One of the fundamental things you’ll teach your youth basketball team is how to comfortably dribble with both their left and right hands and their head up. You can accomplish this using a simple chair.

Youth Chair Dribbling Drill

• Place the chair at half court
• Have players sit on the edge of the chair with their back straight
• When you blow the whistle, have players get out of the chair, while remaining in a “sit” position (knees slightly bent, back straight)
• Players will then speed dribble to the baseline and back to the chair (left hand down, right hand back)
• They’ll speed dribble to the baseline and back to the chair again. When they reach the chair this time, they’ll perform a between-the-legs move underneath the edge of the seat.
• Players will speed dribble to the baseline and back to the chair one last time. For the final rep, they’ll perform a behind-the-back move just past the chair.

Coaching Points

• Perform the entire drill, even the tough moves, at game speed
• Dribble the ball below the waist and stay under control at all times
• Stay in speed position with knees slightly bent, back straight and head up at all times
• Perform the crossover dribble from knee to knee
• Stay low and balanced when dribbling behind your back

Youth Two-Ball Dribbling Drill

Once your players have mastered the chair drill, have them practice their dribbling skills with two balls. For this drill:

• Players dribble two basketballs from the baseline to the free throw at mid speed
• They then dribble two basketballs from the baseline to half court at mid speed
• Finally, they dribble two basketballs from baseline to baseline at full speed

The most advanced players can incorporate alternating-hand, behind-the-back and between-the-legs dribble variations into the two-ball drill.

Check out these other two-ball dribbling drills as well our entire dribbling drill library.