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How to be better at shooting a basketball


3 Basketball Drills to Become Better at Shooting

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Although it may often be considered a recreational activity, shooting buckets and practicing your basketball shot is a skill that often makes the difference in any game, from school leagues to the pros. It takes practice, repetition, and consistency to ensure you're comfortable with hitting your shots when all eyes are on you.

During the shooting motion, the placement of your hands and feet are crucial. With IMG Academy’s How-To Become a Better Shooter drills video, hear directly from the team’s coach, and learn how to set yourself up to shoot nothing but net! 

In this video, you will be introduced to three basketball shooting drills to become a better shooter. Watch how student-athletes perform each drill with instruction on stance, follow through, and balance to control the ball and make the shot. Each of these drills will allow you to enhance your skills: 

  • Form Shooting
  • Quick Feet
  • Transition Shooting 

The keys to Form Shooting are good balance and follow through, keeping your elbows in, and properly judging your power - don’t miss short. To master Quick Feet and set yourself up to score, take three steps to get behind the three-point line, pivot to catch, and get the shot off before it’s contested. Transition Shooting is all about maintaining good balance and your follow through being stuck to ensure your shot finishes strong.    

Ready to impress the crowd when you step on the court? Press play below to get started!
 


IMG Academy basketball has created a library of basketball training drills that you can refer back to any time! Check out our other News stories as well as our YouTube channel (@imgacademy) for all of our How-To content.

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    3 Basketball Drills to Improve your Shooting Accuracy

    Basketball Tip

    Working on ways to increase the buckets you make will always be valuable to you and your team. Coaches want players who take meaningful shots and that they can depend on in the final minutes of a game. At Nike Basketball Camps, our coaches work with our athletes to make sure they are in the best spot to take and make shots when it comes down to it. Here are three tips for beginner to advanced players that will help improve your shooting accuracy and make you a dependable player when it matters.

    1. Practice "Nothing but the Net" Shots

    The whole point of all net shots is to make your target smaller and to learn where you need to focus your eye line to make you a more successful shooter. Do you need to focus on the backboard, the back of the rim, the front of the rim, etc, all athletes are different. By taking these shots, you are increasing the amount you need to focus to be a successful shooter. You will soon learn that all net shots are harder to make than regular shots, making game day shots easier for you.

    Every shot you take, the ball can only touch the net. Touching the rim or backboard does not count. Start off by taking stationary shots at four different spots and making five net shots in each. Track your progress each time to see how much you improve.

    2. Focus on Reps Close to the Basket

    While at practice, start out with easier shots closer to the basket. Don't start practice taking 3-pointers, instead work up to this over the course of practice. Start out focusing on your shot technique so you can eventually build out your range and become a more consistent shooter as you grow. Practice is the time to focus on what you are doing right and what you may be doing wrong. After every missed shot, focus on what went wrong and what you can do to fix this for the future. By immediately recognizing your mistakes, you will be able to not only avoid them in the future but build strong habits that will help improve your shooting accuracy.

    If your shots are too long or too short, it may just be something you need to work out by taking more reps and getting a better feel for the ball. Often times if you overshot to the left or right it has to do with your core mechanics. Try to make it your goal that over the course of practice you are making 100 perfect shots.

    3. One-Armed Shots

    A third way to help you improve your accuracy is to take one-armed shots. This will force you to focus on your follow-through and make sure you are flexing your wrist every time.

    Start just under the basket and make five shots. To make it more challenging, take a step back and make five more shots and so on. As you take these shots the power should be coming from your legs and you should be following through on every shot, making sure not to drop your arm after the shot.

    Finding ways to locate your target faster will give you a leg up when it comes to shooting accuracy. By staying focused in practice and using that time to develop tricks, you will become more confident on the court and in your shooting abilities. Practice these three drills a few times a week and you will see results over time. Check out more basketball shooting tips and learn even more this summer at a Nike Basketball Camp near you.

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    Basketball coaching hacks: how to score goals for beginners

    Even if you are a novice basketball player, we will not give you a training plan, but we will tell you why the ball flies anywhere but into the ring and into your hands. It's all about technique: even with regular training and perseverance, novice adults and children often make simple mistakes. It's a shame, let's fix it. Below are 11 life hacks on how to hone your technique to increase the likelihood of a goal for your team.

