The turnaround jumper starts with your back to the basket. You catch in the post, pivot to face the rim, square up and rise into the same jump shot you already shoot. The pivot creates the look; the camera then reads your jumper form and balance as you rise.
Set up
Post up one or two steps out from the low block with your back to the basket: feet wide apart, butt out, back straight, defender sealed behind you.
Wide and strong.
Move to meet the pass and catch it with a jump stop, both feet landing together, so either foot can become your pivot foot.
Two feet down, both options open.
Hold the ball high, around forehead level, with your elbows out to protect it.
Feel where the defender is before you move. If they are directly behind you, not cheating to the lane or the baseline, turn and face up.
Feel, then turn.
Turn
Pick your pivot foot and keep the ball of that foot on the floor. It can turn, but it must not slide or lift.
Pivot on the ball of the foot, not the heel.
Turn to face the rim with either a front pivot (your chest leads and the free foot steps forward around) or a reverse pivot (your back leads and the free foot swings backward). Learn both, so you can turn toward the middle and toward the baseline.
Keep the ball chest or shoulder high through the turn instead of dropping it into a low pocket, so it is already up and ready to shoot.
Finish the turn squared up: shoulders facing the hoop and balanced over your feet before you rise. Don't shoot the ball back over your shoulder mid-turn.
Turn, see the rim, then rise.
Read the defender. If they give you room, rise straight into the shot. If they step up close, shot-fake or jab first and use the space they give you.
Shoot
Set the ball high on the shooting side of your head, between ear and shoulder, shooting hand facing the rim.
Jump straight up off both feet. On longer shots you can go slightly forward, never backward unless you mean to fade.
Time the release to distance: on mid-range turnarounds, release just before the top of your jump; on short shots in the paint, release from the top of your jump.
Fully extend your elbow with the elbow in, on a 45–60° arc, head and shoulders moving forward and up toward the rim. Hold the follow-through.
Up and through, not back.
From the block, use the backboard when you have the angle.
Land softly near where you took off: knees and hips bent, knees over your toes, ready to rebound.
Quiet landing.
Fade option
Only once the squared-up turnaround is reliable: back the defender down with one or two dribbles, sell a ball and shoulder fake toward the middle, then pivot, swing your free leg around and jump up and away from the rim.
On this fade version you square your shoulders to the hoop in the air, not on the floor. Keep your head and shoulders going forward and up at release; a body moving away is fine, a head leaning back is not.
Body away, shot still to the rim.
Stay legal
Catch standing or with a two-foot stop and either foot can be your pivot. Land one foot first and only that foot can pivot (NBA).
You may jump off your pivot foot to shoot, but the ball must leave your hand before that foot comes back down (NBA Rule 10; FIBA Art. 25.2.1).
If you jump off both feet, release the ball before either foot touches the floor (NBA). Other leagues may word these rules differently; check yours.
Feel it
Receive, square up, then shoot. The turn should end with your feet planted under you and your shoulders facing the rim, and the jumper should then feel exactly like your normal one: straight up, high set, full extension, soft landing. If the shot leaves while you are still spinning, the turn was too rushed.
Fix-its
- You throw it over your shoulder mid-turn Finish the pivot first. Square your shoulders to the hoop, get balanced, then rise. Save the in-air squaring for the fade option.
- You travel on the pivot Catch with a two-foot jump stop, keep the ball of the pivot foot planted without sliding, and release before the pivot foot lands if you lift it.
- The ball drops low during the turn Keep it chest or shoulder high, elbows out. A low ball is slow to shoot and easy to strip.
- You drift or lean back without meaning to Jump straight up and push head and shoulders forward and up toward the rim as you follow through.
- Your turnaround falls short Short is usually not enough legs, an incomplete follow-through or rushed rhythm. Bend and drive up, and hold the finish.
Drill
- Pivot base, no shot: left foot as pivot, 15 forward pivots then 15 reverse pivots; switch to the right foot and repeat.
- Jumper first: Jump Shot Warm-Up at 9 ft, 10 attempts; after 5 makes in a row, move back to 12 ft, then 15 ft.
- Round the Block: shoot a turnaround from one block, grab your rebound before it hits the floor, go to the other block and repeat. Turn toward the middle and toward the baseline, square up before every shot, use the glass.
- Round the Block over a stationary post defender, so you have to shoot over someone instead of at your comfortable height.
- Live read: catch with a jump stop, feel the defender, face up. Defender sags, shoot. Defender closes, shot-fake or jab, then score.
Sources
- Coach's Clipboard — Low Post Moves
- Coach's Clipboard — Footwork Fundamentals
- Basketball For Coaches — 9 Post Moves All Players Must Master
- Breakthrough Basketball — Round the Block drill (2008)
- Coach's Clipboard — The Jump Shot
- Hal Wissel via Coach's Clipboard — Correcting Shooting Errors
- Hal Wissel via Coach's Clipboard — Shooting Drills
- Okazaki & Rodacki — Increased Distance of Shooting on Basketball Jump Shot, JSSM (2012)
- Padua et al. — NATA Position Statement: Prevention of ACL Injury, J Athl Train (2018)
- NBA — Official Rule No. 10: Violations and Penalties
- FIBA — Tough Calls 2023-24 Week 10 (Art. 25.2.1)
Last checked 2026-10-26.