Pull-Up Jumper

Attack with the ball protected: dribble with the hand away from the defender and keep your inside arm and body between them and the ball.

Body between the defender and the ball.

Option 1, the 1-2 stop: land on your inside foot (the one closest to the basket) first, then put the second foot down a little wider, toes toward the rim. The first foot down is your pivot foot.

One, two, up.

Option 2, the jump stop: land on both feet at the same time with your weight leaning back slightly to kill your momentum. Many shooters use it, and players who learned the 1-2 often switch to it when they're rushed.

Both feet hit together, quiet.

Use the stop as your brakes: on a 1-2, the back foot does the braking with your feet wider than your hips; on a jump stop, the slight lean back does it. Don't let your chest keep travelling past your feet.

Momentum ends in your legs.

Pick the ball up in front of your shooting-side knee, shooting hand on top and balance hand underneath, with your knees flexed. This is what turns the run into an upward jump and stops you floating.

Ball to the shooting knee, knees bent.

Spring off both feet straight up, or slightly forward on longer shots. Players in a lab study moved a bit more toward the basket as shots got longer, so a small forward drift at range is normal; floating sideways or fading back is not.

Up through the top of your head.

Shoot with exactly your Jump Shot form: ball up to your usual set point on the shooting side, elbow in under the ball, trunk tall, legs and arm rising in one motion.

Same shot, the dribble is just how you got there.

Match your release to the distance: on outside shots let it go just before the top of your jump; on short shots release at the top. Expert players in a lab study released mid- and long-range shots on the way up.

Long shot: on the rise. Short shot: at the top.

Extend fully toward the rim, arm going up at about 45 to 60 degrees, with your head and shoulders moving forward and up as you follow through. Don't lean back.

Chest toward the target.

Hold the follow-through until the ball reaches the basket.

Freeze the finish.

Land softly close to where you took off (a little forward on long shots is fine): bend your knees and hips and keep your knees over your toes. If a stop or landing hurts, stop and get it checked.

Quiet feet.

Count steps from the gather. Under NBA and FIBA rules you get two steps after you end the dribble, and the first step is the first foot (or feet) to touch the floor after you have control of the ball. High school and college rules count differently, so check your league.

Gather, one, two, up.

After a 1-2 stop you may lift the pivot foot to jump and shoot, but the ball has to be gone before that foot comes back down.

Ball out before feet down.

After a hop into a two-foot landing (jump off one foot, land on both) you can't pivot at all; go straight up and release before either foot returns. If you gathered in the air and landed on both feet together, either foot can be the pivot.

Hop, land, up. No shuffle.