How To: Using The Jab Step

The jab step is one of the most widely used tools in any great player's arsenal. As a mechanism for creating space, the jab allows players to free themselves up for a multitude of shots and driving angles. When players utilize the jab effectively, they instantly become an offensive threat and are better equipped to score, facilitate, and handle pressure. If you're looking to maximize your offensive potential and improve your ability to move the defense, then this article is for you.

Step 1: Stay Low
As with anything in basketball, it's important for players to stay low in an athletic stance. The jab is only effective when the defense believes that you are taking your first step for a drive to the basket. Drives to the basket generally involve a player getting low and stepping by a defender's hip. Therefore, if a player does a jab step while standing upright, the defense will rarely react.

Step 2: Keep the Jab Short and Quick
Although the effectiveness of the jab is dependent on how much the step looks like a drive, some players over exaggerate this point by taking an extremely long step. This hinders a player's ability to find their balance and quickly pull the foot back to rise into a shot or find a new driving angle. With this in mind, it is important to keep the jab somewhat short, generally only about 2 feet in length. Doing so allows players to maintain their balance and more efficiently pull their foot back before making their next move.

Step 3: Attack the Defender's Foot
Players often limit the power of their jab by stepping at the wrong angle. As previously noted, the jab step is a mechanism for creating space, specifically moving a defender to create an advantage. This is rarely achieved if the jab step is directed outwards rather than towards the defender's foot. Keep in mind that the goal of most defenses is to keep the offense out of the paint, meaning that they are more likely to react to movements towards the basket rather than away from it. Think of the jab step as a sort of "foot fight"; if you can move your defender's foot backwards, you have won the first part of the battle.

Step 4: Options Off the Jab
Once a player makes an effective jab, there are an array of options at their disposal. If the defender drops back significantly, you can rise up into a jump shot (Jab and Shoot). If they don't react to the jab, you can continue your forward momentum and go past them (Jab and Go). If they jump to the side of your jab step, you can crossover and attack their opposite hip (Jab and Cross).
If you're looking to improve your game and work with expert coaches, check out the Shoot 360 and Ultimate Player Development programs at the Ultimate Fieldhouse in Walnut Creek. These programs offer top-notch training programs and experienced coaches who will help take your game to the next level.

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- Charlie Miller
Basketball Trainer
Shoot 360 Manager