How where you taught to shoot?

[7_cody]

very much agree with this. while allen is obviously an all-time great shooter, my HS coach (who was a shooting coach for a D1 team at one point) insisted that he preferred steph curry's shot over allen's. this was when curry was coming out of college, mind you. he said allen had a slight 'swing' across his body as he brought the ball up. again, this is not to say that allen isn't a great example...more a minor criticism and another voice that says you should not just use one player to learn from.

i definitely shot more like nash than i did like allen, simply because i didn't have the vertical. i think allen is able to set his arm motion up because he has time to square up due to his vertical. my motion was fluid and i feel like i released at the apex of my jump, but i certainly didn't focus on jumping really high and perfectly timing my release. like i said, i just didn't have the vertical for that. i would have to really focus on my jumping and i felt that took away form my actual shooting form. i'm sure if you took still frames of my shot back then, it would be far from textbook but i think i had the basic fundamentals and consistency down.

again, nothing against allen. he's damn near textbook and it works for him because of his physical tools i mean, even now, his calves are like balloons! the most dangerous part of allen's shooting to me is his quick release. even when he does jump high, he gathers and leaps so quickly that the defense better be ready to close out quick or you're done.

i think you obviously want to hone the fundamental techniques, but it's also important to tweak it a bit for the individual player imo. consistency and confidence is key. the more your shot looks the same every time you go up, the more consistency you'll find.

as far as how i learned...i'll keep it short. 4th grade youth coach. he told us to line up with the lacing, keep a small distance between your shooting palm and the ball. i don't really know how to discuss placement without a diagram but i'm sure you know what i mean. remove your off hand mid way through your shooting motion, just before you flick your wrist and follow through. that's the basics anyway.

i ended up being a good set shooter. by myself, i could shoot near 90% on good days. i used to hoist up 200 or more FT's per day, to the point i sprained my patellar tendon. i eventually won a second place tourney in my county for FT shooting in 6th grade. pretty sure i shot around 84% in that tourney (21/25). i went into sudden death with the other guy after 20 shots since we were tied at 17 or 18 or something. i kinda choked and hit 3/5 while he hit 4/5. one shot made the difference between this giant ass three foot, double tower trophy and this three inch trophy i got. i was seriously like wtf man, lol. my trophy looked like a consolation 5th prize compared to that thing. this was hosted by boys & girls club and i have no idea if they still run it.

anyway, this was all enjoyable to read. kudos to you and some of the other guys for discussing some of the finer details and methodology. yes, that includes you, pauk. good to know you have some nice knowledge behind this and you aren't always a total blowhard. i can't really go back and quote all posts because i stumbled across this way too late.

also, maybe you could explain this...but what do you think happened to guys like marion? did he just skate by on talent and play on AAU teams where nobody coached him up? i mean, his shooting form worked for him but i can only imagine how much better of a shooter he would have been if he had a good shooting coach at least in the latter stages of HS to drill him.

Ray is one of the greatest of all times, but funny enough there are several problems with his technique. I don't think anyone has perfect technique. Not even Kobe does. One thing you forgot about Ray is that he does not lock his elbow in when shooting. He also has the cross, like you said, where he starts outside of his shooting chamber, them moves it into the chamber as he elevates.

[Hornetsfan86]

Doc Rivers.

[7_cody]

For those experienced in playing basketball, who would you say made the best points in this thread? I am very new to basketball and want to get into it; playing it and becoming a good player.

Rake and Pauk did. Also Pauk focused on a jump shot, which is not something you should start with. Rake nailed it when he talked about foot width. Wide foot width means better balance but less power. You want a perfect balance of the two, which is foot width. That's why players have wider foot widths when going for a floater. Think about it, do they need balance or power? They're very close to the basket -- balance it is. My foot width is very width when I hop step into the lane for a floater for great balance. In fact, balance is probably the single most important part of shooting. Even if you're off balance, you will probably be squared up (rather than leaning to the side). If you watch pros shoot, even when off balanced, they have their upper body as straight up as possible with their chest facing the rim (squared up). The second most important part is legs. People want to know how I can shoot so far away? Legs. Practice shooting free-throws a few feet behind the three point line with good technique. That'll teach you to use legs. Also, the best way to practice shooting is by shooting one handed. Make sure you aren't holding the ball with your finger tips.

