The Back Pivot is a finishing move used by an offensive player who gets closest to the basket, but has a defender positioned somewhere between them and the basket. This leads to a front pivot on your back pivot foot. It is also referred to as a “Donut” “Nash” or “Rondo” after two players that patented its use in the NBA. It is now commonly used at all levels of basketball.

The back pivot is used to create space. Why is this important to understand? The goal of the offense is to score. The easiest way to create an opportunity to score is to create space. The opposite is true for the defense. The defense’s goal is to prevent the offense from scoring. The defense’s best method of preventing this possibility is to take away the offense’s space.

In this course, you will learn the what, how and why of the Back Pivot.