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Shooting
The Basketball
“Great Shooters
Are Not Born, Great Shooters Are Made!”
This is a
fundamental truth about shooting. It is not an easy thing to accomplish.
In the Knights Shooting Camp we want to provide you with as much
instruction as possible to improve your shooting. This will only happen
if you are dedicated and are willing to work with great intensity.
Remember,
practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent! Only perfect
practice makes perfect. Two major goals of shooting practice are proper
technique and accuracy. Remember to warm-up by starting close to the
basket. Remember the
BEEF
method of shooting:
Balance,
Elbow Straight and Under the Ball, Eyes on the Target, and Follow
Through.
Your
improvement will be based primarily on how serious and how hard you work
at each drill. You most likely will get out of the drill only what you
put into it. Great effort with the proper fundamentals will result in
great success!
Proper shooting technique includes everything from
proper foot position to a proper follow through. It is difficult to say
that one part of a shot is any more important than any other part. With
this in mind we will discuss the proper shooting mechanics to develop a
consistent and accurate shot.
Hand position on the ball and ball rotation:
The strong hand (right for a right handed person
and left for a left handed person) should be positioned in the middle of
the basketball. The opposite hand or support hand should be positioned
on the side of the ball.
As we shoot the ball, we pull down with our index
and middle fingers on the strong hand giving the ball the proper
rotation.
Elbow and lift:
The elbow of the strong hand should be positioned
underneath the ball and slightly raised. When we shoot the basketball,
we must lift our elbow and follow through by pulling down with our index
and middle fingers.
When talking about elbow lift, we often refer to
shooting out of an old-fashioned telephone booth. We cannot go straight
out or we would hit the glass. We must lift the ball and go out the top.
As we lift the ball and follow through by pulling down with our middle
and index fingers our follow through looks like a child’s hand reaching
up into a cookie jar.
Picture window and support hand:
The support hand should be positioned at the side
of the ball. The ball should be held in a position that allows the
shooter a clear view of the basket. A right handed shooter will hold the
ball near the right eye with arms forming a window to the basket. A left
handed shooter will hold the ball by the left eye.
As we hold the ball and shoot the ball, our support
hand does just what the name implies. It supports the ball. It is not to
be involved in the actual shot or follow through.
Shoulders and hips:
Our shoulders and hips should be square to the
target. If we are shooting off of the backboard we must be square to the
backboard. If we are not using the backboard, we should be square to the
rim.
Knee position:
When we shoot the ball, the power for our shot
comes from our legs so we must bend our knees and assume an athletic
position. As the game progresses and we start to leave shots short it is
often because we are not getting enough power from our legs.
“Great
Shooters Are Not Born, Great Shooters Are Made!” |
