Going into his junior year, I was convinced Ryan would be one of our best shooters.

Almost every day after practice, he stayed late to shoot on the Gun. He tracked his percentages carefully and took pride in improving them.

From three-point range, he was consistently shooting 60–65% in workouts.

Naturally, I was excited. I knew there would be some game slippage. However, if he could shoot anywhere close to that in games, we were going to have a real weapon on the floor.

Then the season started.

Ryan struggled early. A few missed shots turned into hesitation. His confidence dipped. By the end of the year, he finished the season shooting 28% from three and eventually lost his spot in the rotation.

So what happened?

It would be easy to say it was just a confidence issue. Or maybe mechanics. Or maybe game pressure.

But looking back, I realized something important.

Ryan had been working hard. He was getting up shots. But most of his workouts looked the same every day.

He was practicing one type of shooting drill.

But the truth is, if players want to become great shooters, they need to practice shooting in various ways that prepare them for the variety of shots they’ll take in games.

The problem is that games demand many different types of shots and situations. If you only train one or two types of drills, you’re not fully preparing yourself for what actually happens during games.

That’s why in this article, we’ll cover 7 types of shooting drills every player should practice.

Whether you’re a coach building a shooting program for your team or a player designing your own shooting workouts, you’ll want to ensure that you are including each type of drill in your shooting practice.

To make it practical, we’ll also share an example of each drill type from the Breakthrough Basketball Shooting & Scoring System, created by shooting coach Jim Huber.

Coach Huber has worked with and developed NBA and high-major college players, including:

• Michael Porter Jr. (NBA Champion)

• Alec Burks

• Willie Cauley-Stein

• Semi Ojeleye

He’s helped players at every level build more consistent, repeatable shooting mechanics and scoring skills.

The drills we’ll look at are designed to help players develop game-ready shooting ability — so the shots you make in workouts actually translate to games.

7 Types of Shooting Drills Every Basketball Player Should Practice

1. Form Shooting Drills

To be an elite shooter, you need a consistent, repeatable form that’s built on a foundation of good habits.

The San Antonio Spurs famously started their shooting workouts with form-shooting drills they called “vitamins.”

That’s a great way to think of it. Form shooting shouldn’t be the majority of your workout. However, 5-10 minutes spent working on the habits you need is a worthwhile investment of your time.

For example, you might use a drill like Stop Shooting if you tend to shoot a flat shot:

2. Block Shooting Drills

You can’t become a great shooter without reps. Block shooting drills are an efficient way to get a lot of shots up.

They are also great for comfort and confidence. Block drills involve shooting the same shot over and over.

An example would be the Beat the Pro drill to work on your free throws:

3. Variable Shooting Drills

Variable shooting drills mix different types of shots. Rather than shooting the same shot over and over, you might cycle through a rotation of shots.

The 55 Shooting Drills is a great example of this:

4. Random Shooting Drills

Random shooting drills are drills where the shooter does not know where the next shot will be attempted. Every shot is different.

Random shooting drills are effective because they mimic the game, where players can’t anticipate where their next shot will come from.

The 3 Person, 2 Ball Shooting Drills is an excellent example of a random shooting drill:

5. Contested Shooting Drills

While it would be nice if every shot you took were wide open, you know that won’t be the case. The best shooters can shoot with a defender on them.

To get comfortable with that, you must practice it.

Kentucky Shooting is an example of a contested shooting drill that works on that skill:

6. Game-Like Shooting Drills

Game-like drills incorporate a decision. It could be a shoot or pass decision. It could be a shoot-or-drive decision. It could be all shoot, pass, or drive.

These drills are great because they train you in the split-second decisions you have to make in games.

The Read Drill is an example of a game-like shooting drill:

7. Conditioning Shooting Drills

Shooting when you’re tired is way different from shooting when you’re fresh. Many players can make shots in the first quarter. Way fewer can do it in the fourth.

Adding conditioning to your shooting drills trains you to make shots when you’re fatigued.

The Nuggets Shooting Drill is a good example:

If Your Shooting Drills Aren’t Competitive, They’re Incomplete

Making sure your shooting workouts incorporate all 7 types of drills is a great starting point.

But there’s one more thing you can do to speed up your development. Make every drill competitive.

How do you do that? Add a time or score component. In the 55 Shooting Drill above, you’re keeping your score. In the Nuggets Drill, you’re keeping your time.

By tracking either time or score, you can see your improvement over time. That’s a powerful motivator to get back in the gym!

Conclusion: Train Like a Complete Shooter

If there’s one takeaway from this article, it’s this:

Great shooters don’t just “get up shots.” They train multiple types of shots and situations.

Many players spend hours doing one or two types of shooting drills — often just standing and shooting. But games require much more than that. Players need to be ready to shoot:

• Off the catch

• Off the dribble

• After movement

• Under fatigue

• With time pressure

• In competitive situations

That’s why incorporating all 7 types of shooting drills into your workouts is so important. When you combine those drills with time and score elements, your workouts start to resemble the pressure and decision-making of real games.

If you want a step-by-step system that shows you exactly how to structure these types of workouts, take a look at the Breakthrough Basketball Shooting & Scoring System created by Coach Jim Huber.

Inside the system, you’ll find:

• Dozens of structured shooting workouts

• Drills for every type of game shot

• Competitive shooting challenges with time and score elements

• Progressive training that builds both shooting mechanics and scoring ability

The system is designed to help players develop game-ready shooting skills so the shots you make in workouts translate to games.

And if you'd like in-person coaching, Breakthrough Basketball Camps also help players practice these same shooting concepts with experienced coaches.

Whether you’re a player or a coach, the goal should always be the same:

Train smarter so your shooting shows up when the game is on the line.

Find a camp near you!

Gain the Edge to
Stand Out on the Court

Breakthrough Basketball Camps help players improve their skills and decision-making while building the confidence to shine on and off the court. Trusted by over 150,000 players nationwide, our camps provide:

• Experienced coaches who know how to teach every level

• Skill development in shooting, ball handling, and all-around play

• Game-like situations that build confidence under pressure

• A positive, motivating environment parents can feel good about

• Beginner, Youth, and Advanced Camps - Ages 6 to 18

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