Form Shooting Drill

I've used this drill at the beginning of my practices for years.
What I do in addition for this drill is include the following rules...
1. If you make 5 shots in a row (no backboard), you take one step backward.
2. If you MISS 3 shots in a row, you take one step toward the hoop (unless you're at the original position).
These rules give a bit of an incentive for better concentration.

thank you for this drill and tips. i am coaching a 9 and 10 year old girls team(my daughter)and i have been trying to teach proper shooting form to several of the girls. i have been playing basketball since i was 5 and know proper form but wasn't able to get consistently get my point across. i am confident this will help and plan on using during my practices. thank you.

tyvm im learning alot from ur tips and drills.

I really appreciate the newsletter and the tips. I haven't coached for a long time, and so an assistant volunteer turned into a head coach volunteer for my daughters 5-6th grade teem. I have enjoyed reading up on drills, plays and tips. They are a lot of help!

Thanks!

Trish

It is much easier to teach shooting skills to beginners than kids who have played basketball or who have experienced playing in mini-tournaments and eventually acquired poor shooting habits, sadly with nobody telling them the right form or shooting mechanics. Please allow me to share this. In shooting, my focus is, as I call it, on the 4 S of shooting: spacing, spread, side to side control, stretching plus the "finger ruler" rule where the index finger is positioned in the "center" of the ball, at eye-brow and forehead level, comfortably straight like a ruler and follow-through. The 4 s is actually similar to developing dribbling skills. Thanks a lot and Happy New Year!

Indeed i found it much easier to teach the proper shooting form using one hand then with 2 hands,,I coach a 9-10 years old boys.They're progressing in a very noticeable way..I'm thinking of buying shooting equipments like:the shooting gloves and other equipments that helps in shooting with perfect form.
Thank you very much .

this drill is verry good but with guides under 14 years i want drill to hi jump in lay up

All information is very important for me and my students.They help to teach of the this game very well.
Regards
Lucy

the "cookie jar idea"....is a bad idea. When kids think of putting their hand in a cookie jar the visualize their fingers CLOSED. Instead their fingers sshould be spread slighlty apart. The cookie jar thing is a common myth.

Hi JJ,

Yes, that is a good point and the hand is supposed to be relaxed. Coaches should point out the proper follow through and not rely on a kid’s wide interpretation of what “putting their hand in the cookie jar” might entail. The cookie jar is just a fun analogy to help kids remember to hold their follow through. You should also be careful about telling kids to have fingers spread apart. Instead, it should be a relaxed and comfortable follow through. Finger should not be too wide, and not too close together. A stiff follow through will result in a lower shooting percentage. The keyword here is “relaxed”.



If anyone has another good follow through analogy, please share…

I am a first year coach working with JV and Varsity girls. Many of my girls have been shooting with incorrect form for so long. Although I have applied these drills, it seems my veterans resort back to their old ways. I know it takes more than a couple of weeks to fix years of incorrect mechanics. Any suggestions other than have patience. Thanks

Al,

Yes, we all face that same problem! I have a few suggestions to help break those old shooting habits:

1) Practice shooting form away from the basket. When ever changing mechanics you should move away from the basket. You can shoot to a partner, shoot from a chair in the air, shoot to a place on the wall, or shoot to a place on the floor.

Why? Because when you change mechanics, the first thing that happens when you shoot, is you miss. This is very discouraging for a player. They immediately think their old way is better and they want instant gratification, so they go back to the old way.

2) Lots of repetition. It takes hundreds and thousands of reps to break old habits.

3) Explain that they will be much better in the long run and it takes time.

I suggest listening to this interview, which explains how to solve this problem in more detail:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/audio/news7kelbick.html

Good luck!

Jeff Haefner
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com

Al-
I have coached for thirty years and am coaching varsity girls at a new h.s. this year.
Whether coaching girls or boys I have always found it beneficial when teaching a new fundamental in shooting, have them shoot to a partner or at a spot on the wall. Usually what happens when using the basket is they focus more on result (making it) instead of the process (changing it), thus they resort back to old habits. Hope this helps.
-steve dement

Re: the 'cookie jar' thing - I was always taught the 'gooseneck' and 'wave the ball goodbye'. Waving goodbye is good because it implies a loose, relaxed wrist.

