basketball layup training
The traditional overhand layup is very similar to a regular jump shot when it comes to this part of the layup technique. This drill is … Setup: The drill begins with two lines of players down each end of the floor. This is important to help them protect the ball and finish around good defenders as they get older and play against tougher competition. NBA Lane Agility Drill. In addition to standard right and left-handed lay-ups, also get some reps on both sides doing reverse lay-ups and inside-hand lay-ups. Start by standing underneath the hoop facing the court (not the baseline). Plus / Minus. There are two important coaching points you should emphasize to players when you’re teaching them this step: We want players to gain distance with the first step, and a long step also helps with the second point…. Technique Layups. In basketball, the layup is the highest percentage shot in the game. Learning correct footwork and layup technique is crucial for young players. I’m going to provide you with the step-by-step instructions. But make sure they start practicing with both hands once they understand correct technique and develop the strength to do so. Drill Variations. plus three free eBooks with over 270 pages of our favorite basketball drills and plays! 2. The Euro Step involves taking your first step in one direction, and then changing directions for your second step. As an option, run the drill with two balls. Recommandé pour vous en fonction de ce qui est populaire • Avis Purpose Learn the footwork and mechanics for shooting a layup. This will help the player decide which layup variation will give them the best chance of scoring (or which teammate is now open to receive a pass). For the third step in this process, we ask players to take one dribble before completing their two steps and finishing with a layup. c. The player with the ball passes to the middle of the floor, sprints towards the hoop, and then receives the ball back for a no-dribble layup. Drills such as layup lines and jump stops help you improve your game through basic repetition. Because they lack strength to make outside shots consistently, 90% of points scored in youth basketball are from layups. For example, jumping off the right foot for a right-hand layup. But many young players are scared of contact. Before you go, here are a few extra layup tips that will help players be more successful when attacking the hoop. For players at high levels, the rim acts as protection from shot blockers. Get everyone to start one step back from the low block. To help you better understand the whole process, check out this brilliant video from FIBA that shows the first four progressions: As I spoke about in the step-by-step section, it’s important for players to master more than one type of layup. a. Learning how to do a layup is crucial for all young players. Pointers: Dribble with the left hand for left-handed lay-ups, and the right hand for right-handed lay-ups. Reactive Stretch Cord Benefits. Whether you are working on a basic layup or an advanced pro-hop with a left hand hook finish... all the drills below work. Since most players are right-handed, I recommend starting on the right block since this will be most comfortable for them. The Lay-up is one of the most widely used shooting techniques a player will need to learn. Once a player gets past their defender off the dribble, teach them to step in front of the defender to “lock them behind”. b. As shooting is the most important skill in basketball, it's important … b. Dribble close to the basket with your right hand. The passer will hit them back, after which they’ll make a full court pass up to the passer at the next elbow. Players practice performing a layup off 1 step, 2 steps, using one … Take multiple dribbles towards the hoop (eyes up! On your command, the player at the front of the line will hit the passer at the elbow, then start sprinting down court, making sure to stay wide. Dribble out to the top of the key and around the cone. Then, the players can come back on the other side of the floor and the next group can go. Kentucky Layups is a competitive full court layup drill that works on long passes, full court dribbling and of course, making layups. Add both layup technique and layup competition drills to every practice. When you’re playing a real 5-on-5 game, there will be help defenders trying to block / alter your shot when you get to the hoop. Spend 10 minutes using a layup technique drill and then spend 10 minutes playing half court 2-on-1. All of the following can change from shot to shot in a game: However, most teams practice the traditional block style of drill with layup lines where the same things happens over and over -- they start with the perfect angle to the basket, take 2 dribbles, and shoot the ball off the backboard with no defenders. The first step is to start players on the low block. I’ll start by teaching you (1) exactly what a layup is, (2) the six steps for how to do a layup, (3) the process for teaching layups to young kids, (4) the seven layup variations all players must master, before finishing with (5) some important layup tips. If you have a more advanced team that is in the 7th or 8th grade, you could spend up to 70% to 90% of your practice drills against live defenders. The key coaching point for the second step is the following: Along with ensuring players slow down and are in control of their layup, the emphasis to jump high will give young players the upward momentum they need to complete the layup. Knowing which target to choose as the ball is released from the shooter’s hand is something players will get used to as they gain more experience. The floater is a great way for smaller players to score inside against bigger defenders. The fifth step when learning how to do a layup…. The two things all layups do have in common: (1) All layups are shots close to the basket. Too often we see young players sprint towards the hoop out of control and then launch the ball hard off the backboard. The final step when learning to shoot off the dribble requires players to retreat back behind the three-point arc. Curl around the cone and cut passed the second cone. If you're a coach, you already know what "layup" means. It’s similar to a regular jump shot in that a player gets their hand under the ball and “shoots” it off the backboard. With beginners, you should use very simple drills to teach layups. © Copyright 2021 Breakthrough Basketball, LLC. 8 Minutes - Running your offense against live defenders. We don’t want players to develop poor habits that will be difficult to break out of as they get older and advance to higher levels of basketball. Begin underneath the basket. If you’re coaching very young players, you might find they push the basketball up from their chest instead of bringing the ball above their head before shooting… this is due to a lack of