hello there :) I have a question about B.E.E.F. . Where EXACTLY should i place my elbows? and any advice on how to improve my shoowting form? Thank you so much and God bless :)

Carlo -

Lets talk about the elbow on your shooting hand.... try this, take one dribble and bring the ball up with your shooting hand only... you will find that your elbow is NOT directly under the ball but it will be in a position to keep the ball on your shooting hand. (it will be slightly out from your body)

Here are a couple of links - one to another BK BB site which shows you hand placement and typical problems that some shooters have. There are a lot of questions from other players there that you might want to browse through after you read the article at the top. And the second link is a 14 year old using the swish method.

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/shooting/5-shooting-mistakes.html

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

I taught the BEEF method to my players with a lot of success. We had George Lehman at our school for a couple of clinics... talk about amazing. He RARELY missed a shot.

The first thing you have to do is correct your form... that can be done by shooting against a wall so you don't have to worry about making the shot... only using correct form - It could take 100s of shots a day until you have correct form, each person is different. This is all about muscle memory so you have to change yours.

Then you can go to the basket and do what we called BEEF check going from Block to the Middle to the other Block.

Step 1 - We started this with the SHOOTING HAND ONLY.... maybe 12 shots in all.
Step 2 - Then you can bring your guide hand up but NOT on the ball and do the same thing. 12 more shots.
Step 3 - - 12 more shots with your guide hand in the proper position. ( your guide hand has nothing to do with the shot other than to keep the ball in the proper position on your shooting hand.)

The next thing to do would be to step back several feet... 6-7 feet? Now repeat Step 3, don't move any further back until you have mastered this distance. Once you are shooting with a good percentage, you can move further back. Don't move to the three point line if you are shooting 30 percent from 10 - 15 feet.

Don Kelbick says that a good shooting percentage is around 46% and in game situations that is good... in practice, from short range, I would like to see it a little higher.

From the free throw line... depending on your age and ability level, 60 to 80 percent is what I had my kids try to achieve.

To explain BEEF for those who haven't heard that term.
B - Balance ( staggered stance, one foot slightly in front of the other )
E - Elbow under the ball ( the elbow might be SLIGHTLY out )
E - Eye on the target (keep your eye on the target until the ball goes in)
F - Follow through..... ( keep your arm extended until the ball goes in)

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Thank you very much coach. :) By the way i am 13 years old. My height is 5'5 and my weight is 140 lbs or 65kg(im pretty fat and heavy) :) . I have watched the video of the 14 year old practicing swish method and hes very amazing. But what is swish method anyway? How can i practice it?I wish i could be a great shooter :) . Thank you very much again and God bless :) im very sorry for so many questions :)

13 years old and 5'5 / 140 ... I don;t think that qualifes as fat, maybe a little stocky but remember, you are only 13 and have a lot of growing to do. When I was 13 I was 4'11 and a Freshman in high school - 5'6 when I graduated. So, don't worry about your height and weight right now. Keep working out and your weight will change.

Here is something that Joe wrote about the Swish Method -

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/blog/index.php/my-personal-experience-with-tom-nordlands-swish-method/

If you want to be a great shooter it is going to take a lot of practice... but that will only help you if you have great form... so, work on your form, make ti as perfect as you can. Have someone watch you and work out with you.
Maybe you can ask your coach to help you out.

PERFECT PRACTICE makes PERFECT - It will take you 1,000s of shots to become a great shooter, just make sure you have your form corrected. Then go for it. By the way, here is something that Don Kelbick said..
." IF YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS A SHOT, DON'T SHOOT. "

By the way, thanks for the Blessing, so God Bless you also. (you can ask all the questions that you want, thats why we are here - to help players and coaches.)

Thank you very much coach! It helped me alot :). God bless:)

Ive just read the link you gave. Now i pretty much understand what swish is . :) but is there a free way to learn swish? Thanks again and God bless :)

I haven't watched that DVD but maybe Joe can help you out a little bit there.

okay :) thanks coach!

I really enjoy Swish2 and One Motion.

Here are the links to the videos:
http://swish22.com/

http://www.onemotionbasketball.com/videotrainingfiles.html

Uhhm hello there sir joe:) thanks for sending the links. Is there a free way to learn these methods? Or i really need to buy them? Thank you so much and God bless :)