What is “Perfect” Basketall Shooting Form?
By Joe Haefner
Recently, I received an interesting email about Dave Hopla’s shooting form. It was in response to listing Dave as one of the shooting experts that we interviewed in our new Basketball Shooting Guide.
The email stated that Dave Hopla did NOT have great shooting form in the picture that was displayed on our site (you can see the actual picture on the right).
Now in all fairness, this is not a good picture of his actual shooting form. But this comment brings up a really interesting and important point about shooting the basketball.
Here’s my response that explains what I’m talking about:
You know what. I thought the exact same thing when I first started studying shooting. I thought Dave Hopla doesn’t have that great of shooting form, but after studying shooting for countless hours and developing our new Shooting Guide, I have came to a NEW conclusion on basketball shooting form…
You don’t need “perfect” or even “great” mechanics to be a great shooter. You need CONSISTENT & REPEATABLE shooting mechanics. If your shot is the same every time, it’s easier to make adjustments.
While I do highly recommend using “good” shooting mechanics, you can also look at Larry Bird’s and Peja Stojaković’s shooting form. Anybody with some knowledge of how to shoot would quickly notice that they had bad shooting form, yet they are arguably two of the top shooters that the NBA has seen in the last 25 years.
Even though, they didn’t have good shooting form, they did have the same shot mechanics on every shot. Now imagine if a coach would’ve said to Larry after he won back to back 3-point shootouts, “Now Larry, your form doesn’t look good so we’re going to have to change it.” As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
I think us coaches (me included) get a little obsessed sometimes with perfection not only when it comes to shooting, but other areas of the game as well. We want the players to have the perfect defensive slide or the perfect passing technique. We forget that basketball is an art. There is no perfect way to do anything. The real question is “Is the player effective?” which pertains to anything in basketball.
I’m not saying that coaches shouldn’t critique and help players make adjustments to become a better player, we just need to be careful and use logic and rational when doing so. If a kid knocks down 50% of his three point attempts, but his elbow sticks out while shooting, I’m not going to be the one to change it. Now, if you have a kid with bad shooting form that shoots 20% from the field, you should try to help the player make some adjustments to his/her shooting form. That’s where coaching comes into play and where the top coaches/trainers earn their money. They know when to leave players alone and when to offer advice to help them become a better player.
And back to Dave Hopla, the guy makes about 98% or 99% of his shots. I’ve never personally seen his speeches or shooting demonstrations, but I’ve heard they’re simply amazing and very few people in the world if anybody can do what he does. He’s had demonstrations where he’s made 350 of 350 shots while talking to the audience the entire time. If any of my players could do that, I couldn’t care less how he shoots the ball.
Some of the NBA’s best players such as Kobe Bryant have consulted with Hopla. He is also currently an assistant for Washington Wizards. So I do highly value what he has to say.
The end goal is to put the ball in the basket. It doesn’t matter how pretty it looks. I know Dave Hopla does a heck of a job, so I’m more than willing to listen to what he has to say.
What are your thoughts about basketball shooting form?
10 Comments
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Steve — October 24, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
I enjoyed this article and it reminded me of two of my favorite sportmans, Lee Trevino and Ray Floyd. Neither of them had much of a golf swing. Their swings were flat and jerky and never used by golf commentators to demonstrate perfect form. But both golfers had lots of success and played at the top of their game for many years. Their swings weren’t pretty but they were the same every time. Their preshot routine, address, positioning, back swing and follow through were the same each swing. This consistency made them great. Even today after all these years their swings haven’t changed.
Form doesn’t need to be picture perfect and admired by everyone. What works for you is best for you. Thanks for the memories and reminding me that hard work and grooving your shot (swing) is a skill that separates the good shooters from the great ones.
Kev — January 11, 2009 @ 4:39 am
WHO IS david hopla - 350 out of 350 is awesome
just wondering who he is…
Jeff Haefner — January 12, 2009 @ 8:26 am
Kev - Here’s a blurb on our website about Dave Hopla:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/btshooting.html#DaveHopla
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[...] What is “Perfect” Basketall Shooting Form? [...]
pablo — April 11, 2009 @ 9:04 pm
Man, tha’s true. I’m with you. You gotta see Tom Nordlan in Swish, his technique is AWFUL but he just almost can’t miss.
pablo — April 11, 2009 @ 9:04 pm
Man, that’s true. I’m with you. You gotta see Tom Nordlan in Swish, his technique is AWFUL but he just almost can’t miss.
Basketball Shooting Tips - What Part of The Rim To Focus On & The Guide Hand — June 21, 2009 @ 8:23 am
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dollars — June 24, 2009 @ 10:00 pm
teach your technique basic basketball plz…..
Scott — June 26, 2009 @ 12:13 pm
Joe, To say Dave Hoopla does not have ‘great shooting form’ is silly to say the least- for two reasons. One- look at the results both personally and professionally. This guy is certainly one of the best at shooting the basketball personally demonstrating 350/350. Dave made an unbelievable 35,332 out of 35,979 shots during his lectures. That is 99.02 percent. (nuf said). As good as a shooter that Dave is he is even a better teacher. I have his 2 DVD’s and they are excellent. He is a great teacher of shooting the basketball effectively in a simple system to every level.
You’re correct about the photo. You cannot take one photo and accurately assess a shooter. It seems to me the photo was taken well after the shot and his arms are heading towards the relaxed position- who knows how fatigued he was- he may have just finished 300 shots. I’d guess if you saw him in video or framed photo you’d gather what many have about the guy. ‘He is a great “clinician” of the most important skill in the game – shooting. And a great tactician is needed considering shooting % has been on the decline the past two decades.
I also like and own Herb Magee and Tom Nordland DVD’s (I bought Nordland’s two Swish DVD’s after reviewing your information). Herb Magee for his ‘shooting through the guide hand’ and his thumb closing and 2 fingers adding the last soft touch to the flight of the ball. Tom Nordland for his “UpForce” and the ‘Pure Release’. Great stuff! They each have their thing which is why I appreciate your work in ‘Breakthrough Basketball Shooting System’ which brings the best of the best shooting experts wisdom into one good resource. A Basketball Shooting Holy Grail. You saved me lots of study time. I coach two AAU teams and am an acknowledged ‘basketball junkie’. My three sons and two teams and I have submitted to these teachings and they have improved markedly. Good work. Kindest Regards, Coach Moore
Joe Haefner — June 26, 2009 @ 3:57 pm
Scott,
You’re probably right. To say that Hopla’s form isn’t great is probably silly. ‘Good’ and ‘Great’ are immeasurable, relative terms anyways. It was said more or less to prove a point that you don’t need perfect shooting mechanics to shoot the ball with a high percentage.
Thank you for the kind words about the Shooting System!