Layup Drills for Every Level, From One Step to Full Court

Layup drills teach a player to finish at the rim, and most of them are run in lines with nobody guarding the shooter. That works for footwork and fades once the basics are in. This guide sorts layup drills for youth and teams by stage, from a one-step layup off the block to full-court drills with a made-shot target and drills against a defender. It also lists the standards coaches give their lines and where they disagree.

Layup Drills at a Glance

Layup Technique Before Any Layup Drill

Teach a right-hand layup with the left foot planted and the right knee and right arm rising together, as if a string connects them.

• Approach. A half step with the outside foot and a full stride with the inside foot.
• Head and eyes. The head is up and the eyes stay on the target, which is the top corner of the square on the backboard.

The competition footwork is the same. Pick the ball up on the outside foot, jump off the inside foot with the knee driving, keep the ball under the chin and use both hands to the height of the jump while the non-shooting arm protects. The cue for the target is the phrase "Up, Down, Kiss, In."

There are two releases:

• Push release. Two hands up and a release off the outside hand, suggested for younger or less developed players. The youth version uses a push release with a dedicated breakdown drill.
• Underhand release. Roll the ball off the fingertips for a softer touch at speed.

The six steps of a layup are eyes up, a long step with the outside foot, a high jump off the inside foot, protecting the ball with the off hand, a full follow-through and practice from varied angles and speeds. See How to Do a Layup.

Technique layups. The player starts on the block for a one-step layup, steps back for two steps, then dribbles in from the three-point line.

Get the footwork right before you add pace or a defender.

Layup Drill Progressions for New Shooters

The steps can be taught in three orders.

• Block first. A one-step layup from the low block, a two-step layup from one step back, a one-dribble layup and a multiple-dribble layup starting behind the three-point line. The Technique Layups drill runs the first, second and last of these for a couple of minutes each. The coach explains and demonstrates each spot first. Players step with the outside foot, finish by jumping high off the inside foot and join the end of the line.
• Wall first. Wall shooting, one-step, two-step, three-step, one dribble, then the complete layup off the dribble. Both sides are practiced and the player jumps off the foot opposite the shooting hand.
• Air layups first. Four practices. Start with one-footed hops and air layups, add a one-step layup with a ball, then a running air layup, then a dribbled layup. The focus is the one-footed takeoff and making is not the early goal.

A self-correcting exercise: a player stands under the basket on the side opposite his shooting hand, aims at the upper outside corner of the backboard square and makes 50 in a row, and the rim punishes a flared elbow. Order the steps and make the footwork automatic before pace.

Individual Layup Drills

• Mikan Drill. The player starts under the basket facing the baseline, makes a right-hand layup off the backboard jumping off the left leg, rebounds quickly and makes a left-hand layup off the right foot, alternating until he reaches the target. More is on Mikan Drill.
• Mikan variations. Use 20 makes with 8 variations from two starting directions and four foot-and-hand combinations, or five minutes a day of alternating baby hooks with no dribble. A 4 Way Mikan adds two front-of-rim layups per side for 45 makes.
• Zig-Zag Layups. The player picks a start outside the three-point line, drives and finishes with a different layup each time, rebounds and retreats to a new spot. It runs two minutes, and the angle changes on its own because the starting spot changes. Finishes to use: a standard layup, a reverse, an overhand finish, a floater, a jump stop finish, a Euro step and an inside-hand finish.
• X-Out Layups. The player starts at the elbow with a left-hand layup, rebounds, dribbles out to the other elbow and returns for a right-hand layup. Run it one minute with a target of 15 makes and the emphasis on footwork, one dribble and jumping up. John Calipari's version uses one control dribble from the elbow and runs to 10 makes.
• One-Minute Lay-Up Drill. For one minute the player cycles a layup, a reverse layup and a running layup or runner, with one dribble each. For the runner he imagines a defender coming from the help side and releases before he arrives.

For the finishes inside these drills see Reverse Layup, Off-Hand Layup, Euro Step and Floater Basketball.

Mikan drill. 1 finishes with the right hand off the right side, rebounds, moves under the rim and finishes with the left hand off the left side. It is a finishing drill at the rim, so no three-second count applies.

Use the individual drills to make the finish automatic.

Layup Lines for a Team

2-Line Layups. There is a shooting line and a rebounding line. The first shooter dribbles in and shoots. The first rebounder grabs the miss or make and passes to the next shooter cutting toward the rim. Shooter and rebounder trade lines.

• Switch sides. Every few minutes the sides switch so players finish with the other hand, and the drill can run with two balls.
• Pass and dribble. Passes are bounce passes and the dribble is with the hand that matches the layup.
• Start outside the arc. The two lines start well outside the arc, because lines too close to the basket leave little running and the drill drags.

