Basketball Lay-Up Drills & Technique
Posted: Friday, March 24, 2006
by Andy Louder
Hoop Skills
The lay-up is the most basic shot in basketball. Unfortunately, it does not get a lot of attention when people work on improving their overall game. In a time now where fundamentals are slowly being forgotten and replaced with fancy show-boating moves, players need to remind themselves of the basic techniques of shooting lay-ups to make themselves better scorers. In this article we will discuss just a few things associated with lay-ups that will help improve your overall game.
When Practicing Lay-ups Take It Serious
In an actual game you will rarely have the opportunity to lazily run to the basket and shoot an uncontested lay-up. Most lay-ups are shot while you are fast breaking with a defender on your hip harassing you all the way to the basket. If you practice lay-ups nonchalantly then in a game type situation you are more likely to miss the lay-up because you might jump off the wrong foot, or shoot the lay-up too hard because your timing is off. It's not logical at all for you to make even the simplest of shots in a game if you are not practicing the shots the same way you would shoot them in a game. Make sure you are using correct technique and that you are moving at game speed when you shoot lay-ups during your warm-ups.
Be Able To Use Both Hands
You should be able to shoot lay-ups effectively with both the right and left hand. If you are driving to the basket on the left hand side of the floor and shoot a lay-up using your right hand you are likely to get the shot blocked. Make sure that whatever side of the basket you are driving towards you use that hand to shoot the lay-up. This will ensure that your body will be in between you and your defender and it's likely that you will draw a foul if your defender tries to block your shot.
Be Selective
If you try to shoot the same type of lay-up in every situation you will lack the advantage. It's important that you are use to shooting different types of lay-ups so that you will be harder to defend in certain situations. For example a defender may be over aggressively challenging every shot you take, as you get to the basket you may want to head fake and shoot what is referred to as a power lay-up where you go off two feet and try to draw a foul or shoot over your defender as you time it perfect. Or sometimes on a break you would want to actually shoot a lay-up with the opposite hand of the side of the basket you are driving towards. Sometimes when you are pressured to get a shot off you can get the ball to the basket quicker if you were to use the right hand when going up on the left hand side of the basket or vice versa. The bottom line is that you need to have a selection of lay-ups that you feel comfortable shooting so that during games you can use every advantage you possibly can.
by Brian Schofield
HoopSkills wishes you the best of luck in improving your game.
In an actual game you will rarely have the opportunity to lazily run to the basket and shoot an uncontested lay-up. Most lay-ups are shot while you are fast breaking with a defender on your hip harassing you all the way to the basket. If you practice lay-ups nonchalantly then in a game type situation you are more likely to miss the lay-up because you might jump off the wrong foot, or shoot the lay-up too hard because your timing is off. It's not logical at all for you to make even the simplest of shots in a game if you are not practicing the shots the same way you would shoot them in a game. Make sure you are using correct technique and that you are moving at game speed when you shoot lay-ups during your warm-ups.
Be Able To Use Both Hands
You should be able to shoot lay-ups effectively with both the right and left hand. If you are driving to the basket on the left hand side of the floor and shoot a lay-up using your right hand you are likely to get the shot blocked. Make sure that whatever side of the basket you are driving towards you use that hand to shoot the lay-up. This will ensure that your body will be in between you and your defender and it's likely that you will draw a foul if your defender tries to block your shot.
Be Selective
If you try to shoot the same type of lay-up in every situation you will lack the advantage. It's important that you are use to shooting different types of lay-ups so that you will be harder to defend in certain situations. For example a defender may be over aggressively challenging every shot you take, as you get to the basket you may want to head fake and shoot what is referred to as a power lay-up where you go off two feet and try to draw a foul or shoot over your defender as you time it perfect. Or sometimes on a break you would want to actually shoot a lay-up with the opposite hand of the side of the basket you are driving towards. Sometimes when you are pressured to get a shot off you can get the ball to the basket quicker if you were to use the right hand when going up on the left hand side of the basket or vice versa. The bottom line is that you need to have a selection of lay-ups that you feel comfortable shooting so that during games you can use every advantage you possibly can.
by Brian Schofield
HoopSkills wishes you the best of luck in improving your game.
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)should you hold the ball with one hand or two when doing a lay up. And why is it better one way than the otherYou want to bring the ball up with both hands as you jump but once you are in the air you want to hold onto the ball with only one hand so that you can roll the ball off of your fingers and into the basket. It would be hard to develop a soft touch if you held the ball with two hands while placing the ball in the hoop.
what kind of drills would you recommend to learn all the skills within a layup?...e.g.dribbling the ball, footwork involved etc. (for a beginner)I would suggest getting your players use to dribbling with the correct hand and jumping off the correct foot when going up for a lay-up on both sides of the basket. Once a player is use to those fundamentals, lay-ups become easier. When shooting a right handed lay-up players should jump off their left foot. When shooting a left handed lay-up they should be jumping off their right foot.
hi there, what are some appropriate practice methods that are used so that you can become proficient at the component skills? thanks, Pete
yeah, i agree with Pete...what sorts of things would coaches get you to do if you were learning a layup?The biggest thing I think a coach should be doing when first teaching kids lay-ups is to get their players use to using their off hand. If a player is right handed then they really need to be focusing on dribbling the ball with their left hand and shooting lay-ups with their left hand. Their right hand will take care of itself.
Thanks heaps for that, it was really helpful. Regards, Pete
when would u use the lay up? and when shouldnt u use itYou want to use the lay-up when you have an open lane to the basket. Going all the way to the basket and laying the ball in the hoop is a higher percentage shot than stopping and shooting a jump stop.You wouldn't want to try and shoot a lay-up if you don't have an open lane to the basket. In that situation it's more appropriate to stop and shoot a jumper.
Yes,very much so! Excellent confirmation for a young player being given some pointers from her dad.
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