Teaching Catching,
Pivoting,
and Faking Skills: Part II
by Alan Lambert
(www.bbhighway.com)
Pivoting
Pivoting is without question the most under-taught
and undeveloped skill in basketball. The sad part is that it is truly one of
the greatest confidence builders that young players can have, and opens up a
player’s skill level far beyond what most think they are capable of
achieving. I believe that Michael Jordan is certainly one of the greatest
athletes ever to play the game of basketball. What stands out most in my mind
however, is his penetration step to the basket. If we could freeze frame that
move you'd see his knee almost touching the ground, with the knee and ankle
joint bent at 90 degrees. A penetration step to the basket is essentially a
forward moving pivot from either a standing, or triple threat position.
The one factor that makes most players poor pivoter’s
(a.k.a penetrator) is lack of leg, stomach and back strength. They simply
can't hold the proper pivot position, and maintain control of their energy
and body weight. They compensate by twisting and contorting their body and
muscles to a position that's more comfortable, but totally ineffective in
executing pivots. How can you expect players to perform what they don't
practice. How much time do you spend in practice pivoting? If you don't
incorporate 10-15 minutes of pivoting technique into your daily drills, I
will guarantee you there will be teams that pressure your team hard, and it
will be reflected in you turnover stats.
I teach basically two types of pivots, or you might
even describe them as two directional types of pivots. Pivots can occur in
the down position, where the pivot foot on the floor is bent 90 degrees at
the toes, angle, and knee with the knee almost touching the floor. The back
is straight and the head within the base of support (area underneath both
feet in contact with the floor). Most players lean forward with the head
because of lack of strength and are in a very unbalanced position for making
any kind of pivot. Pivots also can occur in the up position, where the player
has the knees slightly flexed and are on the balls of their feet very much
like the triple threat position. A good pivoter can move as easily in either
of these two positions and from up to down and down to up position quickly
without losing their balance.
Here are my techniques points for teaching
fundamentally sound pivoting skills:
· 1) Always
have your balance before you pivot. If you have lost your balance, then
correct it before you try pivoting again. This would be analogous to a figure
skater attempting to perform a triple axle with their head way outside of
their feet (base of support). Young players tend to start their pivot before
correcting their position.
· 2) When
you pivot, the hip of the pivoting leg should be pulled through on a straight
line to the new position. We teach our players to penetrate to the basket in
a straight line, so why would we teach the same players to pivot any portion
of their body in a circular fashion. This is not so easily seen, but when
they've lost their balance, you can almost be assured that it is because the
hip movement did not start in a linear direction and the body was pulled off
balance. When I'm teaching my players to go from the up pivoting position, to
a down position, where they have shifted the ball to the weak side hand away
from the defensive pressure, they must pull that hip down as quickly and
straight as possible to the new position. It is as if there is a rope
attached to their hip, and someone yanks that rope. The point is in doing
this centrifugal force is reduced and better helps players to maintain their
balance.
· 3) When
you pivot lower your center of gravity. Interestingly enough this is very
similar to the problems a defensive player encounters when they are learning
to perform defensive slide steps without looking like a caterpillar. When a
player pivots from the down position with, let's say the right foot forward,
and steps through in the other direction most players will raise their center
of gravity (thereby losing their balance) and be susceptible to a push or
shove by an aggressive defender. The rules of physics don't change for
pivoting, a low center of gravity is always the best way to keep your
balance.
· 4) Decrease
the radius of your pivot as you turn. This will increase the speed with which
your body can rotate. Again, I'll use the figure skater analogy. When a
figure skater wants to slow their spin, they open their arms and legs
increasing the radius of the spinning body. If they want to spin faster they
draw their arms and legs as close to the axis of rotation as possible. This
holds true for pivoting in basketball as well. A tight pivot is a fast pivot.
Ideally the pivoter will transfer all of their weight for one moment in time
directly over the pivot foot, much like the young boy did in the movie Karate
Kid when learning balance, and then immediately shift half of that weight
back to the newly established stepping foot. It can be done, but takes a
great deal of practice. The players I've seen who could do this were able to
pivot in virtually any direction at any time and were extremely difficult to
pressure. They simply kept their balance. Of course this is much simpler for
a 5'5" player than for someone 7'0" tall, but the laws of physics
hold no matter what your size is.
