Basketball: Layups

Lay Up Tips

For most people, a layup is one of the most easiest shots in basketball. In An Insiders Guide to Basketball by Forest G Campbell and Fred Ramen, the authors state that since a lay up is a shot taken very close to the hoop, "A layup is generally much easier than taking a jump shot". While making a lay up may seem easy when you are left in guarded, it becomes a bit tricky when you are trying to score on an opponent. As seen in the NBA, players get very crafty when finishing around the hoop like Kyrie Irving for example.

Some Things to Know When Doing Layups

• Some smaller players do a layup over hand sort of like a jump shot but it is with one hand while players who have been playing for quite some time like to finger roll the ball when doing layups.
• If you're doing a right and layup, jump off your left foot and if you're doing a left hand layup, jump off your right foot (whenever you are going in for a layup, pretend the hand you are using to shoot the ball has a string attached to your kneecap and is rising up as your hand rises up).
• I always make sure that when I go up to lay the ball in, my other hand is pushing off the opponent or at least holding the opponent off while my other hand uses the backboard to bank the ball into the hoop.
• Another thing I use to make sure I make my layups is the little square box that
  

  most backboards have (if you hit the top corner of one of the box, you will make your layup every time. 
• Go up strong! If you don't go up strong and finish strong, the opponent will take advantage and throw you off.
• Come to the hoop at an angle! Because if you go directly under the hoop, the angle you're at will use your momentum against you.
• Never be afraid to get contact! Most people say to seek the contact instead of take it so that you are prepared for the contact by the defender. 
• Look at what you are aiming for! If you are not looking at what you are aiming for, the ball is less likely to hit what you were anticipating it would.

Campbell, Forest G. An Insider's Guide to Basketball. Rosen Publishing's Rosen Central, 2015.