Touch the ball with your fingertips, not your palm. Don't slap the ball with your palm. Rather, try to handle the ball with the tips of your fingers. Spread your fingers out across the surface of the ball for a wider, more balanced contact area.

Get in a low stance. When dribbling in an upright posture the ball will have to travel from your upper body to the ground and back again as it bounces, leaving it wide open for a defender to steal. Before you start to dribble, get in a low, defensive stance. Spread your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees and drop your hips back slightly (as if you were sitting in a chair). Get your head up and your upper body mostly upright.

Handling the ball with your fingertips, bounce it off the ground. Bounce it firmly, but not so hard that you have to use serious arm strength or you have trouble controlling it. Your dribble should be quick, yet steady and controlled. The ball should hit the floor at a spot slightly to the side and ahead of the foot that's on the same side of your body as your dribbling hand. When you're practicing dribbling for the very first time, it's ok to keep your eyes on the ball as you dribble until you get the hang of things. However, you should switch to looking up while dribbling as soon as you can. It's expected that you'll be able to do this at nearly all levels of play.

Keep your hand on top of the ball. When you dribble, it's important to keep the motion of the ball under control. Try to keep the palm of your hand directly over the ball as you move so that the ball, on its "up" bounce, will bounce right into your fingertips. This will give you more control over the ball as you move around the court. Another reason to focus on keeping your hand over the ball at all times while dribbling is that momentarily "catching" the ball on its underside results in a penalty called carried ball. To avoid this, keep your palm over the ball and facing the floor as you dribble.

Practice with the other hand. It's important to be able to dribble confidently with either hand. This will allow you to protect the ball and make you more of a threat with the ball.

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