Attack Mentality: How-to Dribble Drive

Here are three critical points for players when driving a defender:

1) Go North-South not East-West – Too often players have a tendency to round out their drives to the basket rather than taking a direct path to the basket.

2) Get the shoulder to the hip – The driver must attempt to get their inside shoulder to the level of the defender’s hip. This movement will help get the driver lower and in a position to protect the ball. Also, if the driver can get contact or be very tight to the defender, like going North-South, it is very difficult for the defender to get a path to recover.

3) Go right at the defender - When the defender is more than 6 feet away make the dribble move directly at the defender to get them on their heels. If the driver can get beside the defender or get him/her on their heels, the driver should have either a path to the basket or a shot.

How are these skills developed? To develop 1-on-1 skill players must play 1-on-1; there is no substitute for this. All the skill work in the world cannot take the place of going against a defender and learning to react/anticipate defensive movement.