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Topic: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Topic: The lost art of the left handed layup.

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Jeff McKinney
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The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 11/30/2014 4:15:49 PM

I've seen many players so far this year get rejected with a right hand layup attempt from the left side of the basket, when a left handed attempt would have had a much better chance of being made or at least drawing a foul.

This drives me crazy.

bobcatsquared
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 11/30/2014 4:27:30 PM

I teach youngsters around here, boys and girls who will listen, the George Mikan drill. Start 'em early so the off-hand is serviceable around the basket.

But I agree, Jeff.

Alan Swank
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 11/30/2014 4:49:03 PM

bobcatsquared wrote:

I teach youngsters around here, boys and girls who will listen, the George Mikan drill. Start 'em early so the off-hand is serviceable around the basket.

But I agree, Jeff.

I still do left foot right hand, right foot left hand drills. It's good for the abs and if you go fast enough, you can get a little cardio in.

bobcatsquared
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 11/30/2014 5:13:05 PM

Alan, I think you're now ready to take OCF on one-on-one this Saturday morning. Set it up and maybe I'll come down early to watch before the St. Bonnie game.

Ted Thompson
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 11/30/2014 5:34:07 PM

I'll have to google the Mikan drill.

What's a reasonable age for kids to have the strength/coordination for a left-handed layup? My daughter is playing 3rd-grade basketball and they work on it in practice. But no one comes close to actually doing it.

Other programs I've seen don't seem to practice it at this level. They teach dribble, jump-stop and then shoot off the jumnp-stop.

I don't work on the left-handed layup with her yet as we have more important things to focus on. Like right-handed layups. But I kind of lean with the folks that are teaching the jump-stop at this point. The jump-stop is a transferable skill and one they can actually execute at this age.

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Alan Swank
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 11/30/2014 6:24:31 PM

bobcatsquared wrote:

Alan, I think you're now ready to take OCF on one-on-one this Saturday morning. Set it up and maybe I'll come down early to watch before the St. Bonnie game.

You know what, we should do that and let people pledge/bet an amount per basket on OCF or me as well as the outcome, the over/under and the established spread with all funds going to the Dan Lowe Memorial Scholarship fund. I'll put up $100 right now.

bobcat695
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 11/30/2014 6:56:17 PM

Mikan drill is one of my favorites for the post players. I do it a couple times a week with both of my teams, elementary and middle school. For the younger kids, we do it on an 8' hoop, just to teach the proper technique.

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bornacatfan
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 11/30/2014 11:23:47 PM

Ted

She should be able to do the Mikan drill at this point. If she is weak put her on an 8 foot basket to get the mechanics correct. I wlll take good mechanics and repetition over the poor mechanics that come with a higher basket and fatigue.

Jeff

That has been a pet peeve of mine for years. Not learning to protect the ball with the off hand and not increasing the distance a defender has to reach that often reults in an and one as result is not acceptable. Being able to use both hands inside 8 foot is a great skill for anyone who wants to excel. Right shoulder left shoulder are skills every kid, not just bigs, can use. If you got young ones use the off hand and do those drills that isolate the weak hand.

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GoCats105
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 7:29:33 AM

Chris Ballard wrote a great book about basketball, "The Art of a Beautiful Game" for anyone who is interested. Each chapter revolves around certain players and skill sets.

Anywho, one of the chapters was on Steve Nash. He dove into his ability to finish at the rim even though he's barely 6ft tall. One of the things he actually likes to do is finish with the opposite hand (left hand on the right side, right hand the left side) because the defender is not always expecting it.

However, I sincerely doubt that is what is happening here...

bornacatfan
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 8:12:10 AM

More reading during rehab. Thanks for the tip

OUVan
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 9:43:13 AM

bornacatfan wrote:

I think it extends beyond shooting layups with the left hand. Too many kids not only can't dribble to their left they don't even pass to their left. I'm not talking about passing with their left hand. I'm talking about seeing anything to their left. My son's team is one of the best passing teams in their age group but even they miss a ton of open guys on the left. But for most youth games almost the entire game is played on the right side of the court.

From an early age my son liked to mimic famous players shots and a nice side result of that is that he taught himself not only hit layups with his left hand but he can hit jumpers and runners with this offhand. And since I'm a retard with my left hand he kills me in Horse. But the skill is really useful in games. Most defensive players will automatically take away the dribble drive to the right. Unfortunately kids still try to beat them to that side.

bornacatfan
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 10:01:35 AM

You are so right Van.

I remember coaching a 4th 5th grade team and getting so irritated I set up chairs starting at half court at the OOB /half court line and set another chair every 2 feet that arced toward the left side of the basket to direct the individuals left. Every one of those kids either went OOB to the right of the chairs or stepped though the gaps to finish on the tight side of the chairs. My one lone leftie went to thw left and finished with no problem.

The reason I put 8 feet up top is that I believe inside of 8 feet a kid who wants to play at the varsity level should be able to finish either way inside 8 feet...and we do work passing both hand finishing with thumbs down and overhand/underhand with both hands. I remember a varsity Hs coach marvelling at hwo Tommy had no problem putting the ball on the deck with his left and asking hwo he leaned that. I said "simple....in the barn I always gave him a free pass to the basket when he was young if he went left. If he came right he got swatted"

still does not have a prob with the left...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1LZadfZ-_c&index=5&list=...

