The Shooting Process

If you visit the internet and search for how to shoot a basketball, your search results will be loaded with information on the topic.  Some of the information is great, some is okay, and a lot of it is junk.  Many people on the internet will spend a lot of time telling you every minute detail on how to shoot.  My biggest pet peeve is telling players where their release point is.  I’m here to tell you that there are many ways to shoot the ball and there is no great mystery to the art of shooting.  It’s as much about finding your comfort zone as it is mechanics.  That being said there are some tips that should be followed in order to maximize your chances of making baskets. 

I like to break down the sequence into the following categories:

1. Footwork
2. Stance
3. Shot Pocket
4. Eyes
5. Release
6. Follow Through
7. Non-shooting Hand

Footwork – This is so important when it comes to shooting.  My definition of footwork deals with how quickly a player can get into their stance.  The quicker and more efficient your footwork the quicker you can get your shot off.  Just like anything else, footwork needs practice in order to improve.

There are 2 different ways you can step into your stance and a shooter should feel comfortable doing both.

1. Rhythm step – this is the classic 1-2 step that you see most shooters use when taking a rhythm jump shot off of a pass or a dribble.  The rhythm step will be started by the left foot for a right handed shooter who then brings their right foot forward and into their shooting stance.  It’s called the rhythm step because it’s the best way for a shooter to establish some rhythm when stepping into a shot.  The big drawback to this step is that it takes a bit longer than the step I will describe below to get the shot off.
2. Jump step – the jump step is a great step to use when you are being guarded and need to get a shot off in a hurry.  Basically this step condenses the rhythm step into one hop which places the shooter into his stance quickly.

Stance – The placement of your feet is so important when shooting the ball.  You need to be in balance when shooting and balance depends so much on your stance.  In addition to that when you shoot a jump shot, the power for your shot comes from your legs so a balanced and powerful stance will help with the range that you have on your shot.

Feet should be placed comfortably apart.  To some this means shoulder width to others it may mean closer together.  What you shouldn’t do is place them ankle to ankle and on the other end of the spectrum you shouldn’t place them farther than shoulder width apart.  Placing them too close together will take you out of balance easily while spreading them out too much will keep you from exploding upward thus limiting power for your shot.

Many shooters like to keep their shooting foot (same foot as hand you shoot with) about a half step in front of the other foot but this is also a comfort thing.  What you shouldn’t do is keep your shooting foot behind your non shooting foot.  This can throw you out of balance when shooting and also not align you correctly when shooting at the basket.

It should also be noted that in an effort to keep your shooting shoulder, elbow, and wrist aligned and pointing to the basket many good shooters will avoid pointing their feet at the basket but rather point them in the opposite direction of the hand their shooting with.  This pointing of the feet is not usually exaggerated but quite subtle.

So in a nutshell, there are 2 reasons why your shooting stance is so important.

1. Balance – Proper footwork will keep a shooter in balance and allow him to get his shoulders squared to the basket as he shoots.
2. Power – a good comfortable stance will allow the shooter to generate the power that he needs to shoot the ball.  There are 4 points that need to be made in terms of power.  Specifically the shooter needs to make sure that all 4 of these areas are addressed when shooting.
• Do not put your heals on the ground when shooting.  Heels to the floor will just help the floor absorb the power that the next 3 items will help generate.
• Flex the ankles
• Flex the knees
• Flex the waist - the first 2 are intuitive.  When shooting the ball you will automatically bend the ankles and the knees especially when you shoot from any kind of distance.  The waist is a bit more of an acquired habit.  What this requires is that you lean your chest forward a bit which allows a natural flex to your waist.  Please note that this leaning of the chest is not exaggerated but rather quite subtle.  It should be a comfortable lean.

Shot Pocket – To many the shot pocket is the place where the ball is located when you shoot the ball.  I argue that this is just one of the 2 phases of the shot pocket.  The 2 phases are:

1. Shot start – This is the first part of the shot pocket and it basically starts when the ball is in the hands of the shooter and he is preparing the ball to be shot.  It usually starts from around the waist and the process lasts until you get to phase 2 up around the shoulders.  Generally speaking a shooter keeps his whole body relaxed during the shot process.  This allows all of the power that is being generated from the floor to the feet through the legs to be transferred to the shot release.  The elbows should be bent at this point in around an l-shape position and the wrist is relaxed and not flexed backwards yet.
2. Shot load – The shot load is the last part of the shot pocket and it is the process of putting the ball around the area of the body where each shooter feels most comfortable shooting from.  This could be from the top of the head, the side of the head, the shoulder area, or from the chest.  Where the load part of the shot pocket comes from doesn’t matter as long as you continue to keep things relaxed.  At this point the wrist of your shooting hand will be flexed backward and ready to launch the ball toward the basket with all of the power that has been generated from your legs back in the stance phase.  Your legs should be just about ready to leave the floor as the ball hits this point in your shot.

Eyes – This sounds simple but the obvious is sometimes the thing that is most neglected.  Good coaches always emphase to play with your eyes up.  Don’t look at the ball, don’t look at your feet, read the play make your move and find the basket as soon as possible.  The longer you can look at the basket when you shoot the greater the chances are that you will be successful in making the shot.  Find the basket quickly.

Release – Once the ball is in the load phase of the shot pocket sequence the next step is to release the ball.  Sounds simple but it isn’t always.  When ready to release the shot the ball should be sitting in a relaxed hand that does not have the fingers spread too far apart but rather comfortably spread.  There should be a small gap between the ball and the base of the shooter’s palm.  Once the ball is sitting in the hands of the shooter there are 2 points that need to be emphasized:

1. For best results the ball needs to be released with the last finger on the ball being the middle finger.  This will make sure that the ball is release in a straight line.
2. Your shooting elbow must be tucked in as you are releasing the ball.  This may be difficult for the young kids that shoot from the chest to accomplish but the more the elbow is comfortably tucked in the better your chances are of making that ball go straight into the basket.

Follow Through – The last piece of the puzzle.  The arm of the shooting hand should be extended and the wrist should be flexed forward with the fingers pointing down to the ground.  The arm should be about 30 degrees forward from being straight above the shooters head and pointed at the basket.

Non-shooting Hand - One item that I want to mention here at the end is the topic of your non shooting hand.  It is very important in the shooting process.  It helps keep the ball in place throughout the shooting process and by keeping the ball in place allows the shooter to worry about one less thing while he’s in the shooting process.  As with most of the items I’ve mentioned above where to place the off-hand is a matter of comfort for the shooter.  As long as it doesn’t get in the way of the shooting process place it where you see fit.  You can tell if the off hand gets in the way of your shot if by looking at the thumb of the off hand at the release.  If it is flexing forward then the off hand helped with the shot.  If it stays in line with the rest of the hand then it did not affect the shot.

In conclusion, reading this article may intimidate the new shooter a bit but don’t let it.  As with anything the more you practice it the more it becomes second nature.  Don’t be robotic when shooting.  See what’s comfortable and go from there.  The above mentioned items are all important but most of the areas provide flexibility to the shooter for comfort reasons.  Outside of eyes, release and follow through the rest of the topics provide enough flexibility for the shooter to find a shooting groove that he is comfortable with.