You may realize in a lot of circumstances that players get called for travels after they pump fake. Or, you may have had this happen to you after you’ve pump faked yourself. That brings us the question, can you pump fake and then dribble afterwards?
After a pump fake, if you get the defender in the air, you can dribble, as long as you haven’t dribbled already. The reason why people get called for travels often after a pump fake is because they get excited about blowing by the defender and take two quick steps before they dribble the ball.
How To Avoid Traveling On a Pump Fake?
When you catch the ball and haven’t dribbled yet, you can use one pivot foot. This means there’s only one foot that can be used to jab step and turn. When you pump fake, you want to make sure that you dribble before your pivot foot leaves the ground.
Can You Dribble After a Jump?
Let’s say you get a little carried away and jump on your pump fake attempt. Can you dribble the ball after you have left the ground? The answer is no, the ref will either call an up and down or a travel.
However, if the ball is touched as you go up by a defender, you can drop the ball, which will allow you to continue dribbling when you land.
What Are Some Other Common Mistakes Players Make When Using a Pump Fake?
The most common mistake players make when using a pump fake is traveling after the fake (which we went over above). However, there are some other mistakes players make while using the pump fake. Let’s go over a few of them.
They Pump Fake Out Of Habit
The first one is that they pump fake out of pure habit. If a defender is no where to be seen and is leaving you open, there’s absolutely no reason you should be using a pump fake. A pump fake should only be used when the defender is closing out on you. If you can get them in the air, you could get around them, or even let them jump by you and then shoot the ball.
They Don’t Sell The Pump Fake Well Enough
If you can master it, the art of the pump fake could really help your game. A lot of players make the mistake of not mimicking their jump shot correctly, making it obvious that they’re pump faking. Here are some steps you can take in order to sell a pump fake correctly.
Set a Balanced Stance
The more you square your shoulders and have a balance shooting stance on your pump fake, the more believable it will be.
Look At The Hoop
Some players pump fake with their head down, not even looking at the hoop. When you’re pump faking, look focused on the hoop, making it believable to your defender that you’re going to shoot.
Keep the same exact shooting for on your pump fake
Last but not least you want to make sure that your shooting form stays the same on your pump fake as it is on your regular jump shot. This will allow you to be more fluid and believable with your fake, making it difficult for the defender to predict what you’re going to do.
Are There Other Versions Of Pump Fakes In Basketball?
The closest thing to a pump fake is called a head fake. A head fake is using your head to make the defender believe you’re going to shoot the ball while dribbling. This method doesn’t require you to stop dribbling and could be a good way to get your defender to jump while moving. Here are the steps to using a head fake.
- While dribbling, square your shoulders to the basket like you would if you’re about to shoot (without picking up your dribble).
- While doing this, look at the defender to get their attention and quickly look up at the hoop
- This will make them believe you’re about to pick up the ball and shoot
- Once they jump and come up to defend your “jump shot”, quickly blow by them
Basketball is like a game of chess, you want to keep the defender guessing. One way the head fake could become effective is by making a couple jump shots in a row and then using it. You want to use it sparingly, because if you use it too often, you will become predictable.
Above is an example of a head fake. See how the player lifts his head and puts his hand up to the ball (without touching it) in order to fake out the defender.
Can You Take a Jump Shot After a Pump Fake?
If you have space, you can definitely shoot afterwards. Usually a pump fake allows a defender to get closer to you, so using a pump fake and then shooting doesn’t always make sense. However, sometimes when defenders jump at pump fakes, they jump passed you in order to avoid a foul call. This will allow you to get a shot off.
Someone who is really good at this is Steph Curry. The reasoning is that he’s the best shooter in the world, so every time he pump fakes, people go flying past him. It helps to have a really good shot when it comes to pump faking. Otherwise, no one is going to even bite on the fake.
In Conclusion
Now you know that you can dribble after a pump fake. You just have to be aware of not picking up your pivot foot before you dribble because that could result in a travel. We also went over a variation of a pump fake that you could do while dribbling called the head fake.
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