The floater (also called a tear-drop) is a soft, high-arcing one-hand push shot you take on a drive, from about the middle of the lane to just inside the free-throw line, when you've beaten your man but a taller shot-blocker is waiting at the rim. The runner is the one-foot version: layup footwork, then a high soft release instead of a layup. Unlike a layup you shoot before you reach the big, and unlike a leaner (a mid-range jumper drifting away from a contest) you stop your momentum and go up. The app reads your footwork and release motion; the defender and make are the game.
Read and gather on the move
Use it when you've got past your defender and a big is waiting in the lane or backing up to the rim. Stop short of the big, under control, before you get into his space.
you rise before the big, not into him.
Keep your head and eyes up on the drive so you can see the space between you and the shot-blocker. Head down, you won't see where to float it.
Learning it: start with the two-foot floater. Land in a two-foot jump stop to slow your momentum, then spring up high. Two feet give you more balance and control.
The runner (one foot): use normal layup footwork. Shooting right-handed, plant and jump off your left foot; left-handed, off your right. Learn both sides.
same feet as a layup, different finish.
Get off the floor quickly once you stop, but stay balanced. Less time on the ground gives the defense less time to react. Keep your weight centred, not tipping forward over your knees.
Stay legal
NBA and FIBA: after you gather on the move you get two steps to shoot. The first step is the first foot (or both feet) to touch after you control the ball. Jump off one foot on step one and you may land on both feet for step two, but you can't pivot. Once a foot leaves the floor, release the ball before any foot comes back down.
NCAA and high school (NFHS) count differently. If one foot is on the floor when you catch or end your dribble, that foot becomes your pivot as soon as the other foot steps, and it can't come back down before you release. The NBA/FIBA gather-foot-plus-two rhythm can be a travel there. Check your league.
Don't carry into the big. If he has set position and you leave your vertical space and run into him, the contact is on you (offensive foul). No pushing off with your off arm.
High, soft, arced release
Jump up, as vertical as you can, to stop your forward momentum. Go up, not forward at the rim.
the drive turns into a straight-up lift.
Bring the ball up high and release it around your forehead or higher, while you're still rising, just before the top of your jump. Holding it longer gives the shot-blocker time to get there.
Push the ball up with one hand, soft, with a high arc over the defender's outstretched arms. The higher the arc, the softer it lands.
push it up and let it drop.
Set the arc to the defender. Higher against a taller or longer big, or one who is closer to you; lower when there's more room. From an angle you can also use the glass. Practise both.
Land under control
Land softly: bend your knees and hips and keep your knees over your toes. Don't let your knees cave in.
Land on both feet when the play allows. Runners often come down on one leg, and single-leg landings load the knee more and are linked to more non-contact ACL injuries than two-foot landings. Warm up before reps, and stop if a knee or ankle hurts.
Feel it
Quick off the floor, then straight up: the forward run stops and turns into lift. The ball leaves high, around your forehead or above, on the way up, with a soft one-hand push and a lot of arc, and it's gone before the big arrives. You come down under control, not carried into the big, knees bent and over your toes. It's a touch shot and a low-percentage one until you've put real reps into it. The app reads your footwork and release motion; it can't see the ball's arc, the defender or the make.
Fix-its
- Your floater is too flat and gets blocked Release higher (forehead or above) and push it up with more arc. Go higher still against a taller or closer big.
- You release too late Let it go while you're rising, just before the top of the jump, not after you've hung in the air.
- Your momentum carries you into the big (charge) Stop short of him under control and jump straight up. Practise from a two-foot jump stop until you can kill the momentum.
- You're rushing and off balance Drop to half speed. Speed the drive up only once your stop and lift are balanced every time.
- Your touch and distance are inconsistent Shoot from set spots (top, wing, baseline) at different distances and arc heights, and keep head and eyes up so you read the space.
Drill
- No-dribble floaters: from a couple of steps, use left-right, right-left and jump-stop footwork, then rise and shoot with a very high arc. Start close.
- Runners off layup footwork: right hand off the left foot, then left hand off the right foot, from both sides of the lane.
- Spot work: top, wing (with and without the glass) and baseline, from the middle of the lane out to just inside the free-throw line, varying the arc height.
- Add one dribble at half speed, then build speed and add dribbles only once the one-dribble floater is solid.
- Shoot over a partner with arms up (or a tall pad) at different distances, raising the arc for a closer or taller "defender". Film from the side to check you go up, not forward, and release on the way up.
By position
It's for whoever drives into the lane against a taller help defender or a big sitting back in drop coverage, which is often a guard or wing. It's a read, not a position: anyone attacking a shot-blocker can use it.
Sources
- Coach's Clipboard — Lay-ups: Floater ("Runner") finish
- Basketball For Coaches — How to Master the Floater in Basketball (6-Step Guide)
- Basi Prokofyev (STACK) via Coaches Insider — Scoring the Basketball: 4 Keys to Sinking More Floaters (2018)
- NBA — Official Rule 10: Violations and Penalties (Sec. XIII Traveling)
- FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2026 (Art. 25.2 Travelling, Art. 33.2 Principle of verticality)
- NCAA — 2025-26 Men's Basketball Rules (Rule 9-5, travelling)
- Coach's Clipboard — Footwork Fundamentals (NFHS pivot-foot rules)
- Padua et al. — NATA Position Statement: Prevention of ACL Injury, J Athl Train (2018)
- Jamkrajang et al. — Arm Dominance and Knee Biomechanics during Basketball Block Shot Single-Leg Landing, J Hum Kinet (2022)
Last checked 2026-10-30.