A chase-down block is a recovery play: the ball-handler has beaten your defence on a break, you run them down from behind and block the layup on its way up. It is associated with LeBron James, but the rules are the hard part: get the ball before it touches the glass or starts down, and never go through the shooter's body. The explosive takeoff off the sprint and a balanced landing are what the analyzer reads.
Set up
Sprint back the moment the ball is turned over or the break starts. Your first goal is still to get in front; chase from behind only when you can't.
Run first, decide on the way.
Run alongside and slightly behind the ball-handler, not into their path. Adjust your speed so you arrive as they take off, not before.
Shadow them, don't cut them off.
Keep your hands off them on the way. In FIBA, contact from behind on a player with no defender between them and the basket, before the shot starts, is a disruptive foul.
Hands up, not on.
Block
Wait for the shooter to leave the floor and commit to the layup. Jump after they do, so a shot fake never leaves you in the air.
Their jump, then yours.
Jump toward the shooter's outside shoulder, where an outside-hand layup is released. If you have to jump along their back to get there, go up, not into them.
Up along the back, not through it.
Reach your arm fully to the spot the ball has to pass through and beat it there. Block the spot; don't swing down at the ball, because a swipe is where you hit the arm.
Wall the window.
Touch the ball only while it is still rising and before it hits the backboard. Touching it on the way down, or after it hits the glass above the rim, is goaltending and the basket counts.
Up and before the glass.
If you hit it into the backboard, slap it there; don't hold it. NBA rules call trapping (hand, ball and glass together) a violation, while a ball batted against the board is legal.
Slap, don't trap.
Land
Land softly on both feet with your knees and hips bent and your knees over your toes. Landing is the most common way basketball players sprain an ankle.
Quiet feet, bent knees.
Brake over several steps with your hips low, instead of one stiff plant. Stay in bounds so you can rebound if the shot misses.
Chop it down, stay on the court.
Feel it
A clean chase-down feels like arriving a split second late on purpose: you run alongside, let them jump first, then go up along their back and meet the ball at the spot it has to pass. You feel ball on your fingers and nothing on your body. If you feel their arm, their back or the glass with the ball already on it, it's a foul or a goaltend. Afterwards you land on both feet and slow down over a few steps, still on the court.
Fix-its
- You hit the arm (foul) Stop swatting down at the ball. Reach your hand to the spot the ball must pass through and get there first.
- You crash into their back Don't cut across their path. Run alongside, then jump up toward the outside shoulder. Contact from behind is a foul even if you were going for the ball.
- Goaltending: you block it after it hits the glass or starts down You jumped too late or reached too high on the board. Go for the ball on its way up, before it touches the backboard.
- You jump before they do Hold your takeoff until the shooter has left the floor. You can reach further than they can, so a later jump still gets there.
- Stiff or one-foot landing, or you fly out of bounds Land on both feet with knees and hips bent, then brake over several short steps so you're ready for the rebound.
Drill
- Soft-landing jumps: jump high from a short run-up and land on both feet with knees and hips bent and knees over toes. Get feedback from a coach before adding speed.
- Spot-block at walking pace: a partner lays the ball up slowly; you trail, jump after them and touch the ball on its way up, before the glass. Do both sides of the floor.
- Chase Down Layups: two lines on the baseline; the coach gives the ball-handler a few steps' start, both sprint the floor, and you challenge the layup without fouling. Stay in bounds for the rebound. Run it from both sides.
- Live transition: play 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 and reward a recovering defender who gets back in front first, and a clean contest from behind only when they can't.
Sources
- NBA Official Rulebook 2026-27 — Rule No. 11, Basket Interference / Goaltending
- FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2026 (Art. 31 Goaltending; Art. 33 illegal guarding from the rear; Art. 37 disruptive foul)
- Jr. NBA — Block/Blocked Shot
- Mike Jagacki, Lockdown Defense — The Chase Down Block (2022)
- Christopher Riches, Functional Basketball Coaching — The Forgotten Art of Shot Blocking: Technique Breakdown (2013)
- Basketball for Coaches — Chase Down Layups (drill sheet, 2015)
- Dylan Murphy, Bleacher Report — The Art of the LeBron James Chase-Down Block (2014)
- Padua et al. — NATA Position Statement: Prevention of ACL Injury, J Athl Train (2018)
- McKay et al. — Ankle injuries in basketball: injury rate and risk factors, Br J Sports Med (2001)
- Harper et al. — Biomechanical and Neuromuscular Performance Requirements of Horizontal Deceleration, Sports Medicine (2022)
Last checked 2026-10-26.