[Rake2204]

I stumbled upon this picture while discussing shooting with Zen in a Streetball thread. I think this is a good representation of what my shooting coaches have attempted to instill over the course of my life in terms of shot preparation. It's sometimes hard to find pictures of shooters still in the early part of their shooting process (i.e. not in the air). I know it's contrary to some other shot preps mentioned in this thread but I just thought I'd share a little more of how I was taught:

[ralph_i_el]

I shoot by lifting the ball pretty high straight up, making sure my elbow is pointed towards the hoop, and then shoot mostly with my wrist. I don't jump very high when I shoot. I'm pretty good inside 15 feet but after that it's pretty brutal.

[selrahc]

kobe bryant has perfect form, i learned from him.

[inclinerator]

nobody, my shot looked like crap and nobody commented on it until i recorded it one day. Then i changed my form completely and now it looks like a normal jumpshot

[La Frescobaldi]

kobe bryant has perfect form, i learned from him.

KB always did have a beautiful shot.
Actually his dad had a pretty release, when you get down to it, although he was maybe more of a catch spin and dunk artist or at least that's how I remember him best

[9512]

I first shot a basketball at age 12-13. No coach or knowledgeable adult me.I taught myself.

I watched what NBA guys did and also what regular adults did (lots tended to shoot like Bird; hoisting the ball from the back and right side of the head).

Of course I wasn't strong enough initially so I shot like Shawn Marion/Joakim Noah and did that all through HS.

Then in my early to mid 20s I started to get stronger (late bloomer), I shot like Austin Rivers. It's a half Noah and half pseudo Ray Allen. I would jump, hang in the air, and shoot. But it was wrong bc I lost the benefit of leg power since I hung in the air too long. So I shot with a lot of upper body strength with a catapult action (relatively flat)

Now in 2013 I shoot more like an old man with some lift in my jump but now I have somewhat figured out how to release the ball at the peak of the jump. My elbow is nicely pointing toward the basket (even though the elbow is still sticking to the side). I push off the legs, then lift up my shooting arm, then finally flick my calves and follow through at the same time. I now make it a habit to hold my follow thru for a split second longer.

[d.bball.guy]

I just kept on shooting. I'm pretty nice at shooting 3s and I'm cash with that Nash one foot runner.

My normal jumper is an ugly version of Kobe's though Whenever I try to copy his form, I usually air ball the shot so I made adjustments.

[fsvr54]

Coach? I never played organized team sports.

I just went to the court and started bricking shots until I got comfortable. I'm still very streaky, but I can get hot. I haven't playedin three weeks so I'll be rusty as ****.

I tend to shot turnaround and fade to the side jumpers far better that straight up or spot up. I need to be in some rhythm.

[kshutts1]

I don't remember who told me this, but I was told to keep my eye on the rim. I usually do that still, but not always.

In seventh grade I had about 35' range (around 30-35% from there) shooting from my shoulder. I was weak and that form added a lot more power, and thus distance, to the shot.

My gym teacher challenged me to a shooting contest... if he won, I had to shoot his way for an entire year. If I won, I didn't have to do any of the running in gym if I didn't want to.

I lost, and have not stopped shooting "his way" since. Basically Ray Allen(?) style. Elbow at a ninety degree angle, high release, hand above, and slightly to the right (I'm right handed) of my head.

Took a long time, but I eventually got most of my range back, hitting a couple 30' shots in High School ball, and in the Senior All Star game I had the crowd chant for me to take a half-court shot to end the game (airballed it ).

But other than that, it's been a pretty successful motion. I have that gym teacher to thank for my relatively sweet shooting stroke, and my JV coach for my handle... it's not great, but instead of putting me in the obvious position of "catch-and-shoot guy" he forced me to learn how to handle a ball and be a guard. I didn't get any PT unless I was PG, so I worked and worked and worked at it, slowly getting better, but never good enough in his eyes to play. But that was his last season coaching for my school, and he went to a rival school. My senior year I gave it to his team.. something like 18p and 9b, lol. Total domination.

[East_Stone_Ya]

by watching a lot of this guy