It's Simple To Become a Great Shooter
Few things in basketball engender more discussion than what you have to do to become a great shooter.
We have lots of theories, thousands of dollars worth of machines, marketing with catchy names (Swing and Sway, Box the Ball, Do the Dip, etc.), acronyms (BEEF, EHE, etc.), all purporting to be the answer. There are expensive machines (NOAH, Gun, Dr. Dish, etc.). Inexpensive aids (small rims, targets you plant in the net, things you put on your fingers, etc.) There is even a headband with the cutout of a hand that hangs in front of your face, purportedly to help you shoot with a hand in your face.
All of which have turned a pretty simple skill into an exercise that rivals the work you have to put in to write a doctoral dissertation. No wonder there are so few good shooters around.
I have worked with thousands of players. I have worked with high school players, college players and pros. I have worked with NBA All-Stars, 1st round draft picks and some of the best shooters in the world.
Every time I walk out on the court with one of them, I learn more than they do. What appears here is a result of what I have learned from these great shooters.
The Optimal Way to Shoot - Is It Possible?
The first thing that I have to acknowledge is, yes, there is an optimal way to shoot.
Having your elbow pointing at the rim, having your elbow at 90°, ball above your eyebrow, hand directly under the ball, etc., etc., etc. If you were able to perform optimally, you would be a better shooter.
Can everyone reach that optimal way of shooting? I don't think so.
Do you want your shooter to be thinking of all of the things necessary to shoot optimally? Definitely not. It's a simple skill; I think you have to approach it simply.
A Fiasco? Spending $1000 On a Golf Swing and Learning Piano
If I could draw a couple of analogies, maybe you have had similar experiences and you can relate to my point.
I am trying to do two things right now. I love to play golf. I am trying to reconstruct my swing to help me be a better golfer. I have spent, probably, $1000 on swing instruction.
All I know is every time I leave a lesson, I am worse.
Is the information I am given good? Certainly. Can I remember what I was taught? No!
And, the more information I am given, the worse I get.
Also, I am trying to learn how to play the piano.
What a fiasco! Even if I could understand the information, I don't understand how to apply it. There is just so much stuff to remember.
Is that the same with trying to build better shooters? I think it is. It is a much simpler skill that we, as coaches, really complicate.
One of the Biggest Errors With Teaching Shooting
One of the biggest errors we make as we work with shooters is, we try to make all of them the same.
We try to make everyone's shot look alike, with the same form, the same elements all from the same textbook.
I have worked with thousands of shooters, some of them great shooters.
I have worked with two of the Top 20 3-point shooters of all time in the NBA (let's be clear, they attained that level of success because of them, not because of me).
One of the things that I have learned is that shooting is a very personal skill and everyone does it differently.
I have worked with great shooters that have their elbows out, I have worked with great shooters who release off the shoulder, shooters that hold the ball off the side of their heads, that hold the ball in front of their head. I have worked with shooters that release the ball on the way up, that release the ball on the way down. I have worked with shooters that have a long, flat follow through, and others that flick.
I have seen every iteration of a shot. They can all be successful.
Are You Missing the Most Important Thing About Shooting?
My experience has been, when a coach watches a player shoot, we don't spend enough time evaluating results.
We use a very small sample size (maybe a couple of dozen shots) and if the shoot doesn't look like it does in a shooting textbook, we try to change the shot.
I have learned over the years, for me to change a shot, I have to have a pretty good reason, and that reason cannot be optics.
I don't care what a shot looks like. The purpose of a shot is to have it go in as often as possible. It doesn't matter what it looks like.
I have to have a very large sample size to evaluate whether a shot needs to be changed.
Top 20 All-Time NBA Shooter and His "Flat Shot"
I worked with a player who, in a 14-year NBA career, finished up shooting 43% from 3-point range. Pretty good. One of the best ever. But, he shot a very flat shot.
The first comment, invariably, I would hear from people watching him shoot is ,"Wow, he shoots it really flat." Every summer we would start like this, I would say, "You had a pretty good year. I think it would have been better if you shot it with a little more arc."
He would reply to me, "You might be right, but if I change it, it might get worse, too. It's pretty good now so I think I'll leave it alone."
I felt obligated to say it to him. Then we would leave it alone. That is just one of the experiences I've had that taught me to work with what they have and leave changing a shot as a last resort.
Before changing a shot, you have to ask yourself, "Does the ball go in?"
