When my daughters were in second grade, I began putting together basketball workouts that we could do at home.
Like a lot of basketball parents, I wanted to help them improve. But I also learned pretty quickly that young players don’t always need—or want—an hour-long workout.
Sometimes, 15 minutes is enough.
One of the workouts we used was a simple stationary ball-handling routine that could be completed in about 15 minutes. It required very little: a basketball or two, a small area to work in, and a willingness to practice.
Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate just how valuable a workout like this can be.
A Little, A Lot
I recently came across an idea while reading The Mental Game of Basketball by Brian Cain with Joe Carpenter that really connected with me:
Do a little a lot, rather than a lot a little.
I love that concept, especially when it comes to youth basketball.
There were plenty of days when my daughters didn’t have the time—or frankly the desire—to spend an hour or an hour and a half working on basketball.
School happened.
Homework happened.
Friends, family activities, and life happened.
But finding 15 minutes?
That was much more realistic.
And when they completed a short ball-handling workout, they could walk away knowing they had done something that day to become a better basketball player.
That sense of accomplishment matters.
A young player doesn’t have to have a marathon workout every day to improve. Consistency over time can be much more important than occasionally completing one long workout.
That is what I like about this routine.
It is short enough that almost any young player can fit it into the day, but challenging enough that consistently doing it can help improve comfort, coordination, and confidence with the basketball.
The 15-Minute Stationary Ball-Handling Workout
Each drill is performed for 30 seconds.
For drills shown in bold, change hands or directions after 15 seconds so both sides are being worked equally.
- Two-Ball Pound
- Two-Ball Alternate
- Push-Pull
- Windshield Wiper
- Windshield Wiper Opposite
- One High, One Low
- Two-Ball Right Leg
- Two-Ball Left Leg
- Two-Ball Figure Eight
- Two-Ball Crossover
- Two-Ball Circles
- Waterfall
- Two-Ball Frog Dribble
- 20 Flips
- Figure Eight — No Dribble
- Figure Eight Dribble
- Crossover — Right Foot Up
- Crossover — Left Foot Up
- Behind-the-Back V Dribble
- Spider
- Michael Jordan Scissors
Don’t worry if your child struggles with some of these drills at first.
That’s part of the process.
A young player may lose the basketball, dribble it off a foot, get frustrated, or have trouble coordinating two basketballs at the same time. Those mistakes are not a reason to stop the drill. They are evidence that the player is being challenged.
With repetition, movements that initially feel awkward begin to feel natural.
Don’t Focus on Speed at First
One mistake I made as a young basketball parent was assuming that faster always meant better.
It doesn’t.
When your child is learning a new ball-handling drill, encourage them to focus first on control and proper technique. Speed will come later.
I’d much rather see a player complete a drill slowly while controlling the basketball than go as fast as possible while chasing the ball all over the driveway.
As their skill improves, challenge them to increase the speed and intensity.
The goal is progress—not perfection.
Make It a Habit
The real value of this workout doesn’t come from doing it once.
It comes from doing it consistently.
Fifteen minutes might not seem like much. But consider what happens if your child does this workout four times a week.
That is an hour of focused ball-handling every week.
Over a month, that becomes approximately four hours.
Over several months, those short workouts begin to add up.
That is the lesson I wish I had understood even better when my daughters were young.
Improvement doesn’t always come from one enormous workout.
More often, it comes from repeatedly doing the small things.
A little.
A lot.
A Note for Basketball Parents
If you’re working with a young player, try not to turn every driveway workout into a coaching session.
Let them struggle.
Let them experiment.
Let them laugh when the basketball rolls down the driveway.
And celebrate the fact that they went outside and worked on their game.
There will be plenty of time for competition, coaches, practices, tournaments, statistics, and expectations as they get older.
For now, helping your child develop a relationship with the basketball—and hopefully a love for the game—is more important than whether they can perfectly execute every drill on this list.
If your son or daughter can spend 15 minutes outside with a basketball and walk back into the house feeling a little more confident than when they started, I’d consider that a pretty successful workout.
Please enjoy the accompanying video of my daughter demonstrating each of the drills.
And if you enjoyed this article, I hope you’ll consider subscribing to Youth Basketball Parent for more stories, workouts, and lessons I’ve learned from raising daughters through the game of basketball.
Thanks for reading.