    Basketball Shot Rules for Beginners

    1.

    Hands up

    In pursuit of the attacker, raise your hands, even if you are standing with your back to the pass, and even more so if the ring is in front of you. Your raised hands will increase the chance of intercepting the ball from the opponent by 2 times. Don't overlook this little thing!

    2. Make shield rolls

    Even Tim Duncan did not neglect them! A square is drawn on the basketball backboard. If you are standing opposite the ring, then aim at the middle of the upper part of the square, if you are standing on the side, then at the corner. If you hit this square, then the ball is at 90% of cases will fall into the ring. The law of physics and no cheating!

    3. Look at the ring, not at the ball

    Practice driving the ball with your hand, not your eyes, develop tactile control. Your eyes should be on the hoop while dribbling and be aware of the position of your body in relation to the hoop. Then you will be able to take the correct posture, and the throw will be effective.

    4. Dribble with the balls of your fingers only

    The palm should not touch the ball, only the pads of the fingers. Dribbling should become familiar to you, like an extension of your hand. Then you can change its trajectory at any time and you will have more chances to score goals. Practice with the ball constantly.

    5. Throw with one hand

    If you throw the ball with two hands, you reduce the chance of hitting the basket. All the efforts of the throw are in one hand (in the right for right-handers, in the left for left-handers). The other hand only holds the ball, the leading one holds it with the fingers, not the palm.

    6. Do not jump when protecting the ring

    Jumping is the main mistake of rookie defenders. To intercept the ball and block the shot, simply stick out your hands. When you are in a jump, the attacker will easily bypass you.

    7. Don't look back

    When you dribble, don't look back, but dribble and aim for the ring, focus on shooting (or passing to another player on your team).

    8. Bring the throw to automatism

    Incorporate the most basic basketball techniques into your training plan and bring the shot to automatism. Throw first from a distance of half a meter from the ring, gradually increasing it. Learn to throw the ball so that it hits the hoop without touching the edge.

    Throw the ball with all fives and jump

    Throwing Rules:

    • Head in the center of the body - if tilted, accuracy is lost.
    • Look at the ring: mentally build a trajectory. If you are far away, the ball flies in a curved curve with a maximum height of 2 meters above the hoop.
    • A strong hand is in front and throws, a weak hand is on the side and directs, only holding the ball. The elbow of the throwing hand must be in line with the ring.
    • The ball must rest on the fingers without touching the palm. The fingers are as far apart as possible and grab the ball.
    • Throwing arm bent 90 degrees, forearm perpendicular to the floor. If you bend less, then you get not a throw, but a throwing of the ball horizontally.

    The main thing in the throw is the position of the body and its balance. Place your feet apart and parallel to each other: it is important to orient them in the middle of the basket. Then the direction of the body during the jump will coincide with the direction of the throw, and the ball will fly straight into the ring. When the feet are uneven, the ball flies in the wrong direction or does not reach (although the throw was normal).

    Take a deep breath and release as you exhale.

    How to hold the ball and shoot in basketball

    How to throw correctly: straighten your arm, point your wrist up, and with your hand set the ball to rotate in the opposite direction from the flight. The ball should seem to "roll" off your fingers.

    9. Copy masters and play as a team

    Watch professional basketball games and try to copy the movements of your favorite players in training. And be sure to conduct game sparring - this will allow you to develop more techniques.

    10. Do not throw in a straight line

    The higher the arc of the ball, the greater the chance of a goal and the less chance of blocking by the opponent.

    11. Do not throw the ball from a full height stand

    This is the biggest newbie mistake!

    Before the throw, bend your knees slightly and at the moment of the throw, straighten your body, making a jump. You need to straighten up and push off the ground at the same time. When squatting, keep the elbow of the throwing arm close to the body and towards the ring.

    The jump will give momentum to the ball and will allow you not to make sudden movements with the brush.

    ***

    And to be a long-term player, do not forget about your health: take care of your joints and muscles, use tapes, do a warm-up. And be sure to strengthen your arms, legs and shoulder girdle, develop coordination. Regular exercises on uneven bars and horizontal bars will help you with this.