· 5) Keep
your upper body as straight and vertical as possible when pivoting. This
keeps the head still and helps the player maintain balance. For most people
their head is somewhere around 30% of their total body weight. If that head
gets to slinging, so will the body. I've demonstrated this to my players by
tying a ball with weight on the end of a rope and letting them swing it
around in a circle like a cowboy wanting to lasso something. Then I ask them
to quickly switch directions. The shorter the rope length (radius) the easier
it is to change directions. Let that rope out 5 or 6 feet and it's almost
impossible to change directions quickly. Your head is that ball. By keeping
the back straight a player will control their head movement. The problem with
this is that it requires lower leg and back strength which many players don't
have. Practice it, and include strength training exercises to develop these
areas.
· 6) Always
pivot on the ball of your pivot foot. I can't count the number of times I've
seen players (especially big men) who have no pivoting skills because the
whole footprint remains attached to the floor. I don't care how big or small
you are, if your complete foot remains glued to the floor you will NOT be
able to pivot more than the few degrees your knee will twist. Twisting knees
aren't very good for basketball players either. Tell your players, bend at
the toes, bend at the ankle, bend at the knee, and you'll have a player that
can virtually pivot 360 degrees.
· 7) Always
pivot into your defender when squaring up to the basket. A player who pivots
away from pressure will get locked up by the defender where they have no
freedom of movement.
· 8) To
avoid pressure on the ball when you're pivoting tuck the ball into a position
of strength either: a) under the chin or tight to the waist, or b) low
between the legs momentarily until you have established the new position to
which you have pivoted. Before I get a bunch of nasty comments back from
coaches, I'm not saying to keep the ball between your legs, only to
momentarily bring it their when you must pivot against pressure. It is a very
difficult place for a defender to get their hands to without getting so low
to the ground that they don't open up the jump shot. Finally, when moving the
ball, you might initially move the ball away from the direction you want to
pivot to draw the defenders hands or body in that direction which will make
the step through pivot to the new position much simpler. It is a concept well
used through the game of basketball.
The stepwise procedure for practicing pivoting
should include basic inside and outside pivots off of either foot without the
ball and include moving from the upright triple threat position to the down
penetration step position. Your players should be able to make that
penetration step movement in all directions including backward. My philosophy
always has been that I want my players to be able to react in any direction,
at any moment in time with equal quickness. This takes practicing a lot of
different skills but approaching that goal makes multi-dimensional players.
Then proceed to pivoting with the basketball,
working on maintaining balance and positioning of the ball in various
positions against pressure (generally away from the defense). I usually
follow this step with pivoting off of movement after a one contact (two foot)
jump stop. The best players don't quit once their dribble penetration has
been taking away or they've picked up their dribble. Plan on spending a
considerable amount of time working with your players on the step through
pivot against pressure. I usually work toward the goal of not only having my
player be able to pivot to avoid pressure, but more importantly to be able to
pivot to set up passing lanes, and go from virtually any pivot position down
or up into the (forward) penetration step which I have described earlier.
Practice
Pivoting
Coaches, I'm very realistic about how much practice
time you have. In many cases you have enough trouble getting shooting, or
defensive footwork time, let alone time to practice pivoting. However, you
can incorporate pivoting into every drill that you run. Rebound outlet, with
a quarter pivot, wing entry pass to square-up position, to penetration
footwork, or high post position play with catching a lob pass and working on
the up to down position to penetrate with one step to the basket. A good
coach knows how to make good use of limited practice time. It can be done
with proper planning.
Remind your players to:
1) Always have your balance before you pivot.
2) When you pivot, the hip of the pivoting leg should be pulled through on a
straight line to the new position.
3) When you pivot lower your center of gravity.
4) Decrease the radius of your pivot as you turn.
5) Keep your upper body as straight and vertical as possible when pivoting.
6) Always pivot on the ball of your pivot foot.
7) Always pivot into your defender when squaring up to the basket.
8) To avoid pressure on the ball when you're pivoting tuck the ball into a
position of strength
Now that you've learned some techniques for catching
and pivoting with the ball I want to close this clinic with several ideas on
using fakes.
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