I looked up some of the names of trendy basketball moves. I saw:

• The under drag

• The trigger step hesi

• The push-crossover-pullback

• The lateral behind the back hesi

I’m sure they are all great moves. Actually, I’m not sure they’re all great moves, but I’m sure they’re all challenging to learn.

Unfortunately, moves like the ones listed above get a lot of time and attention from today’s players.

Why do I say that’s unfortunate? Because in 16 years as a varsity coach, I could count on two hands the number of times I saw moves like that executed in games.

While they may look great and be fun to learn, they don’t happen (enough) in games.

And if the goal of your training sessions is to prepare you for game night (that is your goal, right?), then you need to work on what happens in games.

3 Reasons To Stop Dancing

What’s the problem with fancy moves? Here’s a couple:

Fancy is fun. But if your first move is sideways, you’re helping the defense:

• You lengthen the route to the rim (more dribbles, more help arrives). The wider you go, the more the help gets involved.
  
  

• You telegraph your plan (defender resets in front). The best time to attack is on the catch. When you play with the ball, you lose that advantage.
  
  

• You lose power in your hips (no direct drive through the front hip gap). A violent rip through gets you explosively going towards the rim. Multiple moves put you back in neutral, making you less explosive.

Basketball is a race for the defender’s front hip. When you attack the hip, you “Open The Gate.” At that point, everything opens up — layups, fouls, dump-offs, and kick-outs.

3 Reasons To Start Driving

So if fancy moves are out, what move is in? Straight line drives. While they may not be as “exciting” as your fancy triple moves, they are a heck of a lot more effective.

Here are 3 reasons why:

• They create the best shots. Possessions that touch the paint before a shot are far more efficient than those that don’t. In a D-I study, possessions with both a ball reversal and a paint touch jumped to 1.189 points per possession vs 0.706 with neither. That’s a blowout difference.

• They draw fouls. The NBA literally tracks “drives” because they lead to points and free throws—metrics like “Field Goal Makes on drives,” “Points on drives,” and “Free Throw Makes on drives” exist for a reason. Translation: downhill pressure gets whistles and buckets.
  
  

• They power kick-out 3s. When you collapse the help and pass out, teammates shoot better. League data consistently shows catch-and-shoot 3s outpace off-the-dribble 3s (C&S ~36% vs pull-ups ~33% in a recent NBA season). Paint touch → kick-out → higher-quality three.

3 Ways To Direct Your Compass N/S Starting Today

If you’re ready to adopt the straight-line approach, it’s essential to practice it in your training sessions. 

How? Incorporating it into your 1v1 games is a great way. Use these three rules to do so:

• If you catch & hold, you lose the possession. Practice your rip-thrus and attacking on the catch. Often, this means catching, ripping & attacking opposite.

• Give yourself a shot clock. In 1v1, a:04-:05 shot clock forces you to think attack and not mess around with the ball.

• Give yourself a dribble limit. The fewer dribbles you have, the more efficient you have to be.

1v1 Fill Cut is a great drill that allows you to incorporate all three of these rules. If you don’t have a passer like in the video, just toss the ball out to start the possession.

How This Math Principle Makes You A Better Player

At some point in your academic career, your math teacher probably told you, “The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line.” (I learned this is called the geodesic principle.)

If you’re like the students I know, you often wonder, “When will I ever use this?”

Well, I’m here to tell you that you can use that principle on the court. When you get the ball, remember your destination - the rim. Then get there in the quickest and most direct way - a straight line. You’ll be rewarded with more playing time & more points!

Comments Most Likes First   Oldest First   Newest First Johnathan K says: 11/2/2025 at 5:09:14 PM can you make video on how to rip through for my kid? Like     login   register

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