Teaching The Jump Stop in Junior High

We are in the middle of a basketball unit and something that I continually need to re-realize is the incredibly wide range of skill and ability that shows up in classes. I have some athletes, some basketball players, some sedentary individuals, and some who simply lack co-ordination at this age. That is just categorize a few.

I suppose since I've always been a multi-sport athlete since I was very young, I can easily take for granted the skill sets I have developed over time. To demonstrate the proper techniques for a volley, an overhead smash, a bending free kick is not the hard part, it is in being able to transfer the skill set effectively to students in a way that they understand, see value, can practice, and be able to use effectively.

I also run into students who believe that they already know more than the teacher or coach about the game of basketball and therefore sometimes it becomes more of a challenge to educate them than a novice learner.

One student commented to me that the jump stop was only for people who can't do layups and did not really see the point in the skill because they could do a layup. Of course...they could do an uncontested layup at a medium pace but put them into a game situation and it becomes significantly more difficult. Drives to the hoop are not simply layups and to minimize them to that causes some issues in games. The jump stop on a drive is fantastic for slowing your body down, gathering yourself and powering up to the hoop especially if you are being defended closely on a break or are traveling between defenders. Take a look at an example below.

Richie Williams of the San Diego St. Aztecs uses a double crossover and a jump stop to finish off the play.

Above: Drive and jump stop

The jump stop is not just for drives to the hoop but can be used in many places on the court. It is such a helpful use of offensive footwork that can be used at the end of a dribble to shoot, to pass, or to get in a triple threat position. It can be used to slow the body down quickly while carrying the ball to avoid those nasty traveling calls at the end of a dribble. The beautiful part about the jump stop is that it allows for either foot to be used as a pivot foot making you considerably more dangerous.

Above: The jump stop can be used in many different situations

It would be really nice in class if you could have a database of skills in video form and in game situations that you could call upon instantaneously from your brain and project the video onto the wall for easy viewing. Something worth developing in the future perhaps...way off in the future.