Where should your fingers of your shooting hand be placed on the ball . Right now i put my index finger in the middle of the ball and i am thinking that this is giving me side spin . Also i struggle alot with range and tend to push the ball rather than shoot it when im outside the 3pt line . Im 17 and fairly strong and physical yet i dont have the range too shoot a 3 . Any help?

I think that in the heat of a game the last thing we are looking at is where our hand is... you get that from form shooting... try moving your finger over just a little bit, that should put your index and middle finger in about the middle of the ball.

As for coming up short on threes.... try getting more of your legs into the shot and then let us know how its going.

Focus on hand placement when you have time when working on your shooting form.

air hole of basketball should be between your middle and index finger.

for the side spin, sometimes the thumb of your guide hand can get in the way of your release...watch for that.

Good catch Coach A... I was just coming back to tell him that maybe his guide hand was effecting the shot.

When you practice form shooting.. do it with ONE hand close to the basket... that way you can check exactly what you are doing.

Great stuff, coaches.

This article might help as well "5 of the Biggest Basketball Shooting Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)"

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

Number 2 is the one that the coaches were referring to.

Thanks guys, I spent my entire shooting workout focusing on my hand placment it was tough and felt a bit weird shooting jumpers from 15 feet and on but near the end i started to feel very comfortable . I didnt work at game speed though because every time i did i would go back to my old habit of putting the index finger in the middle off the ball so i just positioned my hands when i catched it and then shot .

As for the strength in my jumper i tried to bend my knees as much as possible but it then results in a very slow release and loss of accuracy . I'm not sure what is wrong but i dont think it could be strength because i can definently hold my own down low and im 17 yrs old . I just want my jumper to feel effortless from the outside because then i can be a great shooter because i wont have worry about just making the distance.

Thanks guys

I might suggest that you start working closer to the basket at first and then work your way out until you reach the distance you want and are comfortable with... and above all.... successful.

Not everybody is a good three point shooter but IF you are patient with yourself..... you can achieve that goal.

Good luck.

Coach Sar

Yeah but i've been doing that for the last 2-3 years just working on my mid range . my Coach told me to develop a consistent outside shot this summer(im in australia) and if i do i can play div 1 ball . So im pretty eager to get a 3point shot now and im willing to do whatever it takes . If a 1000 correct shots each day is the answer then thats what i'll do

I believe that you will...... but you need to find the range where you are successful at.. and then work your way back slowly until you achieve your goal.
Make sure that your form is not affected and 1,000 shots a day should do the job. IF you can find someone to feed you balls that should go a little faster.... there are machines that feed balls to players but they can be pretty expensive.... if your school has one and you can get access to it that would be good.
I had a senior in high school shoot 1,000 free throws a day all summer long... he shot around 92% during the season.. he was automatic. This was all about muscle memory... he took one dribble and shot the ball during the season... none of this fancy ritual stuff.
By the way, do you know a coach by the name of Tony Gall from Australia?

Thanks for believing coach and thats great advice . I've got a couple of friends who come down with me here and there so that could help . So how should i know i'm ready to step out to the three point line ?? And do you think i will become a great shooter if i can shoot 1000 perfect shots daily.
Which state is Tony from??