We did that at the high school level boys varsity also.... its a great reminder and is good for muscle memory. When our players were having a problem with their shots dropping I encouraged them to get to the free throw line... that way they could think about their form without being rushed. That had a way of getting them back on track.

Ken

I coach professional basketball in China and the one thing I notice here is that many of the young players are influenced by the shooters in the NBA. Further, they all want to make the three pointer and this, in my opinion, throws off all form as they are not shooting naturally. Don't allow young players to shoot or even practice the three until their form is right and they are fairly adept closer to the basket. Trying to emulate Kobe is a mistake, Kobe is Kobe and has been taking a thousand shots a day all of his career but if you break down his shot, according to purists, his technique is not how the book describes it. However, watch his finish, his shoulders are always square to the hoop, and his fingers are always inside the rim and he holds it till the ball drops.

Coach Mac

This is going to be more challenging than I thought.

I've got ten kids, of those ten 4 kids are strong enough to get the ball to the rim, 1 kid will not reach the rim this year, and it requires every ounce of strength the rest of the kids have to get the ball to the rim (heaving it up there), never mind shooting with proper form. I honestly don't know what to do with the kids who require more development in terms of strength to even hit the rim.

Joe,

After having my first practice on a ten foot rim with this age group I gotta tell you, I think your article was spot on! I read it again this morning and will be looking to apply it's principals in practice.

Thanks.

Every kid wants to shoot the three... in our summer camps before we started.. there were all the little kids HEAVING the ball up from the ARC..... always had to stop that because I didn't want that to ruin what I was trying to teach.

Amazing thing.. the younger kids worked very hard on their form once we got started... I could walk around and make a comment about how good they were doing or you need to hold the follow through longer.... almost all of them were doing the first 3 parts of BEEF well... it was the follow through that I had to remind them about. We started close to the basket and worked our way out... both the kids and I found out what there range was and I encouraged them to stay within their range when practicing... it will pay off later if you do.

Be patient with them... its a tough gig... the younger and smaller they are the harder it is.

I got similar advice from our league director. I'm going to stay at it and stay positive. Thanks.