The hop step (also called the pro hop) is a finish where you pick up your dribble, hop off one foot and land on both feet at the same moment, then shoot or lay it up off two feet. Use it when a defender is waiting near the rim: the hop kills your momentum, lets you change direction around them, and helps you avoid charging into them. Under NBA, FIBA and high school (NFHS) rules you can't pivot after this landing, so the move ends in a shot or a pass. The analyzer reads your jump and landing, mainly whether you land balanced with your knees bent.
Set up
Save the hop step for when a defender is already waiting in your path near the basket, or when you need to split two defenders or get away from a help defender stepping in.
Defender waiting? Hop.
Attack the defender with your dribble, then stop suddenly by picking the ball up into the hop.
Go at them, then stop short.
The hop
As you pick up the ball, swing it high across your face so the defender can't slap it away. Keep it there through the hop.
Ball high.
Jump off one foot and land on both feet at exactly the same time. If one foot lands before the other, it's no longer a legal hop step.
Both feet, one sound.
Choose the hop's direction from the defender. If they stay back, hop sideways into the paint and pull up for a short jumper. If they step out at you, hop straight past them toward the hoop for a short jumper or a layup.
Get somewhere with the hop.
Land with your feet wide, about shoulder-width apart, and drop into a ready stance with your knees and hips bent and your knees over your toes. Lean back a little to stop your momentum.
Feet wide, sit down, stop.
Finish
Spring up off both feet as vertically as you can, not forward into the defender, and release a short jumper, floater or layup at the top.
Straight up, not through them.
Land on both feet softly, bending your knees and hips, with your knees over your toes.
Soft, quiet landing.
Stay legal
Count your steps from the gather. Under NBA and FIBA rules, your first step is the first foot (or feet) to touch the floor after you gain control of the ball. If you hop off that foot, the two-foot landing is your second step.
After a one-foot hop to a two-foot landing, you can't pivot with either foot (NBA Rule 10 Sec. XIII, FIBA Art. 25.2.2; the NFHS high school rule says neither foot can be a pivot too). Old habit to drop: hopping, then spinning or stepping through.
Feet locked after the hop.
If either foot leaves the floor after the landing, release the ball before either foot comes back down. Pass, shoot, or lay it up; don't land with it. NCAA wording wasn't checked here, so confirm with your league if you play college ball.
Feel it
A good hop step feels like slamming the brakes: both feet hit the floor together, wide and low, the ball is up by your face, and you have just put space between you and the defender. From there you go straight up, not forward. If you feel yourself drifting into the defender or wanting to step again, the hop was too long or too fast.
Fix-its
- You pivot or step after the hop (travel) Treat the two-foot landing as the end of your footwork. Practice landing, holding your feet still, and then shooting or passing.
- Your feet land one after the other Hop lower and shorter so both feet hit together. A 1-2 landing after a one-foot hop is an extra step.
- You land off balance or carry into the defender Land with your feet shoulder-width apart, sit into your knees and hips, and lean back slightly. Then go up vertically.
- The defender slaps the ball away Swing the ball high across your face as you gather, and keep it there until you shoot.
- Stiff-legged landing or knees caving in Land softly, bend your knees and hips, and keep your knees over your toes on the hop landing and after the shot.
Drill
- Jump stops, no ball: jog, hop off one foot, land on both feet together, and freeze in a ready stance (feet shoulder-width, knees and hips bent). Check that both feet land with one sound.
- One-dribble hop: take one dribble, gather the ball high across your face, hop to two feet, hold the landing without moving your feet, then shoot a short jumper.
- Two directions vs a cone or chair: hop sideways into the paint for a pull-up, then hop straight past the cone for a layup. Alternate both sides and both hands.
- Live read: a partner waits near the rim and either stays back or steps out. Hop sideways if they stay back, straight past if they step out, and finish with no pivot after the landing.
Sources
- NBA — Official Rulebook, Rule 10 Section XIII Traveling (2026-27)
- FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2026, Art. 25 Travelling
- Coach's Clipboard — Footwork Fundamentals (jump-stop, NFHS traveling text)
- Coach's Clipboard — Lay-ups (pro hop, two-footed floater)
- Coaches Insider — Finishing: Pro Hop (Joe Wootten, Bishop O'Connell HS)
- Hooper University (Chandler Sturtz) — Advanced Finishes in Traffic
- Basketball Manitoba — 10 Fundamentals for Proper Footwork (2013)
- Padua et al. — NATA Position Statement: Prevention of ACL Injury, J Athl Train (2018)
Last checked 2026-10-26.