Basketball Footwork Series - INTRODUCTION

Before I go into any further detail I would like to make apparent a few points that underlie the whole of the discussion. I feel that footwork is an aspect of basketball that many players are not being taught properly or is not emphasized enough in fundamental development. I hope to bring to light some of the footwork utilized by many NBA players and discuss in detail the mechanics of each: the what, when, where, why, and how to of each move. The goal is hopefully to raise an awareness of what footwork is and how it is used in basketball. I believe any player can benefit from learning some of the footwork techniques I will be discussing.

Through the evolution of the game many fundamental elements have come to the forefront. At the helm is the evolution of dribbling. There are famous signature moves such as the Killer Cross, Stutter Step, Double Crossover, etc. While these are an important aspect of the game it only involves half of creating offense. There are basically two parts to playing basketball when a player has the ball; playing while dribbling and while not dribbling. Footwork is best utilized when playing while not dribbling the ball. There are two instances for that opportunity: holding on to the ball when receiving a pass and coming to a full stop after picking up your dribble. Footwork is also a very necessary part of defense and playing without the ball in general. It takes footwork to be in position for rebounds and blocks for example. However for the time, I will discuss utilizing footwork on the offensive end.

The Triple Threat is the name given to receiving the ball. It is called that for the player has three options: shoot, pass, or dribble. This is the perfect time for footwork because it can transition into all three aspects whereas as the footwork after picking up the dribble only have shoot and pass available. The Triple Threat is generally the initiation of the offense and the benefit to using footwork instead of just automatically vying for one of the three options is because it can create a bigger advantage in the options that would not have been there otherwise.

Full Stop is the name given to picking up the ball after dribbling. In many cases this is a bad situation to be in because either the player has been halted by the defense or is in a bad position. As mentioned earlier, it also only has two of the three options available. Footwork in this situation can be highly effective if done right for one reason. The player with the ball has the initiative. A good player would have come to a full stop with knowledge of what to do and is fairly close to the basket after utilizing the dribble to get there. Thus, the Full Stop is generally for finishing the offense. Footwork here can set up open shoots and good passing angles.

Outlined above are the two situations in which to utilize footwork on offense. All offensive footwork for later will come essential from these two basic situations.