One Handed Finishing: Develop Soft Touch and Creativity Around the Rim
This is a foundational finishing drill designed for players of all levels who want to increase their field goal percentage in the paint. By isolating your shooting hand, you force your body to develop superior touch, balance, and ball control directly around the basket without relying on your guide hand for stability. It is the perfect way to start a workout, waking up your nervous system and calibrating your feel for the glass before moving into high-intensity game actions.
How to Perform This Drill
- Position: Start inside the paint, roughly 3-4 feet from the hoop, with the basketball in your dominant hand.
- Isolate: Place your off-hand behind your back. You must control the ball, gather, and shoot using only your finishing hand.
- Execute: Take a step, jump, and extend your arm fully to finish a layup high off the glass.
- Recover: Immediately grab your own rebound with one hand (if possible) and move to a new spot around the basket.
- Vary: Ensure no two shots are identical. Change your launch angle, your distance from the hoop, and the type of finish (overhand, underhand scoop, finger roll) on every repetition.
- Compete: Set a timer for 60 seconds and count your makes. Aim to beat your score in the next set.
Why This Drill Works
In a real game, you rarely get a clean, two-handed gather before a layup; defenders constantly swipe at the ball, forcing you to finish with one hand under pressure. This drill isolates your wrist and finger control, building the "soft touch" required to convert high-difficulty finishes in traffic. It also enhances your spatial awareness, training your brain to instantly calculate the necessary spin and angle off the backboard from awkward body positions.
Pro Tips
- Pick a Target: Don't just aim generally at the square. Pick a specific scratch or mark on the backboard and laser-focus your eyes on it until the ball passes through the net.
- Extension: Finish tall. Don't short-arm the shot; extend your elbow above your eyes to simulate finishing over a shot blocker's outstretched hands.
- Use English: Experiment with different spins. Twist your wrist inward or outward upon release to manipulate how the ball kisses off the glass, which is crucial for finishing from tight angles along the baseline.
- Balance the Floor: Don't neglect your non-dominant hand. To be an elite scorer, you must run this drill with your weak hand just as intensely as your strong hand.
