Shooting a basketball is an art that each individual who wishes to excel in the sport needs to fine tune. There are many types of shooting skills. For example you have a free throw, a lay-up, and a jump shot. In all of these types of shots there are three basic phases that are common in each, even though the types of shots are different. Lets take a quick trip through these three phases.
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Perfect Practice Skills Develop Perfect Results
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Phase One:
Power Stance
To teach yourself to shoot you should breakdown your skill's into manageable segments. The power stance is such a segment or phase. In this phase you bend all of your "explosion angles" (joints and muscle groups), align the ball in your hands, and face the basket and look at it with your eyes. Let's examine the picture on the left (there is no one who has perfect form on every shot, so I will point out the strength and weaknesses in each picture).
This is a very good example of a power stance. A word of caution this is a younger player, older players should have the ball above their heads as they initiate their shot. I like this power stance. Great players anticipate when they will be open for a shot and they will catch the ball in a power stance for a quick release of the shot. The term power stance should create a vision in your mind that you are loading your muscles by bending your joints so that you can transfer your energy into the flight of the ball towards the basket. Younger players mistakenly think that they get their power from their arms. Most of the power that you generate into the basketball should come from the hips, legs and ankles. The ball should be aligned with the index finger of the shooting hand in the middle of the back of the ball. Study this picture, develop a mental image of how a power stance should look, then train your body to copy this position. I would recomend that you link to other sites about shooting and learn as much as possible about shooting. You can develop a clearer,more complete picture by studing different ideas on the art of shooting than you will if you are limited to just one concept. Remember you are the one who must train, and create your shot. When conflicts in ideas occur decide what works best for you. If you feel comfortable with the way you shoot, and it is successful, then you only need to make minor adjustments to improve.
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Phase Two:
Explode and Extend
Examine the picture to the right. It is an example of the release of the power angles that allows you to transfer energy into the flight of the ball. This is a good example of phase two, but the shooter does have some minor weaknesses that you should try to avoid. Before pointing out the corrections, look at the list below of the proper body motions. Then see if you can spot the mistakes yourself.
Hopefully you have notice several mistakes made by this shooter. The non-shooting hand in this picture indicates that it has assisted in the release of the ball. This is a common mistake in younger players who try to use their arms as the main source of energy transfer into the ball. This causes them to use two hands making it harder to get the ball to travel in a straight line to the basket. You can see in this picture that the non-shooting thumb is turned up and in, instead of the fingers pointing to the sky. Remember to use your legs for power in shooting. Time the release of the ball to begin just before the top of your jump to get maximum power from your legs. The body is in good vertical position. The shooting hand has a slight error, too. It is below the angle of release that is optimal for the ball to enter the basket at a good angle. Assuming that you shoot the ball to the basket in a straight line, the angle of your arm when you release the ball plays a major roll in the success of the shot attempt. Studies have shown that the arm should be extended above 54 degrees. To measure that angle zero degrees would be a horizontal plane starting at the shoulder joint. 90 degrees would be the vertical plane straight up from the shoulder. In this picture the player has a release angle of less than 45 degrees. The predicted angle of entry of the ball into the rim would be about 45 degrees if the ball was released at 54.46 degrees. This player's shot leaves the ball with an entry angle of about 36.5 degrees. In other words the shot's arch is to low, so the ball has less of a chance of clearing the rim. This is a common error of many shooters they release the ball with an angle that does not get the ball high enough to enter the rim at a good angle.
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Phase Three:
Follow-Through
The ball is well on its' way to the basket when this phase begins. It is actually a feedback phase to insure that proper technique and force was used during the shot. The shooter must evaluate what has just happened with the shooting hand and their body position. The index finger of the shooting hand should be held in its' finished state to make sure that a true end to the transfer of energy into the ball has been completed. Without proper follow-through, total summation of the velocities needed to put the ball into its' proper flight may be left incomplete. Incorrect follow-through means that direction and distance the ball will travel during the flight will be affected with negative results. In other words you will shoot a poor shot. Repetition of proper follow-through after each shot helps the mind finish in a common place. You use your follow-through to mentally evaluate your movements and forces in the release of the ball. It is the follow-through that allows you to make mental corrections for your next attempt.
There is a principle that applies to movement. It states that for every movement there is a reaction. Balance is a key to good shooting techinque. As you may notice the shooter on the left has landed with his left foot behind the right one. What caused him to land in this position? It looks like the non-shooting hand may provide a possible answer. The shooter has compensated for a motion made while shooting the ball with both hands. The foot has moved back to help maintain the shooters balance upon return to the ground. Another explanation may be a issue of power transfer to the ball. The shooter may have twisted at the hips to provide power to the flight of the ball. This is a common mistake that players make. Sometimes it also involves the twisting of the shoulders. Both of the twisting motions lead to the ball's flight being altered. The ball does not take a direct path to the basket. So the shooter's mind makes adjustments to the body's motion to compensate for the fact that the ball does not travel to the basket. This complicates the shooting motion and leads to poor shooting percantages. The player needs to practice using one hand while they are shooting the ball. Then they need to rely on the power from their legs and hips to transfer the power into the flight of the ball. Finally, the shooter needs to make sure that the angle of their release is higher. In other words they should finish with their shooting arm at an angle from the shoulder that is higher than half way if zero degrees is straight forward from the shoulder.
Basic Shooting Skills | Short Shot | Shooting Straight | Passing
©2000 by Londy Londerholm
