Drill of the Week: Making Spin Moves More Effective

by ONE2ONE Team

Because every go-to move needs a counter...

This week's drill is a quick one - and something you can work on pretty much anywhere to help become a more complete offensive player.

A good dribble spin move is an essential part of any player's offensive arsenal.

However, most defenders are now wise to this particular move, and so, when the attacker turns their back, they slide in the direction of the turn, generally negating the effectiveness of the spin move.

As such, we like to work on spin moves in two layers...

First, we work on a full spin, getting into the paint and into our finish (whether that's a floater, runner, pull-up, finish from the outside ear, etc.). We work on this from a variety of angles and using each hand - to build our familiarity with the move, but also to build our repertoire of finishes.

---

You can factor this skill into most ball-handling or finishing drills, or add onto the diagrammed drill by adding a defender in to go live / semi-live either instead of the cone, or jumping in after it - so that you get to really work on body positioning and specific finishes to ensure that you're developing appropriate finishes from each angle, with each hand.

We then build the drill to help us make the spin move more effective... as with any great offensive move, to make it a true go-to weapon for you, you need a counter, and one of the most effective counters to use is the shoulder hesitation half-spin, as demonstrated here (multiple times) by Isaiah Thomas...

We work on this skill in exactly the same way, attacking the cone and getting into the half spin.

A change of pace is essential to making this counter work.  You need to slow down going into the spin, and as you drag your foot backwards to plant it, explode back off in a different direction.

Again, work through a number of angles, and consider adding a defender...

---

More of our drills are available to purchase in our Drill Bible, or if you'd like to book a workout with a ONE2ONE coach, then please, get in touch!