you want to drive against anybody check out today's video where we teach you the top five skills to make your driving easy [Music] hey everybody coach Conley back with another video today we are breaking down how to drive to the basket against anyone how to do it better you know a lot of kids struggle today getting to the rim at all levels you know we shoot a lot of jumpers these days and the ability to attack the rim and score in the paint is getting harder and harder So today we're going to break down how to get to the rim on a regular basis and make sure you're super effective at driving the paint getting to the basket does take skill but I think we overestimate the Kyrie Irvings and even some of the Steph Curry stuff that goes on in today's NBA game the reality of driving to the basket is actually really simple if you perfect the skills necessary but it is something that you need to practice all the time so I'm going to break down the five skills that I think can take your game to the next level especially driving the paint which every team needs and stay tuned to the last one because it is the key to make it all come together so first the most important thing is to have a strong handle which doesn't mean you need to be super creative you just need to dribble the ball hard I promise the harder you dribble the ball the more effective your ball handling is going to be the more confidently you can drive to the basket if you're always losing the ball and don't feel confident getting by people the main reason is how hard you dribble the ball so if nothing else get in the gym and pound the ball work on your reps just pounding the ball stationary then pounding the ball full court here you can see Brunson just handling the ball but every single one of his dribbles is hard it's a pound dribble nobody's playing with the ball a ton to get to spots just dribble hard and yes as quick and great as Trey young is with the ball part of his handle is just that he snaps the ball so quickly it gets up and down back into his hand and allows him to manipulate the ball to get himself to the rim quickness is important but I've seen a lot of basketball players who are really fast who can't get by anybody because their handle is too soft so pound the dribble hard the second key is staying lower than your Defender if your Defender is lower than you you are going to lose that battle every time you have to get your shoulder your body lower than your Defender to be able to turn a corner and get by them to the rim or displace them and get yourself to the rim here you can see Curry on a hard drive to the basket gets his shoulder under the defender and it allows him to turn the corner Jalen Brunson does the same thing on this drive to the middle your ability to get into space is directly related to the ability to get inside somebody if you can't get your shoulder lower if you can't get your body in front of somebody you'll have no business getting to the rim you won't get anywhere so continue to work on getting your shoulder and your body lower than your defender on your dribble to the basket I guarantee you'll get there way more often number three you can't underestimate straight lines you have to get to the rim in a direct line to the basket if you take yourself out away from the rim you will never be able to get back there make sure your angles are to the rim you go through Defenders to get to the basket Dodge is here you can see he takes a great angle after the dribble move to get inside the bigger Defender and get straight to the rim even though there's help at the basket Donovan Mitchell on this Baseline Drive takes a great angle to get straight to the rim he doesn't let anybody stop it if you take a good angle to the rim like Jalen Brunson here you're gonna have a better opportunity to score make sure you're always in line with the hoop and you're trying to stay there no matter how how much the defender is pushing you you have to push back to keep your line the patience is so important the fourth key is just being patient I see a lot of kids every day catch the ball put it down try to start driving and then get stuck it is so much better to read the defense and the space early and then make a great move you don't have to go full speed all the time change your speed find the open area and then explode to the rim and finish but taking your time to actually see the space will help you a ton and actually getting to the rim watch how Curry even on this fast break situation takes his time to make a move move the defender and then attack the basket if you take this kind of time at the beginning of your dribble you will have a much better opportunity there are times when the space opens up and you can get directly to the basket but a lot of times there's multiple defenders in front of you after you beat your Defender take the time to create space beat your Defender and then get to the rim I guarantee if you take that time you'll see a lot more open driving Lanes than when you're in a rush fifth key is always having one counter move ready I see a lot of players wanting to do one two three four moves it is so much better to make one initial move drive and then read the defender make a great counter and score off of that here curry in transition makes a great read on the second Defender getting into a spin move and getting to the rim and I love this drive by Curry who starts to the Baseline sees the help Defender coming waits for him to commit and then crosses over and get the and one layup and here Donovan gets to the basket with ease but he counters by pump faking the big man and getting to the basket so he doesn't just go up and get blocked having a counter and being under control ready to make it is the key to being successful at scoring at the rim and the most important part of finishing at The Rim is actually finishing the shot you have to compete to score that's the key so when you're competing and you're going at it stop settling for jump shots if you want to get to the basket more you have to learn to finish with contact in traffic make it better counters you have to pound the ball hard all of that stuff is competing and then you have to put the ball in the basket the more you put the ball in the basket the more you're going to want to drive the more driving Lanes will open up for you because you'll be confident at finishing at The Rim but no matter what be able to score put the ball in the basket and you will be more confident and your coaches will want you to drive to the basket I see some great plays at practice when my kids are going at it a lot of three on three but always try to tell them to slow down and make better reads and really it takes work you got to work on your handle you've got to work on your driving Lanes if you're not spending the time to get better at it then it won't be effective and nowadays with so much focus on three-pointers and getting to the basket if you can't get to the basket it won't allow allow you to get space for a jump shot work on driving to the basket perfect it be determined to score on every drive at The Rim through contact and make buckets that's what this game is about compete on every play get to the rim and score you never know when your team is going to need you to get a bucket at the rim and you better be the one to do it so that's today's video about driving to the rim remember dribble the ball hard get lower than your opponent attack the basket in straight lines don't go around the world to get to the rim use space be patient and attack always always have one counter ready at the end of your move so you can finish in a different spot if you need to and lastly and most importantly compete to finish don't compete just to get a shot up you got to make baskets to be effective at any level that you play at I love training kids to be better scorers I work with kids every day to become better and more confident players these videos are designed to help you get better at basketball again like I said at the beginning if there's something you want me to break down to help you with your skills leave it in the comments below and we'll see you next time foreign