Cutting Thought: Be an Ambi-Turner
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Don’t be like Derek Zoolander.
A former captain of mine (hi, Seigs!) once remarked that he didn’t realize how much he relied on his right foot when cutting until doing some ladder work and being forced to use both feet equally.
I, too, primarily cut off of one foot–with any cut, my right foot takes the brunt of the force and is usually the first to initiate stopping/change of direction. If I were scouting a team’s stud cutters (as somebody who would defend them), I would think that checking to see which foot they primarily cut off of, while not as game-changing a revelation as “all headband wants to do is run deep,” is a little edge that might give a defender extra confidence in forcing her woman to move outside of her comfort zone.
When you do drills (from your warm-up jog, plant, jog/run/sprint back, to 1v1 cutting), make a conscious effort not just to use your non-dominant foot, but to do so even to the point of exclusion of the other foot. Limit yourself for a league game, or mixed pickup at practice (hi, Dartmouth!), and try to maintain effectiveness. Does it work?
You’ll learn a lot about how you cut by taking away your prime mover. Do you get by simply on the strength of your one foot? Can you compensate for a weaker foot by playing the mental side of cutting more effectively? Can you compensate for it now that I’ve asked you to try?
As this former Wisconsin stud Muffin can attest, an injury can force you to completely re-examine the way you look at your game, as your attention shifts to other aspects of play. Why wait for an injury? Take away your crutches–impose limits on yourself, and see what you can do, and more importantly, what you can learn.
