Advanced Basketball Training ft. Jay Hernandez

Jay Hernandez is one of the best young basketball coaches in the States and we are proud to say that he is a part of a Hoopsking family. Coach Hernandez is currently hired as a development coach for the Charlotte Bobcats but he managed to find some time and teach us a thing or two about the advanced basketball training.

1. NBA Step Back Jumper

When we are talking about step-back jumpers, the player that immediately crosses my mind is James Harden. We can argue that in 3 out of 5 times, he is not called for a travel, but he is James Harden and a superstar caliber player so he is officiated differently than the others.

In order for you to be able to use this move, Coach Jay Hernandez and I are going to break down a step-back jumper so you can fully understand every part of this move.

This move is mostly used when you need to create separation between yourself and the defender who is bigger then you. First thing that you need to lean towards and to Bump Defender with your Body/shoulder. This action will stun the defender and it will give you the chance to push yourself off of him.

After you have initiated the contact, and you have Bumped the defender, you need to use the inertia of the collision. Now, you need to take a step back with your left leg (in this case) and at the same time to make one hard dribble with the ball. Your whole body is now leaning in the opposite direction from where the defender is standing.

That one hard dribble that I mentioned in this sequence is really important because it is keeping you in the game if the initial Bump didn't work as predicted. If you caught a ball and the defense has recovered, the only two options you have are a bad jumper that is most likely to be blocked, or to make a pass while you are off balance.

The final part of the whole step-back jumper is the hop off of that hard dribble. This move is creating the space needed to take a jumper. The final leap needs to be very fast and in perfect balance because the jumper is going to follow.

Let's take a look at the video:

2. Advanced Point Guard Skills

One of the most important things that you need to do if you are playing at the Point Guard position, is to deal with the defensive pressure all the time. Particularly, it is very hard to bring the ball from the backcourt under intense defense, and if you are having hard time doing this, here is what you need to do:

If the defense is in front of you then you need to turn sideways. The ball needs to be as far as it can from the defender, and you need to protect it with your offhand.

Let's see the video:

3. Machine Gun Dribbles

The whole idea about this dribble is just to speed up your hands. This move, double tap dribbling, has a low rate of usage in real live games, but it boosts your ball control level and the hand-eye coordination. First, do this drill in a stance, and after a while add motion all over the court.

As you improve, try not look at the ball, and further on, increase the running speed.

If you want to learn more basketball from Jay Hernandez, go rent a DVD by clicking on the link below: