Good grief. You got your rights and lefts mixed up in description and based on the photo. Just talk clockwise and counterclockwise. Yao is clearly spinning clockwise. And his right foot is clearly the pivot foot--the moving leg is the left leg and the left arm is dribbling.
spin move = using your pivot foot to spin around your defender, almost exclusively towards the baseline. If you pivot with your right foot, then spinning counterclockwise would prove pointless, since you would basically be spinning into your defender. drop step = move going across the lane in which you back the defender in, then drop your shoulder in order to knock them out of position, creating space for either a short jumper or a hook shot...kind of the opposite of a spin move...uhhh...I think.
Perhaps, I should have said which side of the key instead of which side of the court. Depending on which side of the key the player is on, if his intent his to go baseline every time, regardless of which side he is on, then his pivot foot would be different from each side (right foot spinning "clockwise" on the left block and left foot spinning "counter clockwise" on the right block). Just another point, we all know that Hakeem's favorite spot was the left side of the key. He always seemed more comfortable pivoting on his right than his left. As far as the drop step, it kind of accomplishes the same thing that the spin move does in that in allows the offensive player to get in between the defender and the basket. From what Ive ever seen, its effective when the defender is cheating towards the center of the lane (i.e. expecting the offensive player to spin into the lane rather than the baseline). The drop step is where the offensive player uses his right leg and drops it back alongside or even behind the defenders right leg to seal off the defender so to speak by preventing the defender getting between you and the basket after you turn towards the hoop. Perhaps the best way to contrast them, would be to say a spin move uses the foot as a pivot and the floor as a base, while the drop step kinda uses the back/lower part of the offensive players right leg as a pivot point and the lower right side of the defenders body as a base in which to pivot off of.
here's my definitions. both moves use your back to shield the defender from the ball as you turn towards the basket. spin move = pivot with the inside foot of the spin (right pivot foot = right spin clockwise with left leg spinning around). Spins can happen anywhere...note how PGs often do it to lose their man in transition. drop step = a backwards step toward the basket -- not spinning, until after that an initial step! to drop down on your right side step back with the right foot. vice versa for left side. Whichever foot you stepped with, make it your pivot to now spin to face the basket. both moves shield the ball with your back. spin move can happen when the defender is stationary. Post-up drop steps generally require faking a spin or shot one way to then dropstep the other way in order to get the defender to move to one side of you, allowing the drop step the other way. Off the dribble like Drexler's drop step involves driving the defender one way, first. There is only one right way to pivot on a spin move. If you pivot with the wrong foot, you are doing a dropstep.
Anyone else's head spinning? 1) In terms of using the free arm to lock off the defender, I'm not sure who is most notable for popularizing it...I can say that I saw players do it before Barkley, most notably Worthy, Aguirre, and McHale...and I have seen film where Connie Hawkins did it...But I will agree that Barkley (and Jordan) made significant use of it, probably the most. 2) Hakeem did do it...pretty often but not all that blatently. His quickness on the spin, and the fact that it seemed to often come after a series of bewildering feints would usually get the defender either so off balance or so flat footed that it would appear that Hakeem was merely countering the defender's attempts to maintain contact...When he would just do the quick spin off of a catch it was a little more obvious. 3) Yao Ming does do it pretty blatently when he uses it, and it's one of those things that will depend on which side of the ref fence he falls...If he falls on the Jordan/Kobe/Shaq/Malone/Barkley/Stockton/etc. side, it will be something he can exploit...if he falls on the Hakeem/Robinson/Carter/Wallace/Iverson/etc. side, it could become a problem he will have to adjust to...
Just to elaborate on what we are talking about. This year, weve seen EG take a handful of turnaround jumpers. The problem i see, is he has bad footwork and technique. He doesnt do what you talked about with regards to creating space between himself and the defender as to allow him to get off an easier shot. Hakeem used to do this often and as we know, his footwork was beyond reproach. From what I remember, if Hakeem had his back to the basket down on the block, he would pivot on his left foot and turn clockwise into his man(this allowed him to slightly bump is man back by using his body) and he would then step back with his right foot and jump off it for a lil fadeway/turnaround. Maybe you can talk tape with Griffin HP.
A-Train, I just want to make sure I'm with ya... From what I get from HeyP is that the pivot foot is the one that stands still. The pivot foot does NOT spin around the defender. You spin on your pivot-foot. In the picutre above. Yao is using his right-foot as his pivot-foot. The his left foot is moving clockwise around his right pivot-foot. I just wanted to make sure you guys are not mixing terms.
Lets just clear this up. In the picture of Yao Ming, he is pivoting with his right foot. That is the way 99.9% of NBA players do it. The other 0.1% just messed up the move.
A-Train said that most big use their left foot as the pivot foot when posting up on the low left block, as it lets them create more space between the ball and the defender. This is true. They pivot on their left foot and move their right foot around to gain their balance, jab step, step further away from the defender, etc. Keep in mind this is when they are still holding the ball in the post;they haven't dribbled yet. But...but...alot of the time, while having already established their left foot as the pivot foot in establishing position and warding off the defender, etc., the post player will make the baseline spin move pivoting off of his right foot anyway, and a lot of times won't get called for it because he begins his dribble at approximately the same time. So from what I've seen, both feet are used as the pivot foot in this situation. The left foot at first in establishing position, holding the ball, the right foot when making the baseline spin move. The reason it isn't called travelling (most of the time) is that they begin their dribble at approximately the same time as the pivot foot is switched. Switching the pivot foot just as you begin the dribble happens all the time, not just in the post, and only occasionaly gets called by the refs.
moomoo, I agree, and think the preference is based on being a left-handed or right-handed shooter. when receiving an entry pass, immediately establishing the left pivot foot is used to threaten a spin move or fadeaway counterclockwise, right? (ie, towards the lane from the left block.) That is popular simply because most guys are right handed, and it is easier for them to shoot when turning counterclockwise to make your move. Note that a clockwise spin (as in the picture) places your right hand closest to the defender. imo, changing pivot foot to spin back the other way (or do a fadeway) is to keep the defense honest or to turn away from the help defense. btw: you can lift a pivot foot without dribbling. You just have to dribble before it hits the ground again, that is the 1 1/2 step rule. Now that whole hop step thing to making dunking acrobatic moves easier is what is technically illegal...took me a longtime to start using it, because my brain just wouldn't allow it.
Left; no right foot; pivot; turn; no, drop-step; spin move. To quote Vinnie Barbarino: I'm SO confused!
The left foot pivot spin is a quicker spin move than the right foot pivot. The left foot spin uses the right hand to back-spin the dribble and it gets the ball out in front of the spin and away from the defender. I have seen Hakeem out-dribble himself on the the spin move at times and have to catch up to the ball to lay it up. He actually has to find the ball after he makes the spin move and before he makes the shot because his loses sight of the ball in the spin. The right pivot uses the left hand dribble for more control and the spin is slower, and the player is more apt to carry the ball on the spin move to the basket.
man, what a c r a z y thread. A spin move is actually very easy. Come play with us this month, and I'll show you. There is nothing about the basic spin move that involves losing sight of the ball. It is more simple than that. The simplicity of it actually has me worried. This is par to the reason why I am not entirely impressed with Ming's spin move. It is working because he is so long and people are surprised. It is actually pretty slow, right now. He seems to be catching guys off balance in other ways (threatening his simple jumper, or going to the lane). This spin move is not nearly as quick as Hakeem's and will be stopped by weakside help...that is, I don't think he's going to continue to get the reverse layup finish off the spin. He's going to have to finish 101 different ways eventually, because the even Hakeem's speed had to learn that.
Yao Ming is quick for his size but still slow so he use this little trick to spin off people with his back facing the defense player he step his right foot behind the player's foot this will lock the player's foot then just spin to the right, with this move the defense player cant move backward immediately until yao spin by him cuz he wil trip on yao's foot i dunno how to explain it better cuz my english is bad but wish someone who understand can explain it better . i think alot fo slower big player use this spin move
Offensive player motions that he's rising up, but doesn't leave his feet...The defender responds to the fake, and leaves his feet to block shot, whereupon the offensive player ducks under and past the defender and goes to the cup...
I can't. Can you? anyhow, others can. Execute a few successful dropsteps on your defender, and he will try to compensate...to the point of overcompensating. When he does, you have him moving, so now show ball and go under the other way...by crossing your non-pivot foot behind the defender. tough move. wish I could do it. note: up and unders don't really work until you establish another move. you should be able to combine them with nearly any other move....as long as you have good footwork and know how to make prudent use of your pivot foot.
