Hello,

I have a 13-yr-old son who has been playing basketball now for about 11.5 years (only on a team for about 6 or 7). He has a pretty good game, now we want to work on fine tuning some things.

I watched him shoot free throws the other day. I could see that something didn't look right. He bends his knees and does most things right but he keeps his heels on the ground even on the release. This seems to make his shot a lot less smooth. It's like he 'snaps' the shot.

So, I am wondering how to teach him to come up on the balls of his feet to control the energy of the shot. Just keep harping on it while he shoots until it is habbit?

By the way, he is eager to get better.

Thanks everyone.

Shooting is all about FORM and MUSCLE MEMORY....

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/shooting-technique.html

He should end up slightly on his toes..... and I would start this way,.... go to a wall and do FORM shooting with him ending up on his toes. That way he wont have to worry about making shots.... once he get into the habit,,, he should be ok.

Not sure that harping will do any good, after all, hes a teenage haha .... but you cana keep encouraging him..... and let him know that IF he wants to improve his shot, these are the things he needs to do.

Show him that page from this site.

Here are three videos regarding shooting... the first two will show you that they end up going off their toes... thats the same technique at the free throw line. A 12 & 14 year old..... the other is from Steve Nash regarding form.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfTxHGOQdEc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYwgUiooJgI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdslodeCQH4&feature=related

If the works on this he should be able to correct that easily... just a lot of repitions.

That's great. Thanks for the help. We will work on this tonight. We bought your shooting program yesterday. He wants to go through it this summer if not earlier.

His team beat an undefeated team recently. It was a very tough game. Afterwards he told me that he has never worked so hard for something in his life. I can't tell you how proud I am of him.

Thanks for the help.

Mark

Congratulations on the big W!

From what you said here, I have no doubt that he will work very hard on this. Remind him that practice does NOT make pefect - PERFECT PRACTICE makes PERFECT.

" His team beat an undefeated team recently. It was a very tough game. Afterwards he told me that he has never worked so hard for something in his life. I can't tell you how proud I am of him. "

He sounds like a real competitor - the kind of kid that every coach wants on his team. You can be very proud of him.
If you have any other questions as he starts to work on this, don't hesistate to ask.

Coach Sar is correct, he needs to end up slightly on his toes after shot. Emphasizing that alone will probably help tremendously. The other suggestion I have is make sure he holds his follow through. You've probably heard coaches talk about "reaching for the peach" with your shooting hand.