Chris Paul Hesitation Move & The Importance of Counter Moves [VIDEO]

Key Points to the Hesitation Move

• Change Speeds
  
  By changing speeds, this keeps your defender off balance. If you just have 1 or 2 speeds, it's easier for the defender to adjust to your pace. How do you think somebody as slow as Larry Bird got by NBA players?
  
  
• Stay Low
  
  Keep the hips down. This helps you stay in an ideal position to explode by the defender. You might show a tiny lift in the hips to fake the defender.
  
  
• Ball Out To Side
  
  Depending on the defender's position, keeping the ball out to the side allows you to shield the ball from the defender. If the defender is overplaying the ball, simply cross the ball over to the other hand and drive past.
  
  
• Look Up
  
  Sell the fake with your eyes. If the defender sees you look up, they naturally tend to lift their body up as well because they think you are going to slow down, shoot the ball, or pass the ball.
  
  
• Explode
  
  Drive off the back foot and get the first step down to the ground as quickly as possible. This sets you up for an explosive 2nd step as well.
  
  
• Push the Ball Out
  
  It's very important to push the ball out in front of you to avoid the defender from poking the basketball out from behind.

The Importance of Counter Moves

Brian also mentions the importance of the counter move in the video. This is extremely important. If the defender starts to cheat, you can give him the hesitation move and quickly counter it. This is great to do after you have pulled off your "go-to" move a couple of times and you see the defender start to cheat.

In the video, Brian uses the crossover move. The wrap-around dribble or behind-the-back are good counter moves to the hesitation move as well. Personally, I used the wrap-around dribble in high school because it was easier for me to keep the ball away from the defender while changing directions and continuing my momentum forward.

If you perfect this move and a counter, that is great. Don't waste your time on all of the other stuff. You don't have enough time in the day to get really good at every move. At best, you would be mediocre. Personally, I made this mistake. If I could do it again, I would pick a move and a counter move and perfect those moves. Spend 5 to 10 minutes every day on them in half-court settings and full-court settings. Play some 1 on 1 with your friends who are hopefully good defenders.

If you want to spend a couple of minutes working on other dribble moves, that is fine. That way, you are still competent with those dribble moves and can use them when needed.

This year, my advice would be to perfect a go-to dribble move and a counter move. Once you have perfected the move in a year or two, you can add another move to perfect.