Head position while dribbling

People who are working on getting comfortable with dribbling will be told to start looking up and dribble. I agree that keeping you're head up is important, it helps in taking in information that helps in reading the situation and make a decision on what to do next. However there are times where you have to keep your head up or partially up using your peripheral vision. Here are the three situations and the ideal head positions.

1. Looking directly down at the ball: This is when you're surrounded by defenders and you need to get out of pressure and find a pass. You can't be looking for a passing option while you're still in a space where you need to get out of.

2. Starring at the ground 5-10 feet away: You do this when you have a defender 5-10 feet away. You don't have enough space and time to look completely up and see the runs your teammates are making, and you can't look directly at the ball because the defender isn't that close. So looking between the ball and the defender allows you to look at both at the same time with your peripheral vision. If you have the ability to sneak a peak at the other passing options and runs that are being made elsewhere by all means do it.

3. Looking straight up: This is probably the easiest one, you would only use this when no one is pressing you or you have lots of space and time. Looking straight up obviously lets you see and take in more information like teammates runs passing options opponents re positioning themselves etc. Plus the time, space and information will probably let you make a better decision/play. 

Even though there are these different times and head positions, You can't stop looking up and around you when you don't have and have the ball at your feet.

that's all for this one