A floater is a short shot released early, on a high arc, from the middle of the lane. The player drives, stops short of the big defender waiting at the rim, goes straight up and lets the ball go from about 1.5 to 3 metres (5 to 10 feet) out, high enough to clear the defender’s hand. Some coaches call a one-foot version a runner and a very high one a teardrop.
Why coaches use it
Because the defender at the rim wins most of the battles at the rim. A guard who only has the layup drives into a shot blocker and gets blocked, or picks the ball up and passes too late. The floater gives him a shot that does not need to beat the big man; it only needs to go over him.
It is the natural answer to drop coverage in the pick-and-roll, where the big defender sits back near the rim and concedes the space in front of him.
How it is done
- Long step, short step. Ryan Goodson’s floater drill uses a long step then a short one, and an explosion straight up.
- Up, not forward. Goodson puts tape on the floor so the jump goes up instead of forward into a charge, and lands where it took off.
- Peak above the defender. The apex of the shot is around the top of the backboard.
- Both hands, both take-offs. Basketball For Coaches has players use one-foot and two-foot finishes and, when they are ready, the weak hand.
Our floater drill combines the two: a cone in the lane stands in for the shot blocker, and the player attacks again from a new spot after each shot. It is tagged from U14. Our guide to layup drills shows where it fits after the basic finishes.