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Basketball Shooting Tips
Proper Body Position And Setting Of The Ball
All players when they recieve the ball should start in the position known as the Triple Threat Position. This positions is called the Triple Threat Position because out of this position, you can shoot, pass, or dribble the basketball. In this position,
your legs should be slightly bent. Your dominant leg should be slightly in front of you. (If you are a right handed shooter, your right leg should be slightly in front of you, If you are a left handed shooter, your left leg should be slightly in front of you.) Your back leg should be about 3 to 6 inches behind your front leg. Your hands should be chest high and ready to recieve the ball. Your body should feel relaxed and balanced. As you receive the ball, you want your stance to be open with your shoulders and feet turned facing the basket. When you combine this stance with the Triple Threat Position, it will allow you to make your shot more of a one handed motion and make it more natural for you to reach forward as you shoot. The alignment of the ball, eye and target is easier with this stance. The greatest shooters open their stance and step in to shoot.
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Proper Wrist Technique for Shooting the Ball
JumpUSA.com Tip: Of course, basketball shooting drills with the ball will also perfect your shooting technique. Begin with your feet shoulder width apart. Extend both arms straight over your head, shoulder width apart. The elbows are straight and point forward. Bend your wrists backward as far as you can and balance the ball on the fingertips of your shooting hand. Place the elbow of your shooting arm a few inches inward toward your face. The shoulders and body should remain facing forward. You may have to slightly rotate your forearm to the outside to gain more comfort. Flick your wrist so the ball goes about a foot in the air. Catch the ball with your fingertips and repeat the drill. Practice the drill for two minutes at a time. Repeat it with the opposite hand.
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Learning to Shoot With A Higher Arch
The key to learning how to shoot with a higher arch is to use your legs and not your arms to add height to the ball, as you flick your wrists. Flick the ball two to five feet high. The player can catch the ball with two hands as it comes down. After you practice this for two minutes, shoot the ball four to 10 feet straight up using the wrists and legs. Practice this drill for two minutes.
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B.E.E.F.
JumpUSA.com Tip: Part of the B.E.E.F. mantra is to use your eyes and see the basketball rim. Pick that spot and focus. Allow the eyes and the brain to assist to the fullest extent. May also speak to the shooters bodily alignment throughout the shot The proper shooting technique and successful shooting results are two different things. We've all seen those players with great form that can't buy a basket. Or those who are so unorthodox it's hard to determine how it could get so bad, but the shot goes in at an amazing rate. However, believing that the human body is an amazing thing, the eyes and the brain have as much, or more, to do with the result of the shot as do proper fundamentals. Naturally, those that have everything working in a positive manner will be the best at what they do. It's believed by many that most successful shooters are those who are truly able to focus on one small target spot to shoot for. Some say they do, but who can really tell what the eyes and mind are doing? If the eyes can focus on a spot (the basketball rim) and effectively send the message to the brain to tell the body what it needs to do to propel the ball toward the target, the shot has a pretty good chance of hitting that target, technique notwithstanding. But we cannot throw those physical fundamentals out the window. So a technique that provides the most fluid and effortless stroke and gives the ball the best mathematical chance to go in is most desired. For fluid and effortless motion to happen, there needs to be a continuous flow to the shot beginning with the toes and right on through the fingertip release.
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Learning Foul Shot Technique
You begin at the foul line with your feet shoulder width apart. Place the ball on the ground in front of you. Shake your wrists for a few seconds to relax and get loose. Pick up the ball and dribble a few times with two hands. Shoot the ball a few feet straight up at the normal speed of your shot. Bend your knees a few times, take a deep breath or two. Release your breath and shoot the shot. Repeat this technique three to five times.
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Learning Foul Shot Technique
JumpUSA.com Tip: Need to learn a short foul shot technique? Try this: Begin by lining up five feet from the basketball goal. Bend your knees a few times, take a deep breath or two. Release your breath and shoot. After you take two shots, rebound the ball and dribble the ball to the other end of the court and back to where you started and shoot again. Practice this drill for five to 10 minutes. This drill will help simulate game conditions when you shoot. Proper Foul Shot Practice You begin by starting at the free throw line. Bend your knees a few times, take a deep breath or two. Release the breath and shoot the shot. Shoot the ball twice at the basket, rebound the ball and sprint down the court to the other free throw line. Shoot the ball while you are tired, before you have a chance to rest and to be comfortable. This will build your endurance, concentration and accuracy. Practice this drill for 10 to 15 minutes.
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The No-Step Layup
There are a few different layups. Check out these drills to improve your layup technique.
The ball starts waist high and feet are shoulder width apart. If you are right-handed, place your left foot one step forward. If your are left-handed, place your right foot one step forward. Put your right hand on top of the ball. If you are left-handed, the left hand is on top. As you step with your forward foot, move the ball up and the back leg forward and up. Do not bring the back foot down. Your arms should be fully extended, the back leg is forward with the thigh horizontal and the foot off the floor. Square up to the painted rectangle on the backboard and shoot the ball. The ball is not to touch the floor. Retrieve your own rebound and return to where you started. Practice this drill for five minutes and switch sides.
