Become a Dynamic Dribbler With This Simple "Random" Drill for Elite Handles
The problem for most players and coaches is not finding ball handling drills. There are a million good ones out there. In fact, at Breakthrough, we offer a complete ball handling training program.
The bigger problem can be figuring out how to move past patterned ball handling drills.
When I say "patterned" I mean that most ball handling drills are blocked, constant practice. You repeat the same skill over and over.
For instance, you make 50 between the leg dribbles followed by 50 behind the back dribbles.
These drills are good for initial learning. However, they don't represent the game. In a game, you can't pre-plan every dribble. So to be successful, you'll want to introduce more variation and challenge into your workouts.
That's where 'Kill The Grass' comes in-a simple, dynamic drill that includes an element of randomness to help players think on their feet and become sharper ball-handlers. Intrigued? Let's dive in.
Why You Want To Include Random Practice In Your Dribbling Workouts
While block practice is a good starting point, studies show it does not translate particularly well to long-term learning. In fact, there is research that shows a 36% improvement in learning retention by using random practice instead of block practice.
Random practice involves switching between skills in an unpredictable manner. Not many ball handling drills offer this. Kill The Grass does.
When you play, do you always know what move you're going to make?
Do you always know what footwork you're going to use?
You don't. You have to make those decisions in real time as you react to the defense.
That's why some players look great in block ball handling drills but can't handle the ball in a game. In a game, you not only need the dribbling skill. You also need the ability to correctly apply those when guarded. That's where this element of random practice becomes crucial.
Kill The Grass is a great individual drill to simulate the constantly changing types of dribbles and footwork you'll use in a game.
How The Drill Works
Kill The Grass is remarkably simple. All you need is a basketball and a few feet of space - no hoop required!
To do the drill, imagine you are in a circle with a 6-8 foot diameter.
Then, dribble. But don't just dribble to dribble. Dribble with imagination!
That's where the name comes in. Imagine you are standing on a small patch of grass. Your goal is to "kill" all the grass by dribbling so hard and fast in your area.
There are two aspects to integrate into the drill:
First, dribble as creatively as possible. Use as many moves as possible. Experiment with different combinations.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. In fact, you should make mistakes! If you aren't, then you're not going hard enough.
The second aspect is your footwork. When dribbling, your feet are generally moving. The best ball handlers are able to sync their dribbling with their feet.
Sometimes you will be in a square stance. Sometimes you'll be in a stagger stance. Sometimes your feet will be wider than your shoulders. Sometimes you'll be in a mini squat (like when you do a pullback dribble).
As you go through the drill, your feet should be constantly moving.
All of this is to say: there are very few rules to this drill. Whereas most ball handling drills want you to color in between the lines, this drill removes the lines.
For some, that's disconcerting. It feels like you might get out of control. But that's part of the point. You want to test your limits and see how creative you can be.
If you lose the ball, it's okay. That's feedback that you can use to guide your next rep.
Too many players stay in their comfort zone, which limits their growth. Kill The Grass allows you to push through that comfort zone and grow your game.
Whereas the goal of most conventional ball handling drills is perfection, the goal of Kill the Grass is growth. Keep that in mind when you make a mistake.
Now that you have the basics down, go for :30-:45 seconds without stopping. Take a break and repeat three times.
For a visual demonstration, check out this video:
Doing this alone will improve your handle. But if you want to add even more challenges, read on!
How To Make Kill The Grass Even Better
One great feature of Kill The Grass is you will never master it. Whereas you can master a figure 8 drill, Kill The Grass is different every time. That means you can always incorporate new combinations that challenge you.
That said, you might be looking for some specific ways to challenge yourself by adding to the drill.
Here are a few worth trying. For most of these, you will need a partner, parent or sibling.
One Hand Kill The Grass
Kill The Grass With Signals
Kill The Grass Tennis Ball Toss
Kill The Grass To Shoot Or Drive
Kill The Grass To 1v1
This is just what it sounds like. You do the exact same drill but only dribble with one hand. This is a really good way to develop your weak hand.
