How to Never Miss a Layup in Basketball?

Layups are the easiest technique according to the execution and the tactics behind them. But still, some players don’t even know how to layup and that’s because they forget the main part of their training; practice.

If you practice layups making almost the real scenarios where the real defenders and stopping the ball, then you will be able to shoot the shots in real games as well. There are certain tips that you need to follow to never miss the layups.

How to Never Miss a Layup in Basketball?

Layups are the most important part of a basketball match because how would you win if you don’t even know how to not miss a layup in basketball? This technique requires the attacker to come from underneath the basket and jump a little to shoot the shot.

You must know the demographics of the court around the rim so you can dodge the blocking players. Also, missing a layup most commonly happens because of you getting blocked off.

So here we have collected some simple tips for all the basketball players to get them to the top in layups. Follow along with the article to get to know about the best layup techniques in detail.

Sprint toward the shot even during practices

When you run in a basketball game, you try to dodge the competitors’ techniques to let you down. But this can only happen if you run at a very fast speed, in fact, running should be at the highest that you can go.

Now you must be thinking that it is for the real games but no, running at the top speed is as necessary for the practice sessions as you do during the real match.

After getting the ball in hand and dodging all your opponents, now you can try running directly to the shot. It depends on your speed about how difficult it can be for you to dodge everyone else.

Try to aim at the center where the sweet spot is

All the basketball hoops have a sweet spot that you can get to know during practice. Even the backboard behind the hoop shows that sweet spot with a rectangle box of 24” horizontally and just 18” vertically. This spot is a skill to master because you need to practice a lot to shoot right at this aim. 

If you miss the target or you hit the target with a lot of extra or unneeded force applied on the ball, then chances are you will fail in scoring a basket. Similarly, if you throw your shot at this aim with a properly managed force applied on the ball, the ball will not bounce off and go directly into the basket.

But how will you know how much force you need to put on the ball? This can only be calculated during practice. Also, if you practice with real players playing against you, you can even practice playing from different angles. This will eventually make you the master of this match-winning skill.

Try to make your practice look as real as a match by adding variations

This tip is for those who have already mastered our previous instructions. Because once you have mastered just do not miss a layup, now it’s time to add different variations to your practice. When you practice reaching to the rim with as much speed as possible you can dodge everything along the way you’re halfway through becoming the legendary player.

Now it’s time to add shooting from different angles and positions as well as using the variations of your speed. There’s a lot more you can do like you can ask your friends and other players to stop you just for practice. And then when it becomes almost like a real match scenario, you can easily practice this skill and leave everyone behind. 

So these were the basic yet important tips that will help you with improving your layups. But now let’s talk about why some players miss layups even when they’re properly trained and skilled.

Reasons for the players missing their layups

The fear of getting blocked doesn’t let them shoot with confidence

We have seen most of the times when players act like they’re just going to get the score done. But when they attack the rim, they just throw a very nasty oddly shot throw to the rim. It even sometimes misses its way to the rim and goes too far from it. So why do they do it? This is because when players fear getting blocked and they try to avoid contact with the defender. And therefore, they never even try to go straight with their shot.

Having fear problems like these they might want to try out the harder shots on the court but not the easy ones. And this is because the easy ones look very hard to them even though they are not that hard.

Unavailability of the real defenders makes it difficult to perform in real matches

Basketball players who are responsible for all the layups must practice in situations like real matches. It’s because when they face those situations, they know how to deal with them and not just deal with them but also create such difficult situations for others as well. 

If you are practicing getting your skills of a particular technique improved then you can leave others and practice alone. But when it’s just a normal practice then you must call for other players, in fact, the best players you can compete against in the practices. That’s how you will be able to master your shooting skills as well as your defending skills.

The players are focusing only on one or two layups most of the time

This problem is very common among all basketball players and they think that they need to master only one shooting layup. However, this is not a good practice because situations are not always the same for you while you’re in court.

Also, if you face difficulty in making your shot with one method, you should be able to switch immediately according to the options. So, always try different options and make sure to master the layup skill on the whole.

Some of the most famous and mostly seen basketball layups are given below:

• Finger roll
• Off-foot layup
• Reverse layup
• Overhand layup
• Floater
• Euro step
• Power layup

How can I improve my layup?

All the above tips are given to improve your layups. The most important practices that you should start right now are: 

1. Run right to your shot so with confidence 
2. Try to aim right at the sweet spot of the backboard
3. Try layups in different ways with variations

How many types of layups are there?

If we take a look at the broader category of layups, there are only two types of layups. 

1. Underarm
2. Overarm

When you throw the ball towards the hoop with your wrist and fingers movement, it is called the underarm layup which is the most common in basketball.

Read More:

• How to Never Miss a Layup in Basketball?