Player’s Corner

Hey players! Today we talk about “The Drive”. First of all, there are 3 key points to know before attempting any move:

1) You don’t have much time or space in a
basketball game. You HAVE to make a strong move and either score or
pass with 2 to 3 dribbles. You need to get in scoring position or
in a passing position without wasting time, space, or energy.

2) Quickness and footwork are very important. You don’t have to be
fast, but you need to move quick. This means that in a small area,
you gotta move quickly. This doesn’t require strong muscles, it
requires quick reaction time in the brain.

3) You have be in proper basketball positioning. This means that
you turn and face the basket – feet shoulder width apart – feet
pointed towards the basket – knees flexed – both shoulders pointed
towards the basket. If you’re right-handed, keep the ball on your
right hand side; if you’re left-handed, keep it on the left-hand
side.  (Re-read this tip, proper positioning is very important)

This is where “The Drive” comes in:

when you drive, you get past your defender and move
towards the basket with speed & quickness. Being good at driving
has many advantages. You can get easy layups or find your teammates
in a good position to score. Half the time, you’ll even get fouled. ALWAYS REMEMBER, DRIVE IN THE LANE LOOKING TO SCORE, NOT FOR THE FOUL!! This messes players up a lot of time. If the ref sees you wildly driving to the lane, he more than likely will not call the foul. Drive under control. Look to get the two points. A foul is just an added benefit. Don’t overuse the drive. When you start driving too much, you become predictable. Your defensive man can read you and he starts backing off, and the rest
of the defense can read you and start trapping.  You have to be DECEPTIVE, or in other words, the defense should never know what you’re gonna do next. Thats why you need to have adecent outside shot. When you drive past your defender a couple of times, he’ll start backing off. When he backs off, you take an
outside shot. After hitting a few shots, the defense will play you tight again, and you can go back to the drive. The key is to keep switching between the drive and layup, drive and pass, and taking the outside shot… and the defense will always stay confused.

Come back for part two of “The Drive”