Pound Dribble Series
Ages 7 and up · One ball, flat ground, and something to time 20-30 second sets
The pound series is handling's weight room: hard, stationary dribbles at set heights (low, waist, high) in timed sets, both hands, with crossovers stitched between. Its product is a dribble with authority: a ball that comes back fast because it was sent down hard, off a hand strong enough to redirect it anywhere.
Kids dribble softly by default, and soft dribbles are slow to return and easy to steal. Two weeks of pound sets audibly changes a kid's dribble (you can hear the confidence), and the series' structure (timed sets, both hands, heights) makes it the easiest handling work to do consistently.
How to run it
- Athletic stance, ball in the right hand. Pound the dribble as HARD as control allows at waist height for 20 seconds. Switch hands.
- Low pounds: below the knees, fast and hard, 20 seconds each hand.
- High pounds: shoulder height, strong, 20 seconds each hand (high dribbles are where weak hands get exposed; keep the stance).
- Crossover set: three pounds right, one hard low crossover to the left, three pounds left, cross back. 30 seconds.
- Finish with a "kill" set: pound at waist height and, on a called "KILL!", snap the dribble to ankle-low instantly, then back up on "GO!". 30 seconds. The height change on command is real game handling.
What to say
Common faults and fixes
Soft, polite dribbling (the default).
Make loud the standard: the drill should be audible from inside the house. Pounding is a courage habit as much as a strength one; celebrate the noise.
Standing up tall as the arms tire.
Shorter sets with the stance held beat longer sets standing up. The stance is half the strength being built.
Crossovers at knee height or higher, floating across.
The crossover rule: below the knees, hip to hip, hard. One good low cross is worth ten lazy ones; slow down to make them all good ones.
Make it easier, make it harder
Shorter sets (10-15 seconds), waist height only to start, a lighter ball for small hands.
Add eyes-up finger counting throughout; extend sets to 30-45 seconds; do the whole series with the weak hand getting double time; or run it as a two-ball series (see the two-ball page).
This page teaches the drill. ParentEdge builds it into a plan for your kid.
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