One of the most enjoyable and difficult moves in basketball is the layup.
A layup is a sort of shot that requires a soft roll of the ball up in the air into the hoop. The layup is also fun to watch and used because of the many ways of doing a layup.
A layup can involve a finger roll (a way of rolling the ball high in the air to cause the ball to go into the hoop without touching the rim) or a pump (a sort of fake shot that causes the defender to jump or swat the ball while you layup shortly after and at a different place) or an around the back (moving the ball around your body to keep it from the defender).
Most layups are easy to do when playing against a bad player but the better the defender the better the layup must be. From my amount of experience I would say that the best ability to gain when trying to do layups is the ability to layup as far from the defender as possible . When one can layup from a fairly far distance away from the defender it becomes more difficult for the other player to swat or block the ball. The problem with layups far from the hoop is that it becomes more difficult to aim.
practice makes perfect. I suggest playing against no one at first until you feel confident that you will not make a fool of yourself in a real game.
Note , I have done this many times, doing a layup too high or too slowly; I was then blocked and I have at many times been told to "get out of the kitchen" .