Learn the reverse layup: how to go under the basket, use the rim as protection from the block, take your two steps legally and land safely on both feet.
The reverse layup is a layup in which you go under the basket and finish on the opposite side of the rim from where you started. The rim and the backboard stand between you and the defender, and the block becomes harder. It is the natural next step after the normal layup, because you need the same finish, only with a different angle.
The honest answer to "How hard is it?": the shot itself is hardly harder than a normal layup. What is hard is the path under the backboard, the pace and the finish with the "wrong" hand. There are no numbers for learning speed; that is coaching experience.
The landing matters. In NBA cruciate ligament tears, the most common situation was landing from a jump (14 of 31 cases), and 83.9 % of the tears happened inside the lane; 90.3 % of players had someone within about 60 centimetres (2 feet) at the time of the injury [4]. Exactly there, in the lane and with an opponent, the reverse layup takes place.
The reverse layup uses what the defender cannot change: the rim. It stands still — you move around it.
After a catch on the move or the end of your dribble you have two steps [1]. The first step is the first ground contact after gaining control, the second is the next. If you take off from one foot on the first step, you may land on both feet without a pivot foot [1]. The number of steps has nothing to do with the moment of the shot [1]. Milestone: you count out loud: "one – two – up".
Start from the wing (45-degree angle), dribble toward the basket, take the ball on the first step. Instead of going to the near edge, you go under the backboard and keep the ball close to your body. Milestone: 10 runs in which you get under the backboard cleanly without a ball.
Shoot with the hand farther from the defender against the backboard or directly into the rim. The shooting hand takes the ball up; the body shields. Milestone: 6 of 10 makes from right to left, 6 of 10 from left to right, without a defender.
Put a partner with a pad or an arm in front of the basket. The ball goes over the obstacle. The rule is: if the defender has a legal position, contact is your foul [1]. So stop before the collision or go past it. Milestone: 5 of 10 attempts without contact with the defender.
Change sides and pace until you finish equally securely from both sides. Milestone: 15 attempts, 70 % of them made (that is a practical target).
The finish under the backboard often ends in a landing with body contact or near the stanchion. Knee and ankle injuries are the most frequent severe basketball injuries, ankle sprain the most common form [5]. In a study of 30 players, the group with chronic ankle instability showed a greater inversion on landing in the one-leg three-step layup [3] — whoever has sprained an ankle before should land especially cleanly.
There is strong evidence for wearing a brace and moderate evidence for neuromuscular training to prevent recurrence [6]. A structured warm-up programme lowers anterior cruciate ligament risk in adolescent female players by about 60 % [7]. This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training or a coach.
Land on both feet before you practise against a defender for the first time. If the first step takes off from one leg, you may land on both feet under the rules [1]. That is the most stable landing, and it also works under body contact. Test it first without a defender, then with a pad.
In a normal layup you finish on the side you come from. In a reverse layup you go under the basket and finish on the other side. The rim thus protects you from the block. The shooting technique is similar.
Two, when you catch the ball on the move or end your dribble [1]. The moment of the shot is independent of the number of steps [1]. Important: you may not touch down twice in a row with the same foot [1].
With the hand farther from the defender. In a turn under the backboard that is usually the hand on the side you finish on. Practise both sides.
It contains a landing under defensive pressure. In NBA cruciate ligament tears the majority happened in the lane and almost always with an opponent close by [4]. Warming up, a clean landing and early ankle training lower the risk [6][7].
Learning the Euro Step: Two Steps in Two Directions Past the Defender