Use Your Eyes to Find the Rim

The title of this blog post seems very obvious.  Right?   Have you ever tried shooting with your eyes closed.  It's pretty tough to do even after you spend a bit of time looking at the rim before you close your eyes.  Well there is a huge problem with kids who start shooting and can't seem to find the rim.  This problem has a simple fix.  All I tell my kids is "Find the rim quickly and keep your eye on it until the ball goes thru the net."

The problem is twofold when it comes to finding the rim:
  1. Find the rim as soon as you begin to gather the ball.  Players need to have enough confidence in their other skills so they can find the rim quicker.  What this means is that many young players spend so much time looking at their dribble or their feet or the other players who may be contesting their shot that they fail to focus on the rim.  This may be because the game is not instinctive to them.  They need reps to get comfortable.  The bottom line is that you need to find the rim as quickly as possible and don't take your eyes off of it.
  2. Keep your eyes on the rim as you shoot the ball.  This one may sound obvious but many young players get caught up in looking at the ball when it is released as opposed to focusing on the rim until the ball goes in the basket.  Once the ball gets released it may be okay to look at the ball but many young kids tend to take their eyes off the ball before the shot is taken in anticipation of it going into the air.  I like to coach my kids to never take their eyes off of the basket.  Focus on the basket always.
Once players get strong enough to get the ball to the basket, if they're still struggling with their shot, take a video of them shooting and look at their eyes.  Do they focus on the rim all the way thru.  If not, it may be the one adjustment they need to make that will help them tremendously with their shot.

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