Going East ➡️ West 🏀🧭

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Basketball teaches you early: go north and south.

Attack the basket. Get downhill. Avoid unnecessary east-west movement because it can lead to traps, allow the defense to load up, and take you away from the rim.

But there’s another side to it:

When should you go EAST to WEST?

Lateral movement isn’t wasted movement when it’s intentional.

In this drill, I’m working on covering 5–7 feet laterally with only 1–2 dribbles. The goal isn’t to dance with the ball—it’s to quickly shift the entire point of attack.

Think of it like moving a chess piece across the board.

You’re not necessarily attacking the basket yet. You’re changing the geometry of the defense so that an entirely new attack becomes available.

Coming off a screen?

Starting the offense?

Getting away from a loaded help defender?

Creating a better angle for a ball screen?

Forcing your defender to turn their hips and reposition?

That’s where east-to-west becomes valuable.

The science backs up the importance of being able to efficiently accelerate, decelerate, and change direction. Basketball players constantly operate in multiple directions, and lateral force production and change-of-direction ability are meaningful components of basketball performance.

The key is purpose.

Don’t go east to west just to go east to west.

Go east to west to move the defense, create space, change the angle, and set up your next attack.

Sometimes the best way to get north and south…

is to first go EAST → WEST. ♟️🏀

Trainer:

@Logan Hinton

, a former 5 year pro across three countries.

Train Like a Pro!

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Going East ➡️ West 🏀🧭