Thanks guys for the drills, and brilliant website. No doubt will be spending a lot of time on here. Greetings from the UK. Vince.

thanx for this very important information that u send me.
*the deffense link u send it to me need acredit card and i didn't use it,so try to send me another some thing i can use it,thank u.
*i need drills and plays that could help players to move and play as ateam(basic drills).
*i need more drills for 1/1and 2/2-3/3-forgive me because i ask u for alot of things,but i'm anew coach and i want to be agood one.thanx

all is very corect, i've seen that after i read it.
it helped me to really realise what i've done 3-4 years
amazing!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!
i am sure this will help and guide a lot of youngs players.

all my respects, ASH

Al
These drills are very good for players around 8-11 years old. Sooner or later they will learn the correct shooting form.
These drills really help.Everything is a good idea, but the ''cookie jar'' thing, not really.
I would rather watch Ray Allen attempt a jump shot.


Max

This is a very good drill for ages 8-11 but i am a bit older then that and i need better drills to learn but other people need to check this web out because other then this being to young it good information!


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Dear sir/madam,
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thank's about this ,it's very good

I have found that doing this type of form shooting with a heavy ball (twice weight of a regulation ball) adds a bit of functional strength training to the shot release mechanics. However, I require that the shooter''s off hand be in its proper position on the side of the ball (but not touching the ball). This keeps the shoulders square and does not introduce a body position that does not naturally occur during shooting (i.e., arm at the side).

Everything should be focused on developing proper muscle memory. After a sequence of rotation through 5 spots around the basket, we move back two big steps (allow the off hand to be placed on the ball) and introduce some combination motion mechanics, such as, triple threat/shot fake/strong-side jab/shot...or, triple threat/shot fake/cross-jab/shot...or, triple threat/shot fake/strong-side jab/shot fake/cross-jab/shot. Focus is on efficiency of ball movement (i.e., straight-line movements), body positioning and motion mechanics. With the heavy ball this has the added benefit of working on some transverse functional strength movements.

I have found this short, heavy ball, near-basket shooting routine has helped to improve shooting range with proper mechanics. Made baskets during the heavy ball routine are secondary in importance to proper form and follow through.

Rick Allison
LoneStar Basketball Academy
http://www.lonestarbasketball.com
[[[ C2E ]]]

good site for basketball

I have been playing basketball for 10 years. I am 15. Ive been to a bazillion camps. I made varsity my freshman year. I practice everyday. and everyday i practice the basics. If you want to be a good shooter you have to go up to your basket and practice your form. I usually spend 3-4 hours a day in my driveway trying to make perfect swishes. Very close to the basket at first. If I make 3 in a row without the ball touching the rim I take a step back, until i get to the 3 point line. then i start over. It has made me a very good shooter.

I also coach 6,7th and 8th graders. Its hard to get them to shoot well because they dont have enough strength to get the ball up. My advice would be just go over the basics with them. Put them all at a basket and do the drill described above and have a contest ( if you dont they wont try). If you have an assistant one of you stand on one side of the court, making sure they perfectly swish it and dont touch the rim. Whoever makes the most wins. Im going to do it in my next practice

this helped me alot so it can help you keep on trucin with that shot

The instructions are well stated but I hope you can come up with pictures so that those younger age players will have a clear visualization of the process. Furthermore, these tips are great, or make the best!

Hi Eric,

You can find pictures at this link: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/shooting.html

Hope that helps.

Joe Haefner
www.breakthroughbasketball.com

Do all 3 players shoot at the same time or 1 at a time explain the 3 players at a basket and how they interact and take turns?

Hi Tim,

A player will be in front of the rim, a player will on the side of the rim, and another player will be on the other side of the rim. You blow the whistle and tell them to start.

Tell the players to take a few shots, then shoot from a different shot. As for shooting at the same time and rotating, the players usually figure that out themselves. I've never had a problem with it.

