk is better than just walking.  You’re providing an option that is more fun than the base option (walking) so it’s naturally a lot more fun.

Where we walk

We actually walk on a county asphalt road as there’s almost no traffic on it and we’re always with the kids, eliminating the lost ball/traffic risk.  We walk around a mile a couple times a week when it’s nice out, you can see how that would quickly add up.  It’s like a massive amount of dribbling all done within a span of 1/2 hour to an hour.

Do you have any non traditional ways that you’ve gotten your kids to practice basketball besides dribbling outside on a walk?  Send them to me!  I’ll post them on here for other people to see.

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Youth Basketball 101

It’s basically a course designed for parents with kids who need beginning basketball instruction.  Most kids when they start out shoot with both hands, look down at the ball, only dribble with their right hand, etc.  My kids had this issue as well like all kids.

What I found though is that I could get them out of those bad habits through focused repetition and rewards, then adding more advanced drills to take them to higher levels.  Here’s a link to the course below:

Youth Basketball basics and drills for ages 5 to 11

I put up a coupon code to save people who visit my website money.  If you use the coupon code MASTERBASKETBALL you’ll get the course for $9.99.   I tried to make it cheaper but that’s as low as Udemy will allow.  There’s a 30 day money back guarantee which is nice to have.

What the course covers

The course contains:

• dribbling drills
• shooting form instruction
• picking out the correct size of basketball
• picking out the correct basketball hoop
• passing drills
• layup drills
• complete training plan
• goal and reward plan

Hopefully my youth basketball course will work well for you and your son or daughter.

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The first few videos are basketball dribbling drills for beginners.  Normally these are 1st grade basketball drills or 2nd grade basketball drills, but I use them at the start of every practice from 1st through 6th as a way to practice fundamentals.  Any kind of dribbling you can do at home will immensely improve their ball handling skills.  I would also recommend getting one of those over the door basketball goals, those will really help inspire your kid to shoot and dribble on their own.

Beginner Youth Dribbling Drill #1, right hand dribbling

This is the dribbling that your child will most likely start with once they get past dribbling with both hands.  All you have to simply have them do is dribble back and forth between walls, trying to keep their head up and not looking at the ball.  This will be very tough at first, but eventually they will get it.  I always start out every 1st through 6th grade basketball practice with this drill, it’s essential for developing ball handling skills.

The video below shows the first three beginner dribbling methods.  Unfortunately I don’t have a video for #4, but maybe I’ll make one someday (it’s pretty self explanatory anyways).

Beginner Youth Dribbling Drill #2, left hand dribbling

This is the second drill I do at every practice, right after right hand dribbling.  It’s essentially the same thing, dribble between walls only with your left hand.  This will be a lot harder for most kids since most are right handed.

Beginner Youth Dribbling Drill #3, alternating hand dribbling

This is the third drill I do at every practice, right after left hand dribbling.  It’s the same as the first two drills, dribbling between walls alternating between the two hands.  This usually goes better than just the left hand dribbling but can be tough for some kids.  A lot of kids stare at the ball when doing this one, try and get their head up if possible.  If keeping their head up is something you can’t get them to do, consider buying them some glasses that go under their eyes and block vision of the ball.  That can help break the staring habit.

Beginner Youth Dribbling Drill #4, dribbling backwards

This is the fourth drill I do at every practice.  At first you may ask, why do we need to practice dribbling backwards?  It’s not about actually dribbling backwards, it’s about keeping the ball from hitting your foot while having to bend your wrist in a way that keeps the ball coming towards you.  This helps develop better ball control.  I

Advanced Youth Dribbling Drill #1, right hand back and forth

Watch this video below to get a better idea.  Basically the idea is that you want to do the same sort of motion that you would do if you were dribbling the ball from your right hand to your left hand and back, but in this drill only use your right hand.  This drill is to help you fake out out defender when dribbling one on one against them.

Advanced Youth Dribbling Drill #2, left hand back and forth

Same as drill #1, only with your left hand.  The video below shows both drill #1 and #2.

Advanced Youth Dribbling Drill #3, dribbling behind back

No, not the normal dribble behind the back where you’re going forward and then take it around your back, but keeping it behind your back the entire time.  Crouch down and then try and dribble the ball left to right and right to left behind your back as many times in a row that you can.  The video below will show more information.

Advanced Youth Dribbling Drill #4, figure 8’s

This is kind of a standard drill where you stand in one place and try and dribble the ball in a figure 8 around your legs.  It’s kind of self explanatory, no video needed.

Advanced Youth Dribbling Drill #5, double ball

In this drill, you’ll need two balls of equal pressure (you can have one flatter if you want to make it really difficult).  You’ll want to try and dribble it three different ways.  First, dribble them hitting the floor at the same time.  Second, dribble them alternating hitting the floor one after another.  Third, try and cross back and forth the balls to the opposite hand (watch out for breakable stuff here, lol).

Advanced Youth Dribbling Drill #6, hard dribbling

One of the things that doesn’t get taught a whole lot is that the speed of your dribbling also matters.  You can move a lot faster if you’re dribbling harder and have better control.  To practice this, get a ball, crouch and try and dribble it as hard and as fast as you can with your right hand.  Then switch to your left hand.  Watch the video below for more info.

Advanced Youth Dribbling Drill #7, between the legs

This one requires a little more space since you need to walk a little.  Try and walk back and forth dribbling between your legs.

Advanced Youth Dribbling Drill #8, between the legs backwards

This drill is very similar to drill #7, only going backwards.  This drill is very difficult for most young players.  The kid in this video is a 5th grader (11 years old) so it is possible to do it at a young age.

Hopefully these youth basketball dribbing drills have helped you practice a little more inside.  Dribbling usually isn’t as much fun as shooting for kids, but it sure comes in handy when trying to get to the basket later when they get older.

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