Correct Shooting Problems
from 2000 WBCA Exposition Talk
I plan to answer
these questions:
1. Why players shoot foul shots poorly.
2. Why players rarely improve.
3. How to reverse this situation.
I'll present 2 cardinal rules and 2 cardinal sins for shooting.
Then I will show the remedy to all shooting problems.
Cardinal Rule 1 - To improve shooting you must improve mechanics, the way the body
moves. In particular, players must work on wrist movement, touch,
body alignment, and extension.
Cardinal Sin 1 - Don't do anything that destroys
technique like shooting around, shooting long shots, and repeatedly
shoot long shots. These most common methods insure that players
will not improve, and will probably get worse.
Cardinal Rule 2 - Correct shooting problems by
practicing mechanics alone, nothing else.
Cardinal Sin 2 - Don't correct shooting problems
on the shot. If you do, players will develop inner voices screaming
instructions to "extend", "loosen-up", "follow
through", etc. This makes players tentative on the shot,
whereas effective shooting is natural, no thinking is involved.
Four Mechanics Exercises:
1. Touch ball - Hold the ball on the finger ends for up to 20
minutes to develop touch. Only the finger ends direct the ball
to the basket or elsewhere; no fingers, no palms, no pads. Make
sure the fingers are spread apart as far as possible and the
hand is shaped like a claw. Do this with either hand.
2. Flick wrist or wrist work - Shots are flicks of the wrist,
so the wrist must be loose. Stiff wrists are the most common
problem for high school and up male shooters.
One exercise involves just loosening the wrists. Wring or shake
the wrists out till they are looser. Another exercise involves
flicking the wrists. Flick back and let the wrists come forward
naturally. Try doing this with the arms overhead, elbows straight.
Flick back and let the hands come forward naturally. The hands
should be loose and fingers spread apart. Players, except good
shooters, will have difficulty doing this correctly. The more
problems a player has doing this, the more they need wrist work.
All players at all levels need to do a few minutes of wrist work
each day. Beginners need to improve, Reggie Miller type shooters
need to keep consistent.
3. Alignment - The shoulders and arms must be aligned or squared
up to the direction of shooting. Often coaches say that players
must square up to the basket. This is only true if they are shooting
at the basket, not the backboard. For bank-shots players square
up to a spot on the backboard that they aim at.
Practice squaring up by doing this statute of liberty drill.
Here are the steps in brief:
a - Raise the arms straight overhead, elbows straight, with
the ball in one hand.
b - Move the wrist back as far as possible.
c - Claw the hand so the ball only touches the fingertips.
d - Bring the elbow towards the nose. Make sure to keep the
body squared up to the forward direction. Make sure to keep the
wrist back. The wrist tends to twist to the side when the elbow
moves to the nose. Most players who are not good shooters will
need to be twisted somewhat like a pretzel to get into this position.
Again, the more problems a player has doing this exercise, the
more he/she needs it. You will understand this exercise better
if you see it diagramed in the book or even better in one of
our videos.
e - Repeatedly flick the ball 2-3 inches up, not 1 foot, and
catch it on the fingertips. It may take weeks or even months
before a player can perform this drill satisfactory.
4. Extension - The body must be extended straight up to shoot
properly. Players who release the ball near there forehead, I
call them nose shooters, will improve quickly and benefit the
most from these drills. Women more than men have this "nose
shooting" malady. All these drills force a player to extend
straight overhead.
a- Shoot-ups- Shoot the ball straight up overhead.
b - One Inch Shoot- Position a player directly underneath the
rim, then shoot. Don't worry about players making the shot. Look
for extension only. Don't let players back away from the basket.
Summary
Each exercise above is not a one time drill. Each player needs
to work on these everyday, initially with the assistance of either
the coach or another player who has been instructed properly.
Because these drills are so difficult, even motivated players
should only work on these for 1-2 minutes at a time. In practice,
only expect small improvement each day. Over the the course of
a month or two even the worst shooter will show remarkable improvement.
College players improve much more quickly than younger players.
Your comments are welcome.
Sidney Goldstein, author
of The Basketball Coach's Bible and The Basketball Player's Bible,
has successfully coached both men's and women's teams over a
period of 15 years. |