Joe Haefner
www.breakthroughbasketball.com

you must tell your players to put three fingers on the horizontel line ,
ih order yo have a good and fuster speen of the ball.
tell them to take the fingers slithly back on sendung the ball away.

thanks very for a new tips, new knowleged in form of shooting. This can help us in our team to improve our shooting. Thanks very much and GODBLESS!

thank you very much i have been trying to improve my players close range and overal shooting ability this also helps my players with there rebounding also thank you so much.

This drill is very good to practice shooting the correct way!!! Whenever i warm-up i do these drills so i can get the feel to shoot and have good control of my shots!!!

dear coach i am having trouble with my boys baseline shooting and there overal speed what would you reckamend ?

Irishman,

To improve your teams shooting check out our new basketball shooting guide:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/btshooting.html

This covers pretty much all aspects of shooting.

Jeff

its all well and good saying that the book is gonna do this but im not gonna pay for somethin without some shooting drill examples in section 2 thanks for nothing

Irishman, you bring up a good point. That is something we are actually working on. Putting samples from the product on the page, so you can determine if you are interested. We do have sample drills that we would use on drills page: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/basketballdrills.html

and shooting fundamentals here: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/shooting.html

Hopefully, that helps.

ive already seen these drills and with 6 to 9 players its hard to keep them involved wothout complecating things (i only have a half court) what NEW drills do you recamend

thank u i have a great shot now

thanks for sharing all of these tips they will be helpful in preparing my 9 and 10 year olds for the upcoming season

... I've been playing basketball in league's for around 11 years, (4th Grade-Sophomore year in college) and all my coaches taught me to look at the back of the rim, not the front...

I really enjoy your tips. I just bought a video that was recommended (swish 2) I have two very good athletes that have very ugly shots. We do form shooting daily, but they do everything right handed in life EXCEPT shoot. It looks sick. They are strong kids so they don't need to use two hands. Any advice? Do you think Swish2 will help me? What can I do in the meantime as I wait for the video?

Hi Justin,

Once you get Swish 2, I believe it will provide you with a lot of good shooting information to start with. We also have a lot of good information on our shooting page: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/shooting.html

We also have developed our own product on shooting that includes an ebook that covers the fundamentals of shooting, an ebook that covers shooting drills, and an ebook that covers shooting workouts. it also includes audio of 6 shooting experts we interviewed. If you are interested, you can check out it out here: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/btshooting.html

I have found 9 to 10 year olds do not have the strength in their arms and wrists for this drill. At this age, both hands are needed to shoot the ball. We discuss proper form and by age 12 to 14, the strength will start to develop.

Hi Dan,

For younger players, my advice would be to use lower hoops and smaller balls. This makes a huge difference.

I would also advise to teach shooting form away from the basket, so "made" shots do not influence the way young players choose to shoot the ball.

They see one go in and they think they should shoot like that everytime, when that same shooting form they used to make the shot could be detrimental to them improving in the future.

dear coach

my players are getting tired of the same drills , can you please email me some new drills that arent to complicated and that we as a team ( and i as a coach)
can pick up quick

i thought you had to look at the back of the rim when you shoot.

i am just looking for stuff to teach and talk about with preschoolers and so them how to shoot

Hey thanks this has really helped me becom a better shot we use this during basketball practice alot to make us better, but it helps to hold your follow thorugh with your fingers WIDE. GO GOLDEN EAGLES

Hey coach, I am a middle school boy's coach and my playing days have been reduced to a recreational league every winter. However, every year when getting the rust off the jumper, this is the drill I begin every workout session with. It's great for triggering old muscle memory or reinforcing new muscle memory for youth players.

Hi i really like these drills and newsletters. I am the captin of my team and i need some help with my left hand i can dribble really good left handed but its the close shots and lay ups left handed i need work on. If you have any tips, suggestions, or sites that could help me please anwser back.thanks so much!!


From ryley down on the coast of fundy bay

I really like these drills. The only thing I can think of is that you need some more one person drills. A lot of people I know don't have anyone to help. I would appreciate it if you could find some one person drills.

Hi Alex,

We have plenty of player drills in this section. You can almost adjust any of these drills to be done by yourself: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/basketball-drills-players.html

I would to others that player should end up with elbow above your eye, so that players willlearn proper arch technique.

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http://toplaywithfire.blogspot.com/

Your link is already on my site, that would be awesome if you could return the favor.