The rule says: "During a dribble the ball may be batted into the air provided it is permitted to strike the floor before the ball is touched again with the hand(s)."

Yes, I interpret "into the air" to mean 'up'. What do you think it means?

There's air all around the ball, so any batting of the ball sends it into air. If "into the air" doesn't mean 'up' or some specific direction, what does the phrase add to the rule? And if it adds nothing to the rule, then there's no reason for it to be there. That doesn't make sense of the rule, but just ignores part of it.

Valid point.

We really shouldn't have to dig into case plays to find a basic(to me anyway) concept like that. And btw, you got me thinking...and checking. I contacted some people that I know are involved fairly heavily with training in their respective areas. All said that they taught as a basic that it was illegal to make consecutive touches on the ball during the same dribble, no matter which hand made either touch(with a single dribble being defined as the interval between bounces). They cited that case play as justification. Of course, they also said that simultaneous touching with both hands during a dribble was not a violation, but only ended the dribble. The consensus was that the purpose and intent of the rule has always been that a dribble is only legal if it is touched once by either hand between controlled bounces with the ball never coming to rest. Note "controlled"...because a fumble during the dribble might result in several legal touches without the ball bouncing.

Why don't you bring this one up with your local rules interpreter and get his thoughts on it?