| Basketball Shooting |
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| Fast Wrist Snap! |
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One of the final influences that you have when you shoot a basketball is the power released into the ball from your wrist.
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Super Fast Wrist Snap!
A quick wrist is essential to the transfer
of power needed to guide the ball into the rim. It is very important to have a
fast snap of your wrist during your release of the ball. The index finger of the shooting
hand provides the final contact point on the middle of the basketball. It feels like
you are pointing at the middle of the rim as your wrist snaps down. If you have
placed your index finger on the middle of the back of the basketball, and you snap
your wrist so that the index finger ends up pointing in and right down the middle of your
body you will guide the ball in a straight line.
Use the full range of motion in your wrist! Your index finger points the way! Make sure you shoot with one hand!
There are some players who have a slow wrist. This can cause you to have
a short shot. The transfer of power into the ball is slowed. Sometimes the
shooter does not use the full range of motion in their wrist. The wrist stops
and the hand does not continue until the needed range of motion is completed.
Picture the head and neck of a Swan when you shoot. If your hand does not finish
with hand and index finger pointing almost straight down it is a good sign that you have not used the full range of motion necessary to get the
ball to the rim.
Not only does the wrist transfer the power into the ball it provides the direction
needed to guide the ball into the rim. The direction given to the ball is provided
by how you use your index finger. When you shoot a basketball the index finger is like
a check point of finality. After the ball has entered the rim (or bounced out)
I recommend that your index finger should still be pointing at the rim.
If you will take an mental picture of where how that index finger lines up
with the rim it will tell you alot about how you shot the ball.
In Diagram A you see that the non-shooting hand is not on the basketball as you release the ball. This frees the shooting hand and wrist from any friction making for a smoother more efficient quick release. When you pracitce shooting a basketball make sure that once the ball is set in the shooting hand's pedestal that your non-shooting hand is off the ball(as shown in Diagram A)! Your wrist speed on the release of the basketball will be greater if it does not have to snap through your non-shooting hand's fingers.
Basic Shooting Skills | Short Shot | Shooting Straight | Passing
©2000 by Londy Londerholm
