Shooting Form, Passing and dribbling.

Hi Girls,

***You need to read this and take it to heart but wait until after you do well in all your exams. School is still more important than basktball.***

The Old Saying: God, Family, Education and Basketball in that order.

Since you are all right handed this season I will not have to talk in terms of how to reverse this for a left handed player.

Shooting Form and Thoughts:

The basic thought used at the Carolina Basketball Camps for shooting is BEEF.

B= Balance. You should always be in good balance, shoulders over the balls of your feet, butt stuck out slightly to create an athletic and balanced stance. Your right foot closer to the goal than your left. (This is for right Handed shooters, left reverse it)

E= Eyes. Your eyes should focus on the front of the rim. Some teachers are now saying look at the back middle of the rim. You can take which one works the best for you. I personally look at the front and try to visualize the flight of the ball swishing thru the net in my mind. I never stop looking at the rim, and do not follow the ball with my eyes. Also, do make the effort to hold your head steady. If it is swaying it is going to make the shot go off line.

E= Elbow. Your right elbow should be underneath the ball. If the elbow is not inline with the shoulder and the ball it will cause a sidespin release, an untrue rotation and the possibility of applying a side force to the ball on the extension thru the shot that could push it off line.

F= Follow Thru. The full extension of the arm underneath the ball and the full release of the wrists. Called the Fish Hook look. Concentrate of holding the follow thru at the top for an instance once the ball has left your hand to reinforce the focus on finishing the shot. Do not forget it is truly a one handed shot, the left hand is just there to balance the ball and when the ball leaves your hands the only thing still touching the ball is your shooting hand.

Other Thoughts:

Up and over: The best thought I can think of on the feeling of shooting the ball properly with the proper motion is up and over. The proper shooting motion is more of an up and over motion than a push at the goal with your right forearm. Think in terms of extending your arm upwards instead of out pushing the ball. The up and over motion would be similar to having a board in the way that you had to extend your arm upwards to reach far enough to get your hand over it so you could release the ball with your wrist. This motion creates what is called the Fish hook look. I see lots of girls that are trying to throw the ball at the basket with their forearm and no real release of the hands. This is not a good way to shoot. The proper release is a flip not a push.

Shoulders square: Always try to keep your shoulders square to the basket. When shooting a foul shot, imagine your shoulders square to the foul line.

Knees: To be a great shooter you have to use your knees. Have a little bounce in your knees to give you rythmn and fluidness and power.

On Foul Shooting: All of the above, plus make sure you line up exactly on the same spot everytime. I mean to really focus on being exact! Focus on exactly where you place your right big toe. Your left foot should be back off the line a little at a spot you are comfortable with and balanced. Bend forward from the waist with your backend poked out slightly for balance and B.E.E.F. it with an up and over and through the nets. I like to think in terms of my right big toe being dead on line with the absolute center of the basket and as close to the line as possible but absolutely not touching the line.

Routine: The Carolina Coaches all insist that players have a consistent foul shooting routine. If you like to bounce the ball 3 times then shoot, make sure you do it the same way everytime. The routine is your comfort zone, it signals your body to relax and do it just like you do in practice over and over. Using it gives you the chance to put yourself in the zone. If ever interrupted while in your routine by the official or a violation, start your routine over from the beginning. Take a step back then start over from scratch. Players are allowed 10 seconds to shoot once they are handed the ball. However if it is an official interuption such as the buzzer accidentally went off while on the line, a violation etc. you will get another 10 second count. You also will hear me hollering to reset, thats short for starting over. Decide what your routine is going to be and stick with it. Having a consistent routine will make you a better foul shooter. BTW, the reason I hate the game Knock Out is there is no routine like you would use in a real game. If you are going to practice, lets do it the right way and lets do it in a way that will make you a better player. Remember Perfect Practice vs. just practice.

Proper hand positions on the ball: Place the ball in the right hand not in the finger tips and not in the palm but on the pads of the right hand with a little air space underneath the ball. Fingers wide but not super stretched. Ball balanced. The left hand should be under the halfway circumference of the ball and should work only to balance the ball for the right hand to shoot it. If you shoot and push with both hands the left hand is going to push the ball off line on most shots. Rick Pitino Coach at Louisville and known as a great shooting coach teaches his players to have their thumbs form a T. Put your right hand on the ball and balance the ball in one hand then put your left hand on the ball so that your right thumb and your left thumb form a T on the back of the ball. On my hand the T slightly touches but for girls with smaller hands if could be some separation but not so much that it allows the left hand to not be underneath the midway point on the ball. Remember, the left hand is there for support and to balance the ball, not to apply any force. I have a shooters ball with the finger marks on and I will try to bring to to practice over Christmas for you to look at.

Perfect Rotation: You can usually tell if a player has good form by the rotation of the ball. If it leaves the shooting hand and rotates in a true reverse spin rotation(no side spin) It has been released properly as far as a one handed shot goes. How fast it spins is not a real factor, just make sure it spins true.

The Old Days: Back in the 60's girls all shot set shots (similar to foul shots with no hop or jump) they also shot with two hands pushing the ball very similar to making a two handed chest pass at the basket. Today girls and boys all shoot alike as the game has become more athletic and the old set shot took a second longer to get the ball away and was more prone to being blocked since it was released from a lower point. I will say one positive thing for the girls back then is most of them could really shoot. I think it was easier to do and required less technique and strenght. Unfortunately I have not run across a great many coaches that are really good shooting coaches in the lower school levels when shooting should be taught. That is why I keep telling you girls to take the time to learn to do it right and do so now. Bad habits are extremely hard to overcome.

