My daughter and I were recently practicing in the driveway. She came in and shot a left-hand layup. She jumped off her left foot.

The ball went in. I congratulated her. She snapped back that it was a bad rep because she jumped off the wrong foot!

As much as I tried to convince her that the goal is to make the shot, she was not convinced!

And I know why...

Watching most coaches teach layups is interesting. Players are told there is one way to shoot a layup.

• If you’re a righty, you jump off your left foot and bring your right knee up. You aim for the square on the backboard.

While that might be a good starting point, it’s by no means sufficient to being a good finisher. And yet, many players (my daughter included) have been led to believe that’s the “correct” way to shoot a layup.

To change her mind, we watched some videos of Kyrie and Steph Curry. That was much more convincing than anything I said!

Finishing Moves are a separator for basketball players. The best players know they need multiple solutions at the rim.

You don’t know where the defender will be. You don’t know what angle you’ll be at. Those factors determine what type of finish you should use.

Train with the “35” Basketball Finishing Drill to master different finishes at game speed.

42 Basketball Finishing Drill

Setup

• Place 7 evenly spaced cones around the 3-point line.
• Start under the basket with a ball.

Instructions

Dribble as fast as you can around the first cone and attack the basket.

Make a right-hand layup jumping off your left foot.

If you make the shot, repeat at the next cone. If you miss, you must repeat the shot at the same cone.

Continue until you MAKE a layup after circling all 7 cones.

You will repeat that pattern with 6 different finishes (for a total of 42 makes). The next 5 finishes are:

• Left hand, right foot
• Right hand, right foot (what some call a same foot or goofy foot layup)
• Left hand, left foot
• Right hand, 2 feet
• Left hand, 2 feet

Expand Your Finishing Solutions With The 42 Finishing Drill

Adding the time element forces you to go at game speed.

3 Key Training Points

• Be efficient with your dribbles - you will be faster if you take fewer dribbles. Challenge yourself to use as few dribbles as possible when circling the cones.
• Work on a long pushout dribble (fully extend your elbow) that allows you to chase the ball at full speed.
• Take good angles - wide drives allow defenders to recover. In this drill, you want to stay as tight to the cone as possible.
• Work on pivoting around the cone quickly and getting your shoulders to the rim as you attack the basket. That will prevent your defender from getting back in the play.
• Eyes up early - “eyes make layups.” Yes, you are dribbling at full speed. You need to be able to do that with your head up. Get your eyes on the rim early to make your finishes easier.

The Power Of Multiple Finishing Solutions

Don’t be fooled into thinking there is 1 “correct” way to finish. The more options you have, the better you’ll be!

To get better at finishing, you have to practice at game speed. For more ways to do so, check out Jim Huber Next Level Finishing.

Use the 42 drill as part of your warmup and see your finishing improve.

Next time, we’ll look at how to enhance 42!

Comments Most Likes First   Oldest First   Newest First

Leave a Comment Name : Email (not published) : Five minus two is equal to?  (Prevents Spam) Answer :  Load New Question Comments : Leave this Blank :