Furthermore, I published a peer-reviewed paper in the International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching on the hip turn and drop step (available here). Despite comments from message board heroes, the study was approved by five professors on my dissertation committee, including one of the world's foremost authorities on agility, and reviewed by two or three experts before acceptance for publication. Until someone publishes a peer-reviewed study that compares the hip turn and drop step, it is the best source of objective information available on the two methods of footwork.
If you want to teach the right thing, teach a drop step, but please do not yell at your players for being slow. If you want to teach the quicker method, teach the hip turn. Better yet, do not teach anything. Players naturally use a hip turn when forced to change directions at a high rate of speed in the absence of other instruction.
In my study, the one player who used the hip turn naturally - before the intervention - was an outlier; she was so much faster than the other players that I could not include her in the study. In the other players, although they drop stepped at the beginning, after being introduced to the hip turn, they were faster when using the hip turn than the drop step. This despite 6+ years of drop-step practice!
Hopefully the videos demonstrate the usefulness and differentiate the techniques. The hip turn or drop step will not determine one's defensive success, as there are numerous factors involved. However, to improve quickness when changing directions, the hip turn is quicker.
By Brian McCormick, PhDDirector of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development LeagueAuthor, The 21st Century Basketball Practice and Fake Fundamentals
