Crossover
A dribbling move in which a ball-handler quickly switches the ball from one hand to the other to change direction and beat a defender.
Definition
The crossover is basketball's signature change-of-direction dribble: the handler pushes the ball low across their body from one hand to the other, timing it with a hard plant and a shift of the hips to accelerate past a defender. Its effectiveness comes from selling one direction with the eyes, shoulders, and first step before exploding the opposite way.
Variations include the between-the-legs and behind-the-back crossovers and the hesitation move. A crossover is only as good as its setup and its follow-up burst; a lazy or high crossover exposes the ball to a steal. The term also appears in skating and athletics for the crossover step, where one leg crosses over the other to build speed around a curve.
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- 2026-09-01
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