If it does, I work with what there is to try to make it better. I need a large sample of the ball not going in to make any large changes.
Those changes are very difficult to make and take a long time to perfect, just like changing a golf swing or learning the piano.
There are 3 things that I basically work with...
To Be a Consistent Shooter, You Have To Do This
First, the shot has to be repeatable
In order to be a great shooter, your shot has to be repeatable. I say, often, that if you want to be a great shooter, every shot has to be the same.
In studying why shooters miss, I have found that, invariably, their shot changes from shot to shot. How can you be a consistent shooter when your shooting action is inconsistent?
I believe you are what you continually do. If you practice different shots, your shot will become inconsistent.
Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent.
To be a consistent shooter, every shot has to be the same.
There might be 1000 things you do to get your shot, there might be 1000 situations that you might shoot in, and there might be 1000 places that you shoot from.
Regardless of the situation, regardless of how you get your shot, regardless of where you shoot from, when you take your shot, it has to be the same. Same form, same rhythm, same follow through, same release, same footwork.
When you practice, instead of changing your shot, work on improving what you do and making it the same on every shot.
Your Palm and Your Shooting Release
Second, your palm has to face the rim when you release the ball.
This is something I picked up a long time ago from my good friend and longtime NBA coach Hal Wissel.
After playing with so many things, this makes so much sense and really simplifies things. Your palm has to face the rim when you release the ball. It really doesn't matter how you get it done.
Whether it's getting your elbow in, setting the ball in a certain spot or any of the other things that players concentrate on, the ball will go where your palm is pointed.
If all those other things are intended to get your palm to face the rim (and they are) why not just concern yourself with your palm? Different players will accomplish it in different ways.
It doesn't really matter how it gets done, as long as it gets done.
This Might Shock You About Steve Kerr's Shooting (Best 3-Point Shooter of All-Time)
Third, understand that you are going to miss shots.
I think this is the single most important thing you have to learn about shooting.
Missing does not mean you forgot how to shoot. Missing does not necessarily mean you correct or change anything. Missing does not mean you are a bad player. Missing means you missed. Missing is a function of shooting.
The best 3-point shooter in the history of the NBA, Steve Kerr, shot 45%. That means that the best shooter of all time missed 55% of his shots. The best shooter of all time missed more than he made. Why can't you miss a few?
Why is understanding this so important?
Well, it's simple. If, to be a great shooter you want every shot to be the same and, if you change your shot every time you miss, how is your shot going to become repeatable?
Sometimes you miss because your rhythm changes, sometimes your balance is disturbed, sometimes you go a little faster or a little slower, sometimes you throw it a little higher or a little lower.
That's not a function of being a bad shooter, that's a function of being a human being. You are not a machine, you are not a robot. Forgive yourself.
You're going to have bad shots, you're going to have bad nights, and you're going to have bad streaks.
As long as you feel you are shooting the ball well, stay the course. It'll come back.
Sometimes you do everything right and just miss.
Even Robots Miss Shots!
In fact, even if you were a robot, you would miss.
Toyota built a shooting robot (as part of their robotic research). It is run by computers, they use laser sights and it has a very repeatable action. Every time the action is the same.
Guess what? It missed shots.
Changing Your Shot and Isaiah Thomas's Different Shots
Sure, there are times I might talk about arc or release or other things. But, those are on a case-by-case basis and would be particular to the individual I might be working with.
And, of course, you have to get a high number of reps. But, in the big picture, I spend most of my time concerning myself with those 3 aspects of shooting.
I believe the simpler you make it, the more success you have.
I am not going to minimize some of the things that others believe have value. But, there are so many things.
For every shooter you show me with shoulders are square, I'll show you a dozen good shooters where they are not. For every shooter you show me where the feet are square, I'll show you a dozen good shooters where they are not.
Isaiah Thomas (the original one from the Pistons) once told me that he believes a shot going to the right should be different from a shot going to the left. He can do that. That's why he's one of the best ever. It all has value.
The question, to me, is, how much are you going to teach? How much can a player learn? How much information is too much information?
I don't claim to have all the answers. I know what has worked best for me, and the thousands of players I have worked with.
More Helpful Player Development and Coaching Resources
Videos and eBooks from Don Kelbick - Offense, Defense, Skill Development, and Workouts
Attack & Counter Skill Development System - Created by Don Kelbick
Breakthrough Basketball Skill Development Camps
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