I am with you Van, your son got it right. Teach em early if they don't pick it up on their own. Just make a game of it that they want to get better. Nice that you take the loss in HORSE to let him keep killing you with his left.

Last Edited: 12/1/2014 10:07:08 AM by bornacatfan

bobcat695
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 10:12:04 AM

I developed a pretty strong game with my opposite hand adopting the same philosophy as Tommy, so I don't lose to the boys at HORSE on those shots. My weak link is shooting granny style. They know I can't do it well anymore, so they try to beat me with underhand free throws. Does Rick Barry have a FT video available on iTunes?

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bornacatfan
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 10:17:49 AM

Ha

now I know your weakness. My pops shot underhand so when I was young I learned from him. Patients tell me he only missed one FT his entire senior season shooting underhanded. 50 years later they are still talking about it. Funny that the boys, both yours and vans have found the weakness and have no qualms exploiting it.

Last Edited: 12/1/2014 10:18:23 AM by bornacatfan

Mike Coleman
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 10:31:17 AM

bobcatsquared wrote:

I teach youngsters around here, boys and girls who will listen, the George Mikan drill. Start 'em early so the off-hand is serviceable around the basket.

But I agree, Jeff.

This. Mikan and scoop Mikan.

JSF
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 10:48:24 AM

You people and your fancy off-hand stuff. I'm just trying to get my girls not to fall down when dribbling.

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OUVan
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 11:00:35 AM

bornacatfan wrote:

My one lone leftie went to thw left and finished with no problem.

It's funny but my son's team has one leftie and he can get his shot off so much easier than most of the other kids because so few go to their left. Even when the defenders know he's a lefty they are a step slow taking it away because they are so used to defending righties.

bornacatfan wrote:

I remember a varsity Hs coach marvelling at hwo Tommy had no problem putting the ball on the deck with his left and asking hwo he leaned that. I said "simple....in the barn I always gave him a free pass to the basket when he was young if he went left. If he came right he got swatted"

Ha, I did the same thing with my son except it was passing. If he tried to take a shot without at least one pass (I have three boys and used to play them 2/3 against 1) I would block it. If they passed it I would let the recipient take a free shot from that spot. I would still fake like I was going to block it and they figured out pretty early on that not only the obvious passing benefit but they learned that quick ball movement and moving without the ball led to even easier shots. Can't play that game anymore because 2 of the 3 can beat me one-on-one.

GoCats105
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 12:07:33 PM

Rather interesting, but I really didn't develop my left hand (off hand) until I broke my collarbone in my right shoulder in 7th grade. I was capable of going left before, but never excelled at it until I had the injury. It's funny what you learn how to do when one hand/arm isn't able to be used.

BillyTheCat
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 12:51:01 PM

GoCats105 wrote:

Yes, something many do not understand, and yes we must develop players with equally strong hands, but there are many instances where I want to finish with the "wrong" hand. Borna, excellent advice on the shoulders, and everyone great job with the fundamentals. One of my pet peeves is that young kids in many areas begin on 10' rims, developing poor habits that may be with them for life.

BillyTheCat
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 12:51:45 PM

OUVan wrote:

bornacatfan wrote:

OhioCatFan
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 1:11:31 PM

Alan Swank wrote:

bobcatsquared wrote:

Alan, I think you're now ready to take OCF on one-on-one this Saturday morning. Set it up and maybe I'll come down early to watch before the St. Bonnie game.

Well, this coming Saturday we can't play because the little varmints have some school function planned for Saturday. However, if we do this the next Saturday, I suggest it be one-on-one with John Fogt, a guy I often guard, with Alan officiating. Alan's got too much height -- not to mention talent -- on me to be very competitive. Also, we'd have to have this agreed to ahead of time, since we'd be taking away from regular playing time for our group for what could best be described as "comic relief." ;-)

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OhioCatFan
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 1:21:25 PM

P.S. I'm can't go to my left very well at all. One time in a game I actually scored a left-handed layup, and one guy on my team almost had a panic attack on the spot as he ran down the court shouting -- "left hand" . . . "left Hand" It was kind of like the reaction if McKinley had scored a half court shot.

Ted Thompson
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 4:46:39 PM

Mikan drill video is below. I do something similar with my kids where there are 3 people and we put balls down on each block. The shooter moves from block to block to see how many shots they can make in 60 seconds. The other 2 people rebound and put the ball back on the block.

What's the best drill to help them dribble while keeping their eyes up?

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bornacatfan
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 6:12:00 PM

haha

dribbling goggles.

down and back, down and back. push the ball out in front and catch up to it. They will pick it up pretty quick at speed and if races are involved. It's a game.

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Alan Swank
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RE: The lost art of the left handed layup.

Posted: 12/1/2014 6:25:34 PM

OhioCatFan wrote:

Alan Swank wrote:

bobcatsquared wrote:

Alan, I think you're now ready to take OCF on one-on-one this Saturday morning. Set it up and maybe I'll come down early to watch before the St. Bonnie game.

But OCF, I haven't played in 16 years since I destroyed my leg in said middle school gym. In keeping with this thread, what if I only shot left handed?

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