The behind-the-back dribble is a crossover bounced once behind your body to the other hand. Your whole body stays between the ball and the defender, so it protects the ball better than a front crossover when a defender is close or lunges for a steal, for example bringing the ball up the floor under pressure. The camera reads your body: a low base and the weight shift to the new side as you switch hands behind you. The ball wrapping behind your back is a handle the camera can't see.
Set up
Stay in a crouched, bent-knee position with the ball low and close to your body.
Low and tucked.
Dribble with your fingertips, not your palm.
Fingers, not palm.
Keep your head up and eyes forward. Hold your free arm out in front as a guard, but never push off with it.
Eyes up, arm bar.
Move
Get your body ahead of the ball on the dribbling side, so the ball is beside and slightly behind your hip.
Bounce it once behind your back, across to your other hand. Your body stays between the ball and the defender the whole time.
One bounce, behind you.
Send the ball out in front of your new hand, not just sideways, so you can catch it on the move and attack.
Out in front, not beside.
Keep your stride going. Don't slow down to do the move; stay low and attack the space in the new direction.
No stop, then go.
Feel it
It should feel like a crossover your body hides: the ball goes behind you in one bounce, lands in front of your other hand, and you never break stride. Go slowly in place until the bounce lands in the same spot every time, then add speed and movement.
Fix-its
- The ball gets away behind you or hits your leg Get your body ahead of the ball before you go behind your back, so the ball has room to cross. Practise in place until one bounce reaches the other hand every rep.
- The ball lands beside you and you have to stop Push it slightly forward so it arrives out in front of your new hand. Then you can catch it moving and keep attacking.
- The dribble gets high Keep the ball low and close to your body. A high ball behind you is hard to control.
- You stand up or slow down to do it Stay crouched and keep your feet moving through the move. If you have to stop to make it work, slow the drill down and build it back up.
- You look down at the ball Eyes forward. Feel the ball with your fingertips and practise with your head up until you don't need to check it.
Drill
- Continuous behind-the-back: in place, cross the ball behind your body to the other hand and back, over and over. Make the cross wide enough to reach the other hand cleanly.
- 3-dribble behind the back: in place, pound the ball hard 3 times, cross it behind your back, pound 3 times, cross back. Eyes up.
- Triples: in place, chain crossover, between the legs, behind the back, then through the legs, and keep cycling the sequence.
- Down and back: dribble the sideline using behind-the-back moves, down and back twice, working both hands.
- Two-ball: pound both balls 3 times, then cross one in front of you and the other behind your back at the same time.
- Put 5 to 10 minutes of dribble moves like these into every practice. Speed up only when the move stays under control.
Sources
- Coach's Clipboard — Basketball Dribbling and Dribble Moves
- Basketball For Coaches — 6 Basketball Moves You Need to Beat Any Defender
- Basketball For Coaches — 1-on-1 Basketball: The 12 Best Moves and Tips
- Basketball For Coaches — 50 Basketball Dribbling Drills
Last checked 2026-10-26.