Basketball Crossover Technique

This move "the crossover" gets it name because of what you're doing with the basketball to perform this move on a defender. It's simply a matter of crossing the ball over in front of your body, and into your other hand. There are a lot of moves out there that are very popular in the sport of basketball, but without a doubt, this one is the most popular. When you're doing this basketball move, the whole goal of this is to make the important space between you and the person that's guarding you which will help to increase your chances of hitting the shot, as well as getting to the basket. The key to making this move effective, is all in the initial fake that you give the defender to make him commit to the opposite side in which you want to go. This is executed by ensuring that you're looking in the direction that you want your defender to go, as well as leaning your body in that direction. Some people call this the killer crossover, and you will see this move mainly in the high school levels of basketball and higher.

When you execute the crossover on a defender, you will be able to send the player off balance, or committing their entire body to the side that you're faking. This is the reason why this move is effective for getting open shots, or getting to the hoop. People around the world, love seeing defensive players get broken down, and fooled by a offensive player. There is no better way to do this than the crossover, and is the reason why it's extremely popular. If you're able to do this effectively, you will become more popular, and it's another move to add into your arsenal when you need to get that space that's critical to get your shot off.

However, if you can't dribble with both your weak hand as well as your strong hand very well, this you will not be good at executing this move on a defender. The faking of your body does come into play which will be explained, but you first have to ensure that you can dribble the basketball without any issues. So work on dribbling both at a slowed controlled dribble, and also an attacking dribble to the rim. Don't forget to work on both your weak and strong hands, if you do not have this down then everything else here will not matter.

As mentioned previously, the fake is very important in this move. This is where the move gets its power. Now to perform the fake, you first want to take a wide but comfortable step towards the faking side to make the defender think you're going that way, you also want to be looking towards that direction, as well as having the ball out towards that direction make sure that you do not carry the ball or you will in be violation of the rules. Also make sure that you're down lower than your defender. All of this is done in one motion, and all of this is done in an attempt to make the defender think you're going to drive, then simply crossover and go the other way.

It is advisable to ensure that you sell the fake of this move, but make sure that you're quick enough to get past the defender that's guarding you. You want him to see the fake, react to it, and then make your move past him to get to the basket, or finish off your crossover and go into your shot. To make this move effective it will take time, so get a good feeling for the movement, make sure you can handle the ball, and practice this in pickup games.

Given the fact that you're putting the ball literally in front of the player that's guarding you, it's important to consider the fact you will have an increased risk of getting the ball stolen from the player guarding you. With that being the case, it's important to be deliberately aware of how far you are from your defender. Generally speaking, you want to be more than an arms length away before you do this move. Given the fact this move is done in the back court or on the perimeter, if the ball gets stolen, this will lead to a fast break situation for the other team. So spacing is important, also keep in mind that the ball should not be any higher than waist level.