The most valuable skill in youth basketball — and the one almost nobody teaches right.
With Coach Teddy Dupay — Florida's all-time leading HS scorer · UF point guard · FHSAA Hall of Fame · 12 years, thousands of academy sessions
The truest sentence in youth basketball
The team that makes their lay-ups wins. At every level.
Kindergarten league to college — go watch any game tonight and count the missed lay-ups on the losing team. It's the whole story of the game, hiding in plain sight.
The TDBA footwork rule — it never changes
The hand decides the feet.
Not the side of the basket. The shooting hand tells the feet what to do — and the opposite foot is the one you jump off.
Right hand
R → L
step right, then left — jump off the left foot
Left hand
L → R
step left, then right — jump off the right foot
The opposite foot is always the one you jump off.
Don't make kids memorize words — make their feet memorize the ground
The TDBA Cone Setup
Two cones straddle the midline, spaced like two big steps. The cones do the teaching. You just stand there and smile.
Say these — and only these
Four cues. That's the whole vocabulary.
One, Two, UpThe rhythm of every rep
High off the glassAim the top corner of the square
Up, not outJump up & lay it high and soft
Eyes on your spotNot the defender, not the floor
Write this down
The backboard is a cheat move.
It never gets nervous, it never gets tired, and it turns bad shots into good ones. Using it isn't a shortcut — it's a skill.
The greatest lay-up teaching tool ever invented
The Mikan Series
MikanReverse Mikan2-Ball MikanMikan Plus
Right, left, right, left — no dribble, no stopping. Both hands, both feet, soft touch, and rhythm, all in one drill. Kids can do it against a garage wall.
Because at TDBA, we count makes, not minutes
0MAKES A DAY
Makes. Not attempts. A kid who makes 200 a day for one summer comes back a different player. I've watched it for ten years.
20in a row, per drill
30total makes, per drill
The team that makes their lay-ups wins. Make that team yours.
You now have the rule, the cones, the cues, and the standard. That's more than most coaches ever get.
Next lesson — the crown jewel: The Beautiful Jump Shot →
COACHES COACHING COACHES