    How to learn to shoot three-pointers - FURFUR

    FURFUR understands how to shoot three-pointers in basketball

    • April 11, 2013 at 19:45
    • 88228

    Winter has finally receded, which means it's time to break out of your cramped apartments to freedom and do all kinds of outdoor activities. Today's article in the "Advice" section is devoted to basketball, and specifically to how to learn how to make three-point shots, and not just rush aimlessly around the field.

    How to learn
    to shoot three-pointers?

    A three-point shot, like a free kick in football, is one of the most spectacular moments of the game. With such a killer throw, you can bury your opponent's hopes a second before the end of the match, and also win the respect of your friends by showing your unsurpassed accuracy. Of course, it takes a lot of time to hone any skill, and reading this guide won't instantly make you Reggie Miller or Ray Allen (the best three-point shooters in NBA history), but you can learn some useful skills. Further, everything depends only on you: training and perseverance, and at one fine moment you will succeed.

    The three-point shot in its current form originated in 1967 in the ABA (American Basketball Association) championship, and later adopted by the NBA. Interestingly, in the NBA, the distance of the three-point line is 724 cm from the basket, while in the American collegiate championship it is much less - only 602 cm. The standard distance for most courts in the rest of the world is 675 cm.

    Pre-training

    If you are serious about impressing everyone with your abilities, start training. It is better to start doing the first exercises from a close distance, about half a meter from the ring, and gradually move away. When training at close range, you should try to throw so that the ball hits the ring without hitting its edges. The main thing here is to bring muscle movements to automatism.

    Andrei Kasai

    musician, illustrator

    Three-pointer is not easy, but there are a few tricks that will definitely help. Well, first of all, let's not forget the good old prayer. Here all means are good: amulets, ritual candles, limbs of dead animals, training. Secondly, you can always cheat. No one has yet canceled a well-tested technique - a spade. And don't forget, a three from a shield doesn't count.

    Preparing to throw

    To begin with, you should completely relax the body - mainly the arms and hands (but do not spend too much time on this). Look at the ring, focus on a specific goal. Feel the ball in your hands. To do this, you can twist it a little, pokanit several times. Then you need to carefully build a picture in your head of how the ball hits the ring. Try to mentally imagine its trajectory: when throwing from long distances, it is a parabola with a maximum height of about two meters above the level of the ring.

    Leg position

    Place your feet slightly apart parallel to each other and orient them towards the middle of the basket. In this position, the direction of the kinetic moment of the body during the jump will coincide with the direction of the throw. If the feet are uneven, you will have to make additional efforts to extinguish the energy of the body. The range and accuracy of the flight in this case will be very different from those planned.

    Hand position

    The weaker hand must be the guiding hand and be located to the side of the ball, the stronger hand must be the thrower and be in front. The fingers are open, the ball should lie on them, without touching the inside of the palms. The elbow of the throwing arm should be approximately in line with the basket and bent at a 90 degree angle.

    The world record for most three-pointers is held by Dave Hople, the shooting coach of many NBA players, including Kobe Bryant. In a minute, he managed to put 18 three-pointers in a row into the basket.

    Throw moment

    Take a deep breath and exhale to throw. At the moment of the throw, the arm is fully extended, the wrist is directed upwards, and the hand tells the ball to rotate around the horizontal axis in the direction opposite to flight. The ball at this moment, as it were, rolls off the index and middle fingers. In the final stage, there should be a movement with the brush, seeing off the ball. At the moment of release, the ball must be above the player's eyes, but at the same time at the same level with the goal. The greater the distance, the greater the amplitude during the swing and the final effort.

    Common errors:

    1. Bend the arm less than 90 degrees. In this case, the trajectory will be more horizontal and the throw will turn into throwing.
    2. Shoulders and back tilted back. Then the range of motion will increase greatly.
    3. The ball comes off the ring finger. This causes it to rotate sideways and accuracy is reduced.
    4. The guiding hand interferes with the direction of the throw.

    Shield use

    Using a shield is a bit of a cheat, of course, but if a three-pointer can decide the game, why not. All basketball backboards have a rectangle. If you are opposite the ring, you need to aim at the middle of the upper part of the rectangle above the ring, if on the side - at the corner of this rectangle closest to you. If you get there, the ball will almost certainly be in the ring.

    Platon Ogaryov

    amateur athlete

    There are no tricks here, the main thing is to dodge the opponent, forget about everything for a second and concentrate on the ring.


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