I had a chance to check out the local high school play-offs this season and was horrified by the poor shooting. In four championship games, many featuring D-1 bound players, the best offense was "chuck and chase": throw the ball towards the rim (hoping that goes in) and fight for the offensive rebound and any put-back opportunities. Granted, they were playing in an NBA arena and most of the teams over-relied on the three-point shot for their scoring opportunities, but the main reason for the poor shooting was the players' poor hand positioning when shooting the ball and their failure to be ready to shoot when they catch the pass.
Coaches concentrate on the shoulders and elbow when correcting player's shooting woes. However, many players hand positioning negatively impacts their shot, regardless of the elbow or shoulder. First, players must correctly position their hand on the ball; to do this, players should have their shooting hand centered under the ball. When shooting, the index and middle fingers should be the last two fingers to leave the ball; therefore, it makes sense to have these fingers centered.
There are three ways to make this happen: first, you can split your index and middle fingers with the ball's nozzle (the ball's center); or, you can align your middle finger with the ball's center; or, put your index finger in the center of the ball. All three work and make sense: if the goal is to shoot with your index and middle finger leaving the ball last, then both of them should be equally centered; but, if you are centering your middle finger toward the rim in a shooting motion, it's your index finger, not your middle finger, that points straight to the rim, while your body's physiology points your middle finger slightly to the right for a right-handed shooter.
My shooting philosophy is pretty simple; make the player confident and comfortable when shooting the ball. So I go with one of the three approaches that is most comfortable for the player. The only problem is when the player has his shooting hand on the side of the ball. The shooting hand has to be centered using one of the three approaches.
The other hand issue is getting the hand properly pointed towards the target. Unfortunately, most coaches and trainers focus on getting the player's shoulders squared and elbow straight; however, most players have their elbow in, but they have to twist their wrist to the target as part of the shooting motion. When the player has his hand under the ball properly, with a "wrinkle in the wrist," you'll also notice a small indentation at the base of the palm.
These two elements will instantly improve a players shooting technique and consistency. But to go from being a good shooter to a great shooter, it's vital to improve the base of a player's shot. The base is the shot's foundation, and determines everything thereafter; your hip, elbow, and wrist positioning are all affected by the base of your shot. A poor foundation really leads to an inconsistent shot. The first issue to look at is how the player receives the pass when they are ready to shoot. Most poor shots are taken because the player takes too long to catch and shoot. They simply aren't ready to shoot when they receive the ball, which allows the defense to close out and successfully contest the shot. To correct this, make sure that the player is ready to shoot as soon as the ball is in his hands; his feet are wide (about should width apart), knees bent, and hands up to catch the pass.
Also, players must use their legs to power their shot. A lot of players tend to shoot the ball on the way down of their jump shot, which eliminates the power generated by the leg drive when jumping. By shooting the ball on the way up, earlier in the jump, they player is able use the power generated by the leg drive and increase his power. Effectively using the increase in force created by using the leg drive will also help increase the arc on the ball when it's shot. Many streaky and inconsistent shooters shoot a very flat shot due to not using their leg drive properly. This allows little room for error, since your shooting a line drive directly at the rim instead of arcing into the hoop.
While the hand position, preparation to catch the pass and leg drive will not automatically create a shooter, improving these three areas will improve a player's ability to shoot consistently. Change is difficult, and players who have taken hundreds of thousands of shots have built bad habits that are difficult to change, especially if the player has had some measure of success. But, for a player to reach his potential, he must learn to shoot consistently, as the game boils down to the ability to put the ball in the hoop. By tweaking the hand placement on the ball as the player lifts the ball into the shot, while concentrating on receiving the pass prepared to shoot and then utilizing a solid leg drive, a player's consistency will increase, creating a better overall offensive player.
Professional basketball trainer, Brian McCormick, is passionate about basketball shooting and better basketball shooting.
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