Two-line layups. 1 dribbles in from the shooting line while 2 from the rebounding line goes to the rebound, then they swap lines.

3-Line Layups. The setup uses two balls. Several players stand at the top of the key, one waits in the right corner and the rest line up near the right sideline at half court. The first player passes to the second, cuts hard to the basket and gets the ball back for the layup. The pre-game warm-up works on passing, cutting, receiving and layups. Variations use jump shots or reverse layups for the shooting line.

Three-Line Backdoor (Tara VanDerveer, Stanford). Three lines and a rebounder under the basket. 3 passes to 1 and 1 takes a dribble or two toward 2. 2 back-cuts and takes the pass for the layup, 4 rebounds and passes to the next 3 in line.

• Bounce pass up the lane line. The pass to the back-cutter is a bounce pass up the lane line.
• Air passes, then defense. After one trip through, switch to air passes, then add token defense and reverse it for left-handed layups.

It reinforces the dribble-at, back-cut rule.

Three-line backdoor layups. 3 passes to 1, 1 dribbles at 2, 2 back-cuts and finishes the bounce pass while 4 rebounds.

Kentucky Layups. It runs with four balls for two minutes, and 65 to 70 makes is the usual range for women's college teams.

Keep the lines moving and the passes sharp.

Full-Court Layup Drills and Their Goals

Full-court layup drills get a number. The numbers differ because the drills differ, so the table keeps each drill with its goal.

The consequence also changes:

• Run or push-ups. The team runs or does push-ups if it misses the left-hand goal, with a second chance of a half-court shot and a team celebration if one player makes it.
• 10 push-ups. Every missed drill layup costs the shooter and the passer 10 automatic push-ups, because finishing is a habit.
• Restart at zero. Auriemma's rule is a restart at zero.

The full-court drills themselves vary:

• Two-minute transition. Teri Moren's 2-minute transition drill has two lines, a coach rebounding under each basket and the first two players wide. The coach passes to O1, who takes one dribble and passes to O2 sprinting up the sideline for the layup. Players call the receiver's name and count each layup aloud.
• Russian Layups. A continuous drill of a long pass, a sprint and a layup from a pass received at full speed, for five players or more.
• A coach or parent on each high post. For a young team, with a point lost every time the ball touches the floor for older players.

Give the drill a number and a cost, and keep the pace up.

Layup Drills Against a Defender

Most layup drills are run one on zero with no pressure, so players never rehearse the decision and the contact they meet in games. There are four reasons practice layups miss in games:

• Fear of contact. Players fear contact and get blocked, so they take an off-balance fadeaway.
• No live defender. They practice almost only without a live defender.
• Too few finishes. They know too few finishes.
• Game pressure. They feel pressure in games that practice does not have.

Layup lines help a beginner with footwork and both hands but the benefit fades quickly once the basics are in place. See Why Players Miss Layups.

• Around the Arc. Two players start in a corner, one on offense with a ball and one on defense. The offensive player dribbles around the three-point arc with the defender trailing, and he can attack at any moment. The defender cannot cross the three-point line until the offensive player does. The offense can use any dribble move and fake, then protects the ball and scores while the defender contests from behind. Roles swap after each finish.
• Chase Down Layups. Two baseline lines. The offensive player gets a head start and sprints the floor while a defender chases to challenge the finish without fouling. It runs both directions to work the off hand.
• Attack the Ring. Two players sprint around cones from the baseline and a coach passes to one of them, who attacks the rim at once against the other.
• Half-Court 2-on-1. Three lines on the baseline. The coach passes to an offensive player and all three sprint around cones into a live 2-on-1. The offense keeps it simple. If the defender does not step into the lane, score, and if he does, pass.
• 3-on-2 Continuous. A full-court drill where three offensive players always face two defenders.
• Pad contact. In Leverage the Help Defender the player drives, bumps a coach holding a pad to create separation and extends into the layup. It runs 20 makes per side. Phil Martelli's teaching has contested layups showing power layups and inside-hand and reverse layups against contact.

Around the arc. 1 dribbles around the arc with X1 trailing outside it, then attacks and finishes while X1 contests from behind.

Add the defender as soon as the footwork holds.

Where Coaches Disagree

Choose one stop, one cost and one starting spot, and teach them all season.

Questions Coaches Ask

More Guides From This Batch

• Floater Basketball: How to Shoot It and How to Teach It
• Flare Screen Basketball: How It Works, Reads and Counters
• Basketball Dribbling Drills for Beginners and Other Basics
• Basketball Rebounding Drills for Every Age and Level

Back to Basketball Finishing Moves and every Player Development page.

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