More garbage from the NFHS

[Nevadaref]

Made legal in 1892, but I don't know the exact year that it was taken out.

BTW dribbling on the floor wasn't legalized until 1898.

There is a good description of the air dribble on page 20 of the NFHS Basketball Handbook.

"But abuses became evident almost at once. Instead of bouncing the ball on the floor, clever players began to tap the ball upward and tapping it again as it came down in what later was called an "air dribble." Those adept at the trick would tap the ball only a few inches above their finger tips while advancing at full speed all the way into scoring position. There was usually no effective way of stopping this maneuver short of fouling. Soon there were rules limiting the dribble to one air dribble and preventing the resumption of any type of dribble once the player had ended his/her dribble by holding the ball in one or both hands."

The point is that this action has historically been considered a dribble. So that's why it is properly an illegal dribble violation. It pays to know your history.