High Glass Layup: Basketball technique, drills and fixes

The high glass layup is a one-foot layup finished high on the backboard: you lay the ball softly onto the glass at the top corner of the square instead of throwing it flat or low. Coaches teach this target because many layup misses come up short, and under NBA rules a defender may not touch a shot with a chance to score once it has hit the backboard above the rim. We read your jump and landing; the ball and the spot it hits on the glass aren't visible to the camera.

Set up

Drive slightly to one side of the hoop so you have an angle to the backboard. Straight on, there's little glass to use.

Come in from the side.

Lock your eyes on the top corner of the square on your side, head up. Don't watch the ball or the defender.

Eyes on the spot early.

Gather the ball with two hands and keep it close to your body with a strong grip.

Takeoff

After the gather, take a half step with your outside foot, then a full stride with your inside foot. For a right-hand layup on the right side, the left foot is your last step.

Short step, long step.

Jump off that inside foot and drive the shooting-side knee up as the ball rises. Under NBA rules you get two steps after the gather; other leagues word it differently, so check yours.

Jump as vertically as you can to stop your forward momentum. Racing in and leaping forward is how the ball gets thrown hard off the board.

Up, not out.

Finish

Carry the ball up above your head with two hands, then release it with your outside hand at the top of your jump, arm extended.

Lay the ball softly onto the glass at the top corner of the square. Get it high: a ball that hits low on the board usually comes up short.

Place it, don't throw it.

Adjust the spot to your angle. In a bank-shot simulation the best target sat higher on the board from wider angles and lower, nearer the rim, from close to the lane, so treat the corner as a starting point, not a fixed bull's-eye.

If a taller shot blocker is coming, reach your shooting arm forward toward the glass, away from them, and use your off arm as a bar to shield the ball. You can't push off with it.

Release the ball before either foot returns to the floor.

Land softly: bend your knees and hips, and keep your knees over your toes.

Quiet landing.

Feel it

Your eyes find the top corner of the square before you leave the floor and stay there. You rise straight up rather than flying forward, the knee comes up with the ball, and at the top you set the ball onto the glass with a soft touch. If it thuds off the board or hits low on the square, you came in too fast or aimed too low.

Fix-its

Comes up short or hits low on the board Aim at the top corner of the square and get the ball high up on the glass. Keep your eyes on that spot, not on the ball.
Ball bangs hard off the backboard Slow down enough to stay under control, jump up instead of out, and lay the ball on the glass with a soft release.
Jumping off the wrong foot Last step is the inside foot (left foot for a right-hand layup). Walk it through without a ball: half step outside foot, full stride inside foot, knee up.
Traveling on the gather Gather, then two steps and up. Don't rush the steps, and release before a foot comes back down.
Getting blocked anyway Come in from the side so you have glass to use, reach the ball forward away from the blocker, and protect it with your off arm without pushing.

Drill

Standing layups: face the side of the backboard with your feet together, take the inside-foot step, knee up, and lay the ball onto the top corner of the square. Do it from both sides.
On the run without dribbling, then with one or two dribbles, eyes on the top corner the whole way.
Angle ladder: finish from a wide angle near the wing line, then from close to the lane. Notice the spot moving higher on the board from the wider angle.
With a defender: a partner stands beside the rim with arms up while you practise the forward reach and off-arm shield. Do reps with and without the defender; this finish takes a lot of practice.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-26.