One-Hand Dunk: Basketball technique, drills and fixes

A dunk is a shot thrown down through the basket with one or two hands. In this lesson you do it off a drive: you gather, take off from one foot and throw it down with one hand. A one-foot jump loads that leg hard, and landing is the most common way basketball players sprain an ankle, so we read your takeoff knee drive and, most of all, a bent-knee, absorbed landing.

Set up

Warm up first, then attack the rim at a speed you can control. Running in out of control is the most common finishing mistake.

Fast, but in control.

Gather the ball in two hands with a strong grip, close to your body.

Lock it in.

Take your two steps after the gather: outside foot, then inside foot. For a right-hand dunk that is right, then left. NBA and FIBA both allow two steps after the gather; check your league's wording.

Right, left, up.

Jump off the inside foot and drive the knee on your dunking-hand side up hard as you leave the floor.

Knee and ball rise together.

Dunk

Keep two hands on the ball as you rise, then take your off hand away and use it to shield the ball from defenders.

Reach the ball up over the front of the rim with your arm extended and throw it down through the basket.

Over the rim, then down.

Let go of the rim straight away. In the NBA, deliberately hanging on the rim is a technical foul unless you are preventing an injury. FIBA allows a brief grasp after a dunk, but supporting your weight on the ring is a technical unless it prevents injury.

Touch and release.

Land on both feet if you can, softly, bending your knees and hips, with your knees over your toes.

Land soft, sink into it.

Feel it

Your run-up carries you into the jump and the takeoff leg feels stiff and springy, not soft and sinking. The ball stays locked in your hand on the way up. The landing feels quiet: knees and hips bend together and you stay balanced under the basket instead of crashing down stiff-legged.

Fix-its

You run in out of control and can't jump up Slow the approach down and shorten it. Use only as much speed as you can turn into a balanced takeoff, and add speed as that holds.
Wrong takeoff foot Right hand dunk: right, left, jump off the left. Left hand dunk: the mirror. Walk the footwork, then jog it, before you go full speed.
Traveling on the gather Count your steps from the moment you gather the ball: two steps, then you must be in the air. Don't add a shuffle step.
Losing the ball on the way up Gather in two hands, grip it hard, keep it close, and shield it with the off hand until you reach for the rim.
Hanging on the rim or landing stiff Release the rim straight away and land on both feet with knees and hips bent. Only hold the rim if letting go would mean landing on someone or falling.

Drill

Landing practice: small jumps, landing on two feet softly with knees and hips bent and knees over toes. Make it part of a 15–20 minute warm-up, 2–3 times a week.
Footwork walk-through: from a short approach, gather, step outside foot then inside foot, and jump straight up driving the opposite knee. No dunk yet, just the takeoff and a soft landing.
Approach jumps: reach as high as you can at the rim off one foot. Lengthen the run-up and add speed only while your landings stay soft and balanced.
Dunk attempts: a few full-speed attempts at a time, then rest. Stop the set when your landings get stiff or sloppy, or anything hurts.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-30.