Agility Ladder with a Dribble: Feet and Hand Together

A dual-task basketball warm-up: students run agility ladder patterns while dribbling a ball outside the ladder, first with the dominant hand and then with the other. It activates the ankles and forces dribbling without looking at the ball, just like in a game.

How to play

1. Ankle and wrist mobility and stationary dribbling with both hands (2 min).
2. Groups of four per ladder: two-feet-in pattern while dribbling with the hand on the outside of the ladder (2 min).
3. Lateral in-in-out pattern dribbling with the lead hand and switching hands at the end (2 min).
4. Ickey shuffle with a dribble and, on leaving the ladder, a layup or a pass to a teammate (2 min).
5. Each student picks the pattern that went worst and repeats it twice, focusing on keeping eyes up (1 min).

Rules

• The ball always bounces outside the ladder so nobody steps on it.
• If you lose the ball, pick it up, go back to the start of the ladder and go again once your teammate has finished.
• Secure the ladder to the floor before starting.
• Start when the previous student has finished half the ladder.

Variations

Adaptations

• Wheelchair user: travels a cone lane beside the ladder dribbling with one hand while pushing with the other.
• Visual impairment: ball with a bell and a high-contrast ladder, with a partner clapping the rhythm.
• Wrist injury: does only the footwork patterns and holds the ball against the body.

Learning goals

• Coordinate footwork with ball handling.
• Dribble without looking at the ball while attending to another task.
• Activate the lower body specifically for basketball.

Equipment for a class of 25

• agility ladders: 7
• basketballs: 7

Teacher tip

Start very slowly: the dual task drops speed a lot and it is normal that neither the feet nor the dribble work at first.

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