Often times players tend to think that dribbling is the key to success on the basketball court. The reality is that dribbling is only a piece of the pie. Dribbling allows you to move with the ball (otherwise a travel violation would be called). But here’s the thing… most people who dribble the air out of the ball don’t even move! They don’t go anywhere. They are in the same position that they were in before they took their first bounce.

Dribbling specialists help you dribble… the End!

Let’s say you went to Home Depot for a workshop on how to build a cabinet. You, the beginner, arrive eagerly and the “instructor” sells you all the equipment and tools you need to build anything you want. You’ll definitely be able to build a cabinet, but with all the tools you just received, you could build a house if you wanted to! In showing you how to use the tools, the instructor puts together a bookshelf with some of those tools you purchased. Now you’re excited. You have a lot of tools. You’re ready. You’re all set to go!

Once you get home to your garage, you have no idea when to use what tools or how to use them. What you do know is that you have every tool in the book and some pretty expensive wood. You think to yourself, “Man, I thought that I was going to learn how to apply this knowledge but I still don’t know how to build a cabinet… or anything I want! I just know how to build a bookshelf that I don’t need! I just have a bunch of tools but no game plan!”

That’s similar to a dribbling specialist! They send you out into the game with a bunch of tools that you don’t know how or when to use them. That’s when you see players using every move they learned in ONE trip down the court hoping that one of them will be a good fit. Let me make this point very clear. As long as the instructor told you that they are a “dribbling specialist,” it is your job to find someone to teach you or your child how to play. A dribbling specialist is going to teach you how to dribble, and how to dribble very well. Their goal is to make you a great dribbler. If that’s your goal, great! If your goal is to be a great player, and you understand that your dribbling needs work, great! But, if you think you will be a great player because you can dribble, WRONG! Absolutely wrong! I see this a lot, which is the whole reason for this blog. Just because you have tools doesn’t make you a carpenter!

Note: When you decide to get a basketball trainer, ask them to help you create a game for yourself. Why? Because when you know what you want kind of player you would like to be, you learn things geared to that goal. If you want to be a knock down shooter, similar to Steph Curry but with a realist shot selection, you want your trainer to teach you things such as having a quick release, shooting off of screens, creating your shot, and so forth. You get it? A shooter’s training session should look different from a player who likes to dribble penetrate. You must have an all around game… don’t be mislead. However, you have to know who you want to be as a player, and focus on being that.

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