question about B.E.E.F. and how to practice my shooting form

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 :)

hello again coach sar :) I have watched a video from youtube about b.e.e.f. . my question is, is it also correct that your elbows should be aligned on your knees when shooting? here is the link that i just watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_59bUjM6mPs . Thank you so much coach and God bless :)

Carlo -

If you cant buy that video, go back to my original post and try that...
Look at this page, it walks you through things you need to know and work on....

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

Then look at how I taught BEEF and you can do those things... that should help you to become a better shooter.

Try this for awhile and then let us know how it is going for you.

Okay:) thank you very Much for the help coach. May God bless you always :)

Your welcome Carlo and God Bless you too. Good luck and let us know how this goes.

hello coach sar :) just practiced shooting form on a high wall (i think its like 12-13 feet) But I noticed something. I think im getting power from my arm because the moment i deliver the ball my arm is getting lowered. I should be getting power from the legs right? Is there something wrong? or maybe i need to practice on a lower wall ? I tried putting a guide hand and see if it fixes it. And yes it fixed it but the form was not quite right. sorry i can`t briefly explain how i practice. maybe i could try to record myself and send it to you. Thank you so much and God bless :)

Carlo -

Seeing a video would help a lot... the basket is 10 feet high, but for form.... I'm not so sure that when you shoot off a wall that you need to shoot that high. Remember, you are trying to correct your form and that is what its all about. FORM - make sure your form is correct - shooting 100s of shots will help that (against a wall) You might try shooting 50 from shots and then move to the basket and shoot with ONE hand.... and yes, you should be getting some power from your legs.

Do the BEEF check 2-3 feet with one hand, that should correct your shooting hand (form) and then you can move back a few feet and shoot some more. Once you are happy with the way your shot is progressing, you can add your guid hand. This is going to take a lot of reepititions to create a new muscle memory.... so be patient with yourslef.

Good luck and let us know how you are progressing.

By the way Carlo -

As for your elbow over your knee.... when you bring the ball up with one hand into the shooting position, your elbow should be over your knee or very close to that.

oh i see :) Thank you so much coach! Be safe and God bless :)

Carlo -

I think you were talking about shooting with your off hand also... layups? Here is a link to a great drill, we called it X out.

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/offense/foul-shot-plays.html

There are a couple of other videos that you might find interesting also.

hello coach :) yesterday was the third day practicing form shooting. Honestly im not counting how many shots i have been doing. I just shoot and shoot until my hand hurts lol. This morning i tried putting a guide hand and I think its good. But my coach (my father) told me i need to jump. But when i jump i cant control the ball properly. So how can i control the ball properly and how can i maintain the proper shooting form when jumping. When im not jumping i could do my form shooting perfectly but when adding a jump my form becames really bad. So in other words, How to do a perfect jumpshot? Or should i still need to practice my form ? What do you think coach? Thank you and God bless. :)