Jump Shot vs. Push Shot: A true jump shot involves taking one step and jumping straight up in the air ideally to the top your jumping ability and releasing the ball at or just before the top of your jump to make it more difficult to block. Most players cannot shoot as well jumping to their top vertical leap as they can not jumping quite as high. You have to determine the spot you are most comfortable with on your jump and can make the most shots. Most players do not shoot a true jump shot. If you do not take the step and just hop without the step to shoot it is technically called a push shot but all the other things about proper shooting form still apply.

Mental Approach: Always, absolutely always, tell yourself you are a good shooter and you can make it. If you miss a foul shot don't degrade your self. Tell yourself , OK lets get set up just perfect just like I practice and shoot it pretty, I know I am a good shooter and this one is going in. Make yourself visulize the ball going into the basket before you shoot in your minds eye. Never take the approach of I just can't shoot. Even if you are in a little slump remain positive and work harder on the fundamentals. Having good fundamentals is your comfort zone when shots are not falling. If you think you won't make it chances are you won't.

Team Mental Approach: Never, even if joking tell your teammate they are bad shooters. In competition you can tell them You are a good shooter but I am a better shooter. But shooting is such a mental game, lets not ever talk ourselves or our teammates into missing shots. Be supportive, tell them you know they can make it.
If they need a confidence boast just say B.E.E.F., you got it.

Practice, Practice, Practice!!!! But never forget: Practice does not make Perfect, Perfect Practice makes Perfect. Make sure you do it right over and over until it becomes second nature. Great Shooters are for the most part made not born. It is a learned skill. Only by consistently doing it with the correct form and doing enough repetitions can you become a truly consistently good shooter.

On Practice: What would be good practice? Perimeter players: Try to shoot ten shots from the left corner one big step inside the 3 point line, ten from halfway up on left, ten from behind the foul line, ten from halfway down on the right and ten from the right corner. Keep up with how many you make. Then go to the foul line and shoot 10. Do it over and over. Low post players should do a similar pattern like we do sometimes in practice starting with a lay up, short bank, half way up the paint,left elbow, foul line, right elbow, halfway down, short bank and lay up. I suggest you do 5 shots from these spots and keep count. Make it your own personal competition to set a new record for yourself.

Shooting form practice: Short shots ONLY. Start at the left block, next peg up, bottom of foul circle, right peg, right block. Shoot the ball with one hand only. Try to make 10 in a row from each spot. Keep score. Track improvement. Try to make swishes. Up and over with a full release of your shooting hand. In the learning stages it is suggested to do about 300 or these shots over the course of one week. When you go to shooting longer shots remember your non shooting hand is the assist hand, it is there to balance the ball for the shooting hand, not to exert any force on the ball.

On lay ups: Make certain you focus on the top corner of the box behind the rim. Make certain you do not rush the shot. Remember the famous saying "Be Quick but don't Hurry" I think this should apply here. Most of the missed layups/put backs are caused by not focusing on the box long enough. If you turn your head toward the goal to see it go in while you are releasing the ball you will most likely shoot the ball over the basket and that easy two points will be missed. Focus on the box until the ball is gone and hits the glass, you will be able to tell if it went in because our fans will cheer, the bench will cheer and I will be yelling pick up your man on defense.

On passing: I am sure you all know how to make the different passes(Chest,Bounce, Overhead, Baseball, Hook bounce) since we have covered them all in pre-season practice. We will review them again over Christmas Break just in case. The one thought you need to take home with you and make a mental commitment to do is try to make EVERY pass you make either in practice, in a game or even just goofing around in warm ups before practice, as close to a perfect pass as you can make it. Get in the habit of having proper form, and putting the ball in exactly the right place for your teammate to catch it. Get into the habit of making perfect passes, everytime. Make it part of your focus.

Also, we need to learn not to telegraph the pass. If you look where you are passing it long enough before actually passing the ball the defense will catch on and try to steal it. Look one way and see the players with your perifial vision. Turn and pass quickly and accurately if they are open. You can also fake one way and pass another if you think that defensive player is anticipating the pass.

On Dribbling: We are woefully pitiful at dribbling the ball. Not without potential to dribble well but certainly hesitant to ever use our left hand at all in a game. We will be adding more left handed dribbling drills and dribbling drills in general immediately after the Christmas Tournament.

Girls: How well you learn these skills sets your ceiling for how good you can be not only on our JV Team but also when you get to the Varsity. Most of the time getting good at something does not happen over night. It is like osmosis it seeps into your game. Only by working on these skills consistently do you have a chance to become very good at them. We only have the court for 70 minute of practice time a day, that is not much time. You have to be willing to try and do it right everytime and to also work on it on your own. As I always say in practice if the only time you touch a ball is during basketball season for our 70 minutes per practice you are going to really limit how good you could become.

Thought: Never forget this one: The Best way to improve your Team is to improve Yourself. John Wooden, UCLA the winner of 11 National Championships.

Make a commitment to yourself to never stop striving to learn and Never stop trying to get better. If you can make 100 foul shots in a row, try to make 101.

I am on the court basically everyday before practice. If you need help with your shot or other skills or if you just have a question or want me to take a look at something just ask. The same always goes for anything that has to do with our basketball team and how we play. I am not a mind reader so if you need to know something ask. There are no bad questions, if you don't know something just find the time to ask. I prefer that you see me before practice or after practice since we run all our practices on a fairly tight planned time schedule and it is not fair to the other 13 girls to stop the group unless it is directly related to what we are working on in that time frame.

***If you are working on you shooting form, take this information and re-read it often. It will help to keep you focused. I tried to included every aspect I could think of on shooting form and I am looking for ways to add some video instruction to this page in the future. It will also add additional information on shooting when I think of other good thoughts. If you would really like to become a great shooter this information and lots of practice is your ticket. I will try to follow this with a teaching post on some other aspects of play at some point such as defense***

Coach May