strength. Put one player on the free-throw line without a basketball. a. Below you'll find 20 very effective finishing drills for basketball coaches to use during practice and for players to use during workouts. It’s crucial that a player protects the ball while attempting their layup. Once you’re comfortable with technique, it’s time to add defense take your finishing skills to the next level. TWO BALL DRIBBLING. Begin on the baseline on the right … Start behind the three-point line with a basketball. Receive 72 drills, 32 plays & 7 shooting workouts! Or you could combine layups with pieces of your offense, passing, shooting, etc. Perfect your shooting technique. Encourage players to slow down, use a long first step to gain control of their body, and then jump high off the second step to finish. If you want to win basketball games, your players must be able to finish at the rim consistently. Often times basketball players will feel a bump or push from a defender as they finish. That shot could be a layup, euro step, pro-hop, jump-stop power finish, floater, push shot, and the list goes on. Teach your players to bring the ball up above their head, extend their arm, and then flick their wrist to guide the basketball into the hoop. The Reactive Stretch Cord Basketball Assisted Layup Drill provides both the overspeed training that is required to enhance an athlete’s performance and basketball skill moves to help the Assisted Layup Drill translate to game time situations. This is a great way to step around defenders and change the angle as you complete a layup. 4. At the top of your jump do a reverse right handed layup off the glass. Layups are worth 2, misses and turnovers are -1, and a bad rotation is -4 Since youth basketball is normally decided by which team makes more layups, this is a basketball drill you must use often. Bring your right knee up towards your chest. Learning layup technique is important, but all the individual layup practice in the world isn’t going to make you an elite finisher at the rim. For a traditional layup — this is correct. Players are put in this situation often during games…. Starting on 3 points, a player shoots free-throws in this fun drill. This creates space in front to finish with a floater or to draw the defense before dropping the basketball off to a teammate. Every time a player attacks the hoop, multiple defenders will step across to provide help and challenge the layup. To make Dawg Passing into a competitive drill, split your team into two squads at each end of the floor. Left knee on left-handed layups). 8 Minutes - Running your offense with no defense. A floater is a push-like shot used to float the ball over the outreached hands of … Encourage them to slow down to increase their chances of scoring. Set up one cone at the top of the key and another cone on the elbow. Coaches will often get players asking whether they should aim to swish the ball or use the backboard on their layups…. For right-handed layups, this is the left foot. Derrick Rose Floater. Random means you are changing the situations and types of shots. You choose the type of finishing move you want players to work on for each drill. If you do this well, your team should have no trouble attacking the hoop and scoring against any defense. ), c. At the low block, take the first step with the right foot (outside foot). Tall defenders will attempt to block the shot during the upward shooting motion or as the ball leaves the offensive player’s hands. Almost immediately you should start running drills where players are required to attack the defense and finish with a layup against live defense. d. Change the “passer” every minute or two. This involves jumping off the same foot you’re shooting with. Now, let’s talk about how to do a layup correctly. The first step a player makes as they pick up the basketball should be with their “outside” foot (closest to the sideline). If you really want to catch the defense by surprise, an off-foot layup should be in your bag of tricks. This involves players putting their shooting hand under the ball with their fingers facing forward, and then rolling the ball off their fingertips as they extend their arm to the hoop. Every player should master the move. I’m guessing that most people reading this article are youth basketball coaches wanting to know the best way to teach layups. This is something I spoke about in the “protect the ball” section above…. My recommendation is to set up a quick “give and go” drill. To get started, here's a good layup drill for beginners: You'll notice we do not have any drills listed in this section because all the drills below work for players whether they are 3rd grade youth players or advanced college players. We recommend that you use interleaving and random layup drills. Now that your players understand correct layup technique, it’s time they start doing some serious layup practice! Since you're doing a right-handed layup, angle your approach toward the right side of the basket. This is an impossible question to answer as every situation is different. When we say "finishing", that means the player is going to the basket and finishing with some type of shot. Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter to receive three free eBooks with over 270 pages of content! There’s an endless number of situations a player will face when they attack the hoop in a 5-on-5 game. Take one step with their left foot (inside foot), c. Jump off the left foot and shoot a layup off the backboard. Older players might work on advanced finishing moves and have 1-2 tight defenders challenging the shot. A few important things for coaches to think about: Run layup drills that involve players attacking the hoop from different angles and at different speeds. Although a basketball beginner can start at any age, most beginners are kids and young adults. Perfect your skills with the right basketball training equipment. Instead of shooting a layup, you can have your players shoot a jumpshot, shot-fake and attack the hoop, or many other moves. Smart defenders will look to strip (steal) the ball from the offensive player during their two steps. Another thing players must learn to do is receive the basketball while on the move and then finish with a layup without dribbling. With youth players you might only work on basic layups and you might adjust the rules to reduce the challenge. It’s important that they’re comfortable and confident driving to the hoop from anywhere on the court. One final piece of advice before we get started: These steps might seem simple to you… but to a young kid who’s trying to understand footwork, ball pickup, where to focus, distance, etc… it’s hard! Your players might struggle against competition at first — they might commit a travelling violation, jump off the wrong foot, or rush their two steps — but they’ll benefit from the struggle in the long run.