I've seen a lot of videos/how-to/drills showing how to develop players left hand for dribbling and left handed layups. But what I'm struggling with is figuring out how get the kids to see the left side of the court and use it to their advantage.

I've done drills will have I have the boys set the pick on the left side of the court so that point guard could drive to the left side for either a left handed layup, drive the left side to drop it the rolling pick, or drive to the left and pass it the wing on the left side for jump shoot. But when it comes game time, they only look to the right of the court. Even if we run the pick and roll the left side, the point guard starts to drive left but immediately turns around and heads back to the right side, when they clearly had an opening on the left.

Are there other drills that I should be running to emphasize the left side or just keep running the basic drills I described during every practice and helpfully thinks will eventually click?

FWIW: we only practice once (maybe twice) a week for about 90 minutes. I know it's not a lot of time, but it's all the time we have.

Thanks,
David

Here is a quick thought. Play 2 on 2 games on the left side of the floor during practice.

You could implement different rules to emphasize different things:
- Dribble limits - 2 to 3.
- Every possession must start with a certain action: ball screen, down screen, back screen, etc.

You could also tweak the game with some of these conditions:
- Shot clocks - 15 sec or less
- Games to 2 or 3.
- Cut Throat

You could also do 3 on 2, but the person at the top of the key can not dribble or shoot. It gives the other two offensive players an outlet. It gets the "passer" accustomed to passing to a player after they set a screen, etc.

And don't get discouraged if this doesn't happen right away. Depending on the age level, this could take months or years to learn.

David -

It sounds like you have some players who aren't comfortable using their weak hand yet in games. I think you're on the right track with working on the weak hand every practice. Honestly, it's something the individual players have to realize on their own, which sometimes comes too late when they're trying to make the hs team. Huge weapon in basketball if you can play with either hand from dribbling and passing to finishing under the rim.

I like Joe's ideas. Tweaking drills to emphasize what you want to work on helps. I'd add some reverse Mikan and two ball Mikan drills.

I would tell your players in drills and scrimmages to force their opponent to the weak side. It's a good teaching point for your defense and should point out the obvious to your offensive players. I think it boils down to catching your players doing it right and really making a big deal out of it. Both ways. When they use their weak hand and make the drive or when the defense forces them to the weak side and they pick up their dribble or lose the ball.

I have found this is usually a skill issue... players are less skilled and confident with their left hand. It's one thing to be able to dribble with your left in typical dribbling drills and it's a whole different thing to be able to use your left and feel confident going game speed for more than a few dribbles with your left.

Here's a drill that might help build confidence with their left. What I like is that it requires them to go full speed, a player is shadowing them, and it's more game-like than traditional dribbling drills.
http://youtu.be/hBedKhXEQSg

I ran this drill at the end of our 2012 season with freshman and sophomores. After running it for a week I saw how weak they were with their left and I wished I used the drill all season. And this was what most people consider a very skilled group of young high school players. It's now one of my favorite dribbling drills for youth and high school.

In the video above all the players were right handed. If I had left handed players I'd put the in another area so they attack with their right.