What is a Double Dribble in Basketball?

If you are thinking of pursuing basketball as a professional career, then you must remember few things. There are literally hundreds of techniques and violations that can be used during the match to score points. Those techniques and violations can make you wonder what has just happened with you and how you were supposed to tackle the violation in that situation. If you want to play basketball truthfully and avoid uncertain scenarios, you will have to avoid all the violations at all costs. Other than that, there are some violations that can make the game hard to play. But how can you expect to enjoy a game when there are no hurdles. If we talk about one of those violations that can make anyone scramble during the game, it is double dribble.

Double dribble is simply an illegal dribble that is caused by the players during the match. The players cause the double dribble violation when they start to dribble the ball again after their first dribble or when the ball has come to rest.

You might still have some questions that why you cannot continuously dribble and why it is illegal in basketball games. But no worries! Let’s look at its brief explanation, and you will understand how double dribble works in a game.

Also Read: Do You Know What Is Rebound In Basketball

How does the Double Dribble violation work?

The statement above might have given you a light idea of working on a double dribble violation. But to understand it fully, you will have to get deep inside its meaning so that you won’t have to violate the double dribble during any basketball game.

Suppose you are dribbling the ball and plan to throw it towards your teammate, so you stop but suddenly see that it is not a good time to pass the ball, and you start dribbling again. That is the double dribble violation. This means that you cannot stop anytime on the court with the ball and let the ball come to rest, and start dribbling again whenever you want. The ball should not come to rest if you want to keep going during the match. You will have to dribble all the way through to court to avoid any violation and then score just as you want.

In another scenario, a player cannot also start dribbling when he catches the ball with both of his hands. He has to pass the ball or throw it directly towards the basket in order to avoid this violation.

How to avoid the double dribble violation?

We have now seen how the double dribble violation works in basketball. But now the question that pops up is that how you can avoid that during the game?

The first and the easiest method to avoid the double dribble violation is not to stop on the court. Whenever you get the ball, keep dribbling it and keep moving forward towards your teammates or the basket to pass or score points. Whenever you stop, you will either have to pass the ball or throw it. If you cannot do that, then your team will get a penalty that can bring drastic changes.

As for the second scenario, where you catch the ball with both hands, you will have to catch the actual ball with only one hand in order to start dribbling. A dribble ends right away when both of your hands touch a ball at the same time, meaning simultaneously. If you catch a ball with just a single hand, you will not have to worry about anything as both of your hands wouldn’t have touched each other.

Not only for catching, but this rule also implies to the players when they are dribbling. Both of your hands should not touch the ball simultaneously when you are dibbling with the ball, or it will be called a double dribble violation.

If you can keep all of these three things in mind, you will unquestionably be able to avoid the double dribble violation and keep going in the game. You will also have to see how your body moves during a game because a body usually reacts when in challenging circumstances. The best way to make sure that your body takes the right decision; will have to train it!

How to make your dribbling and mind better to avoid double dribble violation?

Training your mind can be one of the most crucial aspects in making a successful career within basketball. It can be used to avoid the double dribble violation. Other than dribbling is what will help you avoid the violation on the court. So let’s discuss both and learn how to train them!

1. Training your mind

In a situation where you can easily catch the ball with a single hand, why would you go for the ball with both of your hands? It can be due to your mind or fear that you will scramble the ball within the court. Most of the players use their hands to make sure that they catch the ball and then pass it to their teammates. But it also disables them to dribble because of their interaction with the ball with both of their hands. That is actually why you must believe in yourself during the game and don’t let the fear overcome your abilities. It will help you out to have confidence, and you will automatically perform better during the whole game.

Aside from that, if the catch is too hard and you can lose the possession if you don’t catch it, you have no choice to grab it with both hands and then pass it instantly to your teammate or try for a shot. But to think which situation fits during the game is what makes it difficult. You will have to decide if you should go for one hand or both your hands.

Aside from that, another thing that you can improve through the training of your mind is not to stop and keep moving forward. It can be game over once you stop moving on the court without passing the ball or taking a shot. The other team will get the reward for your mistake, and it will be called a double dribble violation if you don’t stop. So if you see it is impossible to dribble now, and you must stop not losing possession, it is better to pass without much thinking. But it is only possible if you have an open and broad mind during the game.

2. Dribbling

To dribble better, faster, and wiser on the court, one must have sufficient grip to hold them in any situation. The grip does not only come from the shoes or the court, but it also depends on how you move and change the directions with dribbling the ball. If you think dribbling is easy, then you have not understood how actual dribbling works.

To make your dribbling better, you will have to work on your legs and make your movement sturdier. If you have unbalanced movement, you will likely lose possession or even your balance while you try to dribble. But you can exterminate all these things if you can practice with a different object on your way through the court when practicing. You will be able to move quicker.

The last thing to keep in check is how you handle the ball when you are dribbling. If you are a regular basketball player or watcher, you will see different players use different techniques to handle the ball. Some keep bouncing the ball with one hand, while others move the ball between both of their hands which can make it harder for the defender to steal the ball. But still, the danger of stealing remains in both of the cases, which is why you should handle the ball as per your surroundings and the defender’s positions.

What is the penalty for violating the double dribble?

We have seen how to tackle, avoid, practice, and what actually is double dribble, but do you know what its penalty for violation is? It does not matter how perfect or professional you are. The double dribble violation can still happen in different unfortunate scenarios, and you must know what next move the opponent team will play.

So if a player violates double dribble, the referee instantly calls out a penalty, and the opposing team is given the possession. This means that you or your teammates will no longer have the possession, and it will be reverted to the opposing team. The game is then started from the sidelines so that the game could continue. Do note that the sideline that is being picked for the penalty is closed to where the double dribble was violated. So you also have to keep an eye on where you violate the rule so that even if the opposing team gets the possession, it will not create massive hassles for your team that could turn the game entirely.

The Summary

Double dribble can also be easy to avoid during the games if you are experienced enough and have great control over your mind. You just have to quickly think about your next move and how you will react to the situation. Other than that, you can follow the ways above to make sure that you never violate the double dribble next time.