Shooting Tips
Step 1 | Shot Preparation
Being a great shooter starts before you receive the basketball. Doing all the work before you get the ball can be the difference between having enough time to take a good shot or getting your shot blocked by a defender closing out.
- Start with your knees and hips slightly bent.
- Show your hands to give passer a target.
- Be mentally prepared to shoot.
Step 2 | The Foundation of a Good Shot
The “power” in a shot comes from the legs – whether it is a jump shot, or set shot (e.g. foul shot), the athlete pushes up from their legs to project the ball. It is particularly common with young athletes that they will use their upper body to try and generate the force to shoot. This can lead to exaggerated movements.
Step 3 | Hand Placement on the Ball
Upon catching the basketball or raising up into a shot, players must be able to quickly adjust their hands to the correct positions on the basketball. Line everything up so the ball and your shooting eye form a straight line to the basket. It is very important to do this the same way every time you catch it.
- Shooting hand under or behind ball with balance hand on the side.
- The thumb of your shooting hand and the base of the thumb on your balance hand should form a 'T'.
- Fingers should be spread comfortably wide on the basketball, with all finger pads and hand pads touching the basketball.
Step 4 | Balanced Base
"The key to being a good shooter is balance. Everything follows balance" – Larry Bird
Feet are shoulder width apart with dominant foot slightly in front. For good balance weight should be equally distributed on each foot. Once you have a comfortable stance, it should stay the same for every shot. If a player cannot get the base of their shot correct, then it's very hard to become a consistent shooter.
Step 5 | Feet Direction (The Turn)
When shooting the basketball, a player's feet should be pointed in the general direction of the basket.
If both your feet are lined up straight towards the hoop and you attempt to keep your elbow lined up with the rim while shooting with this base, you'll notice that tension is required in the chest.
To relieve the body of this tension, players should turn their feet slightly which will allow their elbow and shoulder to line up with the rim more comfortably.
“Work so hard that someday your signature will be called an autograph.” – Stephen Curry
Step 6 | Consistent Shot Pocket
The 'shot pocket' is the area a player is most comfortable starting the basketball from when beginning their shot. This will usually be around the lower chest or stomach area of a player and will either be in the middle of their body or slightly to the shooting hand side. All players must find what feels comfortable for them and keep it the same way every time they shoot.
Each time a player catches the basketball to shoot, they should be bringing the basketball back to their shot pocket before raising up into their shot. Keeping a consistent shot pocket ensures players are shooting the basketball with much better rhythm as they go up for their shot.
Step 7 | Eyes on the Target
- Locate the target (back of the rim) as early as possible.
- Keep your eyes on the target and do not follow the flight of the ball.
- Keeping your target focus is very important!
If you are constantly changing the target you're aiming at, it's nearly impossible for you to become a consistent shooter.
Step 8 | Wrinkle the Wrist
Shooting with a straight wrist is another one of the most common problems for youth players. Players who do this will often push the basketball towards the rim (flat shot) instead of shooting the basketball up and through the rim.
The aim of this step is to get the wrist of the shooting hand bent back as far as possible (usually a little before 90 degrees). This will give extra power to the shot and will also create the necessary backspin required to be a good shooter.
When bent back correctly, there will be small wrinkles in the skin on the back of the shooting wrist. This provides a convenient visual cue for players to know if they are bending their wrist back correctly before shooting.
Step 9 | Elbow Under the Basketball
When you're raising up for the shot, the elbow of your shooting arm should be directly under the basketball. This requires players to have their upper and lower arm forming an 'L' shape and also have their wrist bent back to 90 degrees (step 8).
Doing this will ensure that the basketball will be shot in a straight line to the rim and also have good backspin.
Players who flare their elbow out while shooting will often miss to the left or right because they're not shooting the basketball straight.
A player will often flare out their elbow when they don't turn their feet correctly (step 5). This is because the chest requires uncomfortable tension to pull in the elbow when 10 toes are pointing towards the rim.
Step 10 | Balance Hand
The 'balance hand' is what we call the non-shooting hand. As the name implies, its only role during the shooting motion is helping to balance the basketball on the shooting hand up until the release point.
There should be no force or spin from the balance hand when a shot is taken.
As the elbow starts to extend in the shooting motion, the balance hand releases flat off the side of the basketball.
If the balance hand isn't flat on release, this means that a player has pushed the basketball with their balance hand (most often with their thumb) while in the shooting motion and the shot will usually end up missing left or right.
Step 11 | Rhythm Shot + Follow Through
The final step is where it all comes together...
Shooting with rhythm involves many parts occurring simultaneously:
- The basketball is lifted up from the shot pocket.
- The knees and hips straighten out as the player raises themselves into the air for power.
- The elbow of the shooting arm straightens up in the air once the basketball has been lifted past shoulder height. (To check if you're shooting the basketball up into the air at the correct angle, make sure that the elbow of your shooting arm finishes next to your eyebrow on the follow through).
- Near the peak of the shot, the wrist is snapped in the direction of the rim so that they fingers are pointing towards the ground. This will ensure the basketball has good backspin resulting in a 'soft' shot.
- Also at the peak of the shot, the balance hand will release from the basketball keeping perfectly flat. This ensures the balance hand isn't pushing the basketball.
- The final two fingers to touch the basketball should be the index and middle fingers at the same time.
- When you return to the ground, the rhythm of your jump shot will have guided your body forward slightly of where you took off from. When practicing, I encourage players to hold this form until the basketball has hit the rim so that they can look up and evaluate their technique.
At the end of the day, to win basketball games, you need to put more points on the scoreboard than the other team.
And improved shooting does that!
If a player is able to make 35% of their three-point shots, they'll be more efficient than a player who makes 50% of their two-point shots.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you.
We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not in just some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
– Marianne Williamson