1v1 - 3 Dribble Max

You aren't always going to have enough players to get a full basketball game going and dribbling around chairs or cones before shooting over a mannequin can only do so much!

1V1 - 3 Dribble Max 

We've all played one-on-one with a friend or teammate before! If you want this to be the most beneficial to your game, limit it to only 3 dribbles per possession.

This will obviously make it much tougher but also far more realistic. In a normal game, you can aimlessly dribble from wing to wing or just walk your defender down to the post.

This will force you to work on things you probably don't even think about. Before your first dribble, your jab step variations will key. You want to work on getting the defender off balance or leaning one way or the other. This is where you're going to find your opening to create offense in less than three dribbles.

The situations you create here are really good simulations of what you will see when you play an actual game. It's going to force you to make decisions much more quickly and be more effective when you have the basketball in your hands.

This also helps with defense. You have to step up and defend the basketball immediately. If you sit back, they're going to shoot that top-of-the-key three because it's an open shot and the best look they'll probably get if you're sagging back and they only have three dribbles. You know they're going to attack you and look to get to their spot, this forces you to stay in front of them, move your feet, and get a good contest up on their shot.

Experiment with starting the possession at the top of the key and from both wings.

This style of 1v1 will help you on both offense and defense. Keep score, keep it competitive, and work on different ways of creating offense both pre-dibble and shooting off the dribble.