Hesitation Dodge — Quick Execution Summary
The purpose of this dodge it to freeze the defender with a brief pause, then explode past them using change of pace.
How to Execute:
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Attack with speed – Approach the defender under control, stick protected, eyes up.
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Sell the pause – Shorten your steps, slightly sit your hips, and momentarily slow or stop your hands and feet.
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Read the defender – Watch their feet and hips; wait for a weight shift or hesitation back.
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Explode – Drive off your outside foot and accelerate hard past the defender’s top foot.
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Protect & finish – Keep hands away from your body, shoulder through contact, get back downhill.
Key Coaching Cues:
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Change pace, not direction.
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Pause just long enough to make them blink.
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Win with first step explosion.
Common Mistakes:
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Pausing too long (loses advantage)
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Standing straight up (no threat)
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Hesitating without attacking space first
If you want, I can turn this into a 1-sentence cue for kids, a drill progression, or a principles-based teaching versionyou can plug into practice.