The outside-hand finish is the standard layup: you finish with the hand nearer the sideline or baseline (your right hand on the right side of the basket, your left hand on the left side) and jump off your inside foot. Use it when the defender is on your inside, between you and the basket, so your body sits between them and the ball. The analyzer reads your jump and landing, not which hand finishes.
Set up
Learn the terms. Outside means the side nearer the sideline or baseline; inside means the side nearer the middle of the floor. On the right side of the rim your outside hand is your right and your inside foot is your left. On the left side, flip both.
Outside = sideline.
Attack from one side of the rim, not straight on, so you have an angle to the backboard.
Angle to the glass.
Read the defender. Use the outside hand when the defender is on your inside, between you and the basket. If you have beaten them and a shot blocker is chasing or reaching from your inside, the inside-hand finish is the better read.
Read, then pick the hand.
Finish
Gather the ball with both hands and keep it close to your body.
Two hands, tight.
Take two steps: outside foot first, then inside foot. On the right side that is right, then left. Keep the steps under control rather than sprinting into the jump.
Outside, inside, up.
Jump off the inside foot and drive the outside knee up as the ball goes up. The finishing hand and the rising knee are on the same side.
Hand and knee rise together.
Go up with two hands and release with the outside hand at the top of the jump. Your inside hand comes off the ball and guards it as an arm bar against a reach. Don't push off with it; that is a foul.
Off arm shields, doesn't push.
Keep your eyes on the top corner of the square on the backboard, not on the ball, and lay it in softly. Go up strong toward the hoop instead of shying away from the defender.
Eyes on the corner.
Gather, two steps, and the ball is gone before you land. The NBA allows two steps after the gather; gather and step rules differ between leagues, so check your own league's rulebook.
Gather, two, gone.
Land softly on both feet with your knees and hips bent and your knees over your toes.
Soft landing.
Feel it
The ball rises on your outside while your body and inside arm sit between it and the defender. The inside foot pushes you up and the outside knee and hand rise together, like a string ties them. If your takeoff foot and finishing hand are on the same side, you did the inside-hand finish, not this one.
Fix-its
- Wrong-foot takeoff (jumping off the outside foot with the outside hand) Walk the pattern without a ball: outside foot, inside foot, jump, outside knee up. Then add one dribble, then full speed.
- You switch to your strong hand on your weak side On the left side, finish left-handed off the right foot. Build the weak hand with the same footwork reps on that side until it holds up at speed.
- Too fast, and the ball slams hard off the backboard Slow the last two steps, go up with two hands, and lay it softly at the top corner of the square.
- The defender gets a hand on the ball Keep the ball close to your body on the gather and use your inside arm as a shield. If the defender is chasing from your inside rather than in front of you, switch to the inside-hand finish.
- Stiff landing Land on both feet with your knees and hips bent and your knees over your toes.
Drill
- One-step: stand beside the basket on the right, feet together. Step with your left (inside) foot, jump, right knee up, and shoot right-handed. Then add the right-foot step before it so it becomes two steps.
- Progression: the same layup on the run without a dribble, then with one dribble, then with several dribbles. Repeat everything on the left side, left hand off the right foot.
- Catch-and-finish: a partner passes as you cut to the basket; catch, two steps, outside-hand finish. Alternate sides.
- Read drill: a partner stays in front of the rim on some reps (outside-hand finish) and chases from your inside on others (inside-hand finish).
- Live: about 10 minutes of technique work, then about 10 minutes of half-court 2-on-1, finishing with the outside hand whenever the defender is on your inside.
Sources
- Coach's Clipboard (James A. Gels) — Lay-ups
- Basketball For Coaches — How to Do a Layup in Basketball (6-Step Guide)
- Ryan Goodson, Basketball Essentials (Human Kinetics), via Coaches Insider — Outside Foot Layup Drill (2018)
- NBA — Official Rules, Rule No. 10: Violations and Penalties (Section XIII, Traveling)
- Padua et al. — NATA Position Statement: Prevention of ACL Injury, J Athl Train (2018)
Last checked 2026-10-26.