Twisting while shooting

My son has for some reason has started to twist when he shoots the ball. His ball side foot is slightly ahead which is fine, but while he is in the air his ball shoulder is
forward and his body is almost sideways. He can't figure why he is doing that, but he said he noticed it about 2 months ago. He is trying to correct it and now is having a hard time shooting well consistenly. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Impossible to say without seeing him shoot. But maybe it's just the natural way he should shoot. I personally do the same thing while in the air. I know other players adjust their body like that on their jump. I recently worked with a player doing that and just moved his shooting foot forward a little more and had his feet always point to the left of the basket. It helped him quite a bit. More of a staggered stance. Non shooting foot just hangs back comfortable. Just always needs to be the same (consistent) what ever stance is chosen. I believe it should be comfortable.

I agree with Joe, we always taught BEEF but that doesn't mean that IF your shot is a little different that its wrong.

I would ask you this... what are the results like? Shooting % ? IF he is having good results I wouldn't change it. JMO

His shooting % is worse, but I'm wondering if it is more mental than physical. His shot confidence has went down. I'm working on it - it may just take time.

Thanks guys

Remember, shooting is all about muscle memory.... I would think that as long as his follow through is good/consistent.... hand in the cookie jar and holding the follow through... his % should improve. What level does he play at?

Have your son start closer to the basket... 4-5 feet and work his way back.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

One thing I stress in my shooting clinics is to keep the guide hand up with the follow through, this helps prevent the excessive upper-body twisting.

You're not shooting with the guide hand by any means, but you keep it up there.

He will be a sophmore playing on varsity as a point gurd. He is a good sound player. I just can't figure out why he would be turning so much this year. The deeper the range the more he rotates while shooting. I had him close to the basket and there is a slight twist.

Thanks

Without seeing his shot... and you saying the "twisting" is more pronounced the further he gets away from the basket.... maybe he is shooting out of his comfort zone?

I can send a short video if you would care to take a look. I don't think he is out of his comfort zone, although he used to shoot from in front of his chest with a good follow through, he is now shooting the ball in front just above his shooting side eye with a good follow through.

Thanks

A video would give us a better idea of what he is doing....

Let me know if the video is good enough - thanks


http://www.adaptivemediausa.com/bball.mp4

His shot looks pretty good to me ..... the only thing I might suggest is that he holds his follow through until the ball goes through the net........

He was hitting a lot of his shots in this video? If thats the case, tell him you are going to video all his games haha :-)

I watched a JJ Redick shooting video recently. He says shooting is a progression. Nobody's shot is ever perfect. You have to work on form constantly. Even great shooters will develop bad muscle memory once in a while and they have to go back and work on it.

I'm very meticulous about shooting form. After looking at the video, I would say his problem starts with his footwork. Most shooting instuctors I've seen have said "ten toes to the goal." In the video it looks like his feet are pointed to the right of the goal, which causes his body to appear twisted. I did not notice any twisting in the air. He just isn't squared up when he begins the shooting motion. In the video he is doing a one-two step moving to the right, dribbling with his right hand. He needs to turn his hips a little more so that his right foot comes around square to the basket.

We started every practice with BEEF check, meaning, when they came on the floor they had to do that to make sure their form was correct.... which they can also do when shooting free throws.

We also talked about coming off the inside foot to square you up to the basket.... but again... IF he has a good shooting % I wouldn't mess with his shot too much.

Why don't you chart his shooting, to include some free throws and lets see where he is at.

Didn't realize there was a video to look at. I don't see what I would call twisting. What I see is drifting to his right. His head and shoulders are moving to the right. This unnecessary motion is impossible to duplicate from one shot to the next. He, in effect, is taking a different shot every time he shoots as the distance and the speed of the drift cannot be replicated exactly. Other than being a machine, the only way to replicate motion is to not have any motion at all. The key to having no motion at all in his shot is for him to keep his head and shoulders absolutely still as he goes through his shooting motion. As a collateral indication of his keeping his head and shoulders still, you will find that he will begin to land in the same spot that he takes off from. Good on-the-ball defense will attempt to force him to drift even more, and his shooting percentage will go down even more.

On looking closer at his technique, I can see the slight twising that you are talking about, which seems to cause his shooting arm to also move to the right right toward the end of his mechanics. This is disastrous for shooting for the same reason mentioned above - a twisting motion is difficult (impossible) to replicate. Again, he must keep his head and the twisting of his shoulder STILL throghout the entire delivery of the ball to the basket.