One Dribble Layup
You begin on the right side. Right-handers take one step with the right foot along with one low dribble. Left-handers start with the left foot along with one low dribble. Grab the ball with both hands and take a one step layup. Rebound the ball and dribble back to the line. Make sure you are dribbling the ball low to the ground and your head is up. Practice this drill on the right, left and center for five minutes in each position.
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The No-Step Layup
JumpUSA.com Tip: If you want to have a successful layup or any other great play, you will need to pay attention to the parts of a basketball court, including basketball backboards. There are so many 'lines' on a basketball court, it can be tough to differentiate. Here is a quick guide to the lines that make up every basketball court. First, there is the sideline. This is where you can find the team benches and usually the scorer's table. Next, there are the baselines. The basketball court baseline is beneath the backboard and is sometimes called the "low post" when the player is close to the basket. The halfcourt line is just as it sounds, right in the middle of the court. On offense, the team must advance the ball past the half court line in a certain time or turn the ball over to the other team. Perhaps the most important basketball court line is the free throw line. More than any other line, games are won and lost at the free throw line.
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Have The Same Release Motion All Of The Time
Aim high above the basket and relax the wrist and hand. You can aim in front of the rim, toward the center of the basket, or at the back of the rim. If you have the proper backspin, the ball will come straight down. That is why some players aim at the back
of the rim, but you should try all three options and do what is most comfortable for you. The release is a simple upward pushing motion with the elbow locking. This makes for a more stable release with fewer moving parts. The wrist and hand just ensure direction of the shot.
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Powering The Shot With Your Larger Muscles
Your legs are the biggest muscles in your body. They are the engine that power the entire shot. As you jump, you want to ride the power of your liftoff from the floor through your entire shooting motion, releasing the ball on the way up. This will give
distance and stability to your shot. The more you rely on your legs to power the shot, the easier it will be for the rest of your shooting to be effortless and repeatable, because you will not have to use your arms and hands to power your shot.
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Proper Ball Flight Control
You want to keep your eye on the target throughout the shot. You want to hold the release an extra half second to a second to increase your accuracy and provide a little more power to the shot. An automatic and predictable release and follow through makes all shots easier and gives you more control of your shot. As you land, you want to come down exactly where you started your jump or sightly in front of where you started.
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Golden Arches
As many ballers know, a great arch is the sign of a sweet shot, so perfecting yours is a key to your game.
To perfect a great arch to your shot, you want to think about pushing up as you shoot, instead of pushing out.
One great way to practice this is to have someone stand in front of you holding a tennis racquet or short stick up in front of you as you shoot. Because you will need enough arch to get over the racquet, this will help you develop a great high arch to your shot.
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Shooting The Ball With A Higher Trajectory
The arch or trajectory of the ball is one of the main secrets to great shooting. Your release should be at the same speed and force everytime. You change the arch at the last instant to allow for different power and distances. A higher arch for more power and longer distances. Lesser arch for less power and shorter distances. You want to allow gravity to work for you to slow the ball's speed of movement on the way up, before it accelerates on the way down. This will allow the ball to come down toward the rim more softly and increase the accuracy of your shot.
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Proper Wrist Technique for Shooting the Ball
Repeating basketball shooting drills is one of the only ways to perfect your shot. Consider this basketball shooting drill without the ball.
Begin by relaxing your hands and with your arms at your sides, start to shake your hands forward and backward. Place your feet shoulder width apart and raise your arms straight over your head with your palms facing forward. Your elbows should also be pointing forward and be slightly bent. Rotate your hand and forearm outward so the palms face forward. Begin to flick your wrists directly back, not forward or the sides. Let the wrist move forward effortlessly with no motion in the arms. Allow your wrists to sway back and forth. Practice this basketball shooting drill for one minute at a time.
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The Two Inch Shot for the Proper Alignment
Begin by squaring up to the basket in the direction that you are going to shoot. Your arms should make a right angle with your shoulder and your fingers pointing in the direction that you are going to shoot. Two inches in front of the rim, shoot the ball without stepping backward using your wrist and your legs. Move from the right of the basket, to the center of the basket, to the left of the basket and then back to the right. The ball does not hit the ground during this drill. You are not to do any dribbling. Practice this drill for five minutes.
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Shooting Range
One of the determining factors in whether a shot is a good one or not is if it is taken within your shooting range. A good way to determine your shooting range is to take ten jump shots from the foul line. After completing this, run two or three hard wind sprints. Then move your jump shooting back a foot or two. If you are still comfortable shooting, repeat the procedure. Continue shooting and running until you feel yourself struggling to shoot the ball. At this point, you are outside your range.
This is a good way to determine your range because during a game, you have to shoot while tired. This drill allows you to shoot under game conditions and gives you a better idea of your true range.
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Groove Your Shot
When you begin shooting at the start of any session, you should begin close to the basket, and work your way out. Start one step from the basket and shoot with one hand. You can check the position of the ball in your hands, the position of your elbow under the ball, whether you are keeping your eyes on your target, and your follow-through.
We have our players shoot from this spot until they hit five consecutive shots hitting nothing but net. Then they take one big step backward and repeat, now using their guide hand and legs. They continue to do this all the way back to the free throw line, hitting five straight "nothing but net" shots each time. After they hit five free throws this way, they are free to begin free shooting.
The advantage to this technique is that players get a chance to hit quite a few shots, building confidence, but also developing proper shooting technique.
