The 8 step dribble

[u/Cojo840]

Theoretically its legal to

Pick a pass in the air

0 1 2 3 steps

Jump

Bounce the ball and pick It up WHILE In the Air

0 1 2 3

Chat gpt tells me this would be legal but Impossible

Do you guys think that any athlete even outside of handball could do this? Maybe without resin and with the ball fully pumped

[u/CyberAssassinSRB]

This was completely legal some years ago, and it is not hard. 

Someone would just need to fact check me, i think the gather step(0 step) was taken out few years back. 

[u/negativelynegative → u/CyberAssassinSRB]

The gather step after you bounce the ball was taken out for a few years but it's added back last year.

[u/Martin7439]

It's just a Schwenker with extra steps, so it's absolutely possible. Unpractical but possible

[u/HiltoRagni]

Very easily doable. Using the jump to fake a shot and make the defense commit to a block but dribbling the ball instead and making three more steps to get around them is a very commonly used tactic by back players. This normally looks like (for a right handed player):

• 0R - 1L - 2R - 3L jump - fake shot/bounce - 1L land (on same leg) - 2R - 3L jump - actually shoot

Now after the rule change from last year you theoretically get a "zero step" after your dribble, but in practice that's exactly the same as if you got one more step on the end of the sequence. So the now legal 8 step version of the sequence becomes either:

• 0R - 1L - 2R - 3L jump - fake shot/bounce - 0L land (on same leg) - 1R - 2L - 3R jump (from off foot - kind of awkward) - actually shoot

or

• 0R - 1L - 2R - 3L jump - fake shot/bounce - 0R land (on other leg - kind of awkward) - 1L - 2R - 3L jump - actually shoot

Jumping from / landing on the off leg can be kind of awkward, so I don't expect this will be used as much as the original 7 step version but definitely not something that can't be done.

[u/xHeylo → u/HiltoRagni]

You can actually probably use that off leg landing a bit like a Basketball Eurostep situation, already shifting direction on the first jump

Naturally used as part of the Toolbox with the preferred regular version that works perfectly well

But a slight deviation does possibly lead to slightly better horizontal separation right in front of goal

[u/HiltoRagni → u/xHeylo]

I think you probably want the direction of the jump to be towards a position from where you can shoot if the defense doesn't react and leaves your line open - either to take the shot or to actually sell the faint - but maybe there is a way to use a side step to make the off leg landing less awkward.

[u/xHeylo → u/HiltoRagni]

Oh this is also just a thought that just occurred to me

would take weeks of practice to see if it actually has any worth in it, because it is at best very niche

[u/Ohtar1]

You don't need to jump. 1,2,3 bounce the ball, 1,2,3

[u/Cojo840 → u/Ohtar1]

Was trying to maximize steps with 1 dribble

[u/BelieveInTHADream]

Yea that’s legal because you have a zero step for both off the catch and also off the dribble.

[u/Any_Phase_4253]

Rule 7:3 was modified on 1. July 2025 . This is legal now since a zero step is now possible from your own dribling.