Pound Crossovers

🎒 Gear Needed: 1 x basketball ⏱ Suggested Time: 5 - 10 minutes 👥 Participants: 1 player (Solo / by-yourself) 📍 Space: No-court, backyard, half-court 📊 Difficulty: Beginner

📝 Instructions

  1. Begin in an athletic stance with feet wider than shoulder-width apart, knees bent, and chest lifted.
  2. Deliver two heavy, aggressive pound dribbles with your right hand at hip height.
  3. On the second pound, snap the ball across the front of your body below knee height to your left hand.
  4. Catch the ball cleanly in your left hand and immediately deliver two heavy pound dribbles on the left side.
  5. Snap the ball across your body below knee height back to your right hand.
  6. Continue this sequence: Pound-Pound-Cross, Pound-Pound-Cross for 45 seconds.
  7. Complete 3 sets with a 15-second rest between sets.

💡 Coaching Cues

  • Pound Into the Floor: Push the ball aggressively down into the court with a firm wrist flick to generate speed and force.
  • Knee-High Crossover: Keep the crossing dribble below your knees so reaching defenders cannot poke it loose.
  • Wide Balanced Base: Keep your runners firmly planted on the ground without bobbing up and down during the crossover.

🔄 Variations & Progressions

  • Make It Easier: Slow down the crossover speed and take three or four gentle pound dribbles before each crossing bounce.
  • Make It Harder: Reduce to a single pound before crossing (Pound-Cross, Pound-Cross), or perform continuous crossovers without intermediate pounds while calling out visual cues.

📺 Video Demonstration