It is a little bit less game-like because in a game you will dribble with both hands. However, it does add difficulty as you will be dribbling in new and unfamiliar ways.
Just as with the original drill, the goal is to keep your feet moving the entire time. You will dribble as creatively as possible, but only with one hand.
Go for :30-:45 seconds, take a break, and switch hands. If one hand is much better than the other, devote additional rounds to that hand.
One drawback of Kill The Grass is it doesn't force you to keep your head up. If you add signals, it will.
You need a partner for this progression. As you perform the drill, your partner will move around you. Every few seconds, they will hold up their hands.
This cues a pass. As soon as you see their hands going up, you pass them the ball. Your partner immediately passes it back to you and you continue dribbling.
This is a great way to work on dribbling with your head up.
One key point is not to follow the signaler. You should still be constantly changing the direction you are facing. That means sometimes you'll be facing the signaler and sometimes you won't.
As a result, you'll have to scan to the side and behind you to see if they are holding their hands up. This makes the drill harder. It also makes it more game-like. In games, you will have to account for defenders and teammates in different positions on the court. This trains you to look for them.
This progression can also be done with one hand.
You can incorporate specific types of passes as well. For example, two passes players throw after a ball screen are a hook pass and a pocket bounce pass.
Have the signaler show their hands high or low. If they show their hands high, you would throw a hook pass. If their hands are low, you would throw a pocket bounce pass.
Some dribbling drills go too far. You don't have to look too hard on social media to find drills that look more like circus acts than basketball drills.
That said, this progression adds an appropriate challenge by effectively using a tennis ball.
Every few seconds your partner will toss the ball to you. Your challenge is to continue your Kill The Grass dribbling while also catching the ball. You will immediately toss it back to your partner and continue.
At first, you may want to always be facing your partner while you mix your dribbling moves. As you improve, you can face different directions. This forces you to scan for your partner and the tennis ball.
You can do this using both hands or one hand.
We already covered how you can incorporate passing into the Kill The Grass. You can also incorporate shooting and driving.
Earlier, we discussed using signals to cue a drive. You can also use signals to cue a shot. For instance, if your partner puts their hands behind their back, that means shoot.
You would immediately go from dribbling into your shot. This forces you to work on getting square to the rim, your ball pickup, and your footwork.
With regards to ball pickup, you want to keep the shooting hand on the shooting side. If the ball is in the opposite hand, bring it across to the shooting hand. That helps you bring the ball straight up towards the basket when you shoot.
Your footwork will vary depending on how your feet are when you see the shot signal. You might be best off hopping into your shooting stance. Or, in some instances, you might be best off stepping into your shot. This challenge will also make game situations easier since you constantly have to use different footwork.
Here's one other variation to cue a drive. Start under the rim performing Kill The Grass. Your partner holds their hands out to signal a pass. Every time you pass, you move back a step and continue.
When you get to the 3 point line, your partner cues one more pass. When they pass it back to you, they close out. You read the closeout, attack the rim, and finish.
Kill The Grass can also be the starting point for 1v1. You are performing the drill like usual, except that you continue to face the rim while dribbling.
Your partner faces you, about 3-4 feet away. You have two cones set up on either roughly 10-12 feet away.
Your partner starts the drill by touching one of the cones. As soon as they move to touch the cone, you are live.
Your goal is to attack the rim and score before the defender can recover.
This progression works on your pushout dribble. Having dribble moves is great, but at some point you have to go past your defender.
In this variation, you will get a momentary advantage when the defender touches the cone. A long pushout dribble helps you take advantage of this.
When you perform the pushout dribble, you want to fully extend your elbow. That helps you get more length and explode to the rim.
Conclusion
Kill The Grass is a great standalone drill, which is why it's perfect to start by mastering the basics.
Then, once you're comfortable and start to see progress, the drill becomes even better when you build on it.
As your handle improves, continue to add to the drill. The layers of challenge will make you better and keep you engaged.
Every team needs players who can handle the ball. Use Kill The Grass to become an elite ball handler - someone who can get where they want to go on the court!
What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...
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