YBCA

Post edited 7:53 pm – October 13, 2011 by Rick Allison

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This 2-ball zig-zag crossover drill is a training progression that utilizes the following crossovers:

     1) front cross

     2) back-side leg wrap

     3) front-side through the legs (or plant & jump switch through the legs)

     4) behind back (behind the knee)

     5) pound spin (or pound pull)

The drill starts with the player having 2 basketballs on the block diagonal from the first pylon. Initially, the player will execute the same type of crossover for all 5 pylons finishing with a layup at the other end of the court (picking up the inside ball and shooting the outside ball). The player will then come back through the 5 pylons in the other direction with the same type of crossover and finish with a layup using the opposite hand. This gives the player 10 reps of the specific crossover type and a layup with both the left and right hand. For multiple players, the trip back can be initiated after the last player in the group completes the trip up the court. The 2-ball “same” type dribble (instead of the 2-ball “alternating” dribble) works best for this drill. That is, both balls hit the floor at the same time as the player dribbles.

The drill proceeds with the next crossover type until all 5 crossover types have been executed in sequence. The drill then concludes with the player executing each type of crossover progressively at each pylon in a specified order (see video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..Pa27sn5IXo )

The following describes the crossover types along with some points of emphasis:

Front cross:

The player dribbles both basketballs toward the pylon and plants the outside foot after getting to the outside of the pylon (about a body length in front of the pylon). At this point, a change of direction is executed by pushing off the outside (plant) foot and stepping with the other foot in the direction of the next diagonal pylon. As this next step is occuring, the outside ball (in right hand if planting right foot..or in left hand if planting left foot) is crossed in front and below the level of the knee to the other hand while the inside ball remains in place to be handled by what was the outside hand. The balls have now switch hands and the player is dribbling diagonally toward the next pylon. The player needs to refine the timing and rhythm of the crossover such that the crossing ball follows the foot stepping in the new direction.

Back-side leg wrap:

The player dribbles both basketballs toward the pylon and plants the outside foot after getting to the outside of the pylon (about a body length in front of the pylon). However, just before the plant of the outside foot occurs, the outside ball (in right hand if planting right foot..or in left hand if planting left foot) is wrapped around the back of the outside knee to the same hand. The player then plants the outside foot and changes direction without switching the basketballs. The rhythmic sequence is “wrap, plant & go”.

Front-side through the legs (or plant & jump switch through the legs):

On this crossover I like to continue to emphasize the outside plant foot by using a plant and jump switch through the legs crossover (not shown in the video clip above). The player dribbles both basketballs toward the pylon and plants the outside foot after getting to the outside of the pylon (about a body length in front of the pylon). Now the player jumps, turns hips in the new direction while bringing the forward foot to the rear and the rear foot forward. After the switching of the feet, the outside ball is crossed through the legs and basketballs switch hands. A lot of players miss this detail and just put the ball through their legs without planting the outside foot (as in the video clip). When I'm emphasizing precision and following instructions, I'll require a correction here. I'll post another video clip of this crossover detail later.

Behind the back:

The player dribbles both basketballs toward the pylon and plants the outside foot after getting to the outside of the pylon (about a body length in front of the pylon). For this crossover, the plant foot is allowed to step past the outside basketball before planting so as to pre-position the ball to go behind the back and under the butt at the correct angle. The outside ball is propelled by the outside hand with a wrist snap under the butt and toward the foot stepping in the new direction where it is received by the other hand. The inside ball remains in place after the crossover to be received by what was the outside hand. A key point emphasized with younger players at this point is that during the cross the ball will go in the direction that the palm is pointing, so be aware of the angle of the palm when snapping the crossover. 

Pound spin (pound pull):

On this (spin) crossover I like to incorporate the quick-stop and pound-pull technique. The player dribbles both basketballs toward the pylon and quick-stops (i.e., hops and lands with both feet striking the floor simultaneously) after getting outside of the pylon (about a body length in front of the pylon). At this point the player executes a low, hard pound of both balls while reverse pivoting on the inside foot and pulling both balls into the spin. After the pivot (spin) the player dribbles in the new direction toward the next pylon. The basketballs do not switch hands on this crossover and the head and eyes are kept up.

As mentioned previously, the last time through the pylons (in the final sequence) the player mixes all the crossovers together as shown in the video clip above.

Note- The video clip shows a player in the first phase of skill development for this drill..the “initialization” phase. In this phase the player is just learning the movement patterns and gaining some sense of rhythm and timing. Mistakes will occur and form will be far from perfect, but it is a necessary phase that must be allowed to occur so the body can begin to correct itself and the player can become more confident in the execution.

Check out Mike MacKay's 2010 Super Coaches Clinic (http://www.basketballmanitoba&…..Itemid=498) to hear more about the 5 stages of skill development. They are: Initialization, Acquisition, Consolidation, Refinement and Creative.

Best regards,

Rick Allison

LoneStar Basketball Academy

http://www.lonestarbasketball.com

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