How to make more shots in basketball

21 Easy Ways to Improve Your Basketball Shooting Percentage – The Breakthrough Basketball Blog

Tip #1 – Locate Your Target (the Rim) Earlier

Getting in the habit of locating your target (the rim) earlier will improve your shooting percentage.  Why?

Locating the rim just a split second earlier gives your brain more time to subconsciously calculate distance and focus on your objective. Your eyes should be on the rim as early as possible. To make this little trick work, you need to develop this habit in practice, which carries over into games.

Tip #2 – Always Hold Your Follow Through

You’ve probably heard this a hundred times but there’s good reason for it.  Holding your follow through solves a multitude of shooting problems.  This simple movement helps you maintain good basketball shooting technique without even thinking about it.

Tip #3 – Finish with a Relaxed Wrist

A common mistake is for players to follow-through with a tense wrist.   Your wrist should be as relaxed as possible.  Your hand should finish on line and even bounce a little during the follow-through.

Tip #4 – Use a Colored Ball to Improve Rotation

To improve the straightness of your shot, try a colored basketball during practice.   This makes it easy to see the rotation and direction of the ball.  The immediate feedback makes it quick and easy for you to adjust and improve your shot.

Tip #5 – Don’t Shoot like Kobe (By Hanging In The Air)

TOO many kids try to copy Kobe and end up with bad shots for the REST OF THEIR LIVES!

Youngsters have no business trying to hang like Kobe and shoot.  Kobe is a freak of nature!  You should shoot as you’re going up (at least 1 inch before you reach the top of your jump).  Trying to mimic Kobe’s shot will just earn you a place on the bench and lots of frustration.

Tip #6 – Stop Thinking about Your Shot During Games

One of the worst things you can do is think about your shooting mechanics during a game.

Thinking about your shot is for practice, NOT for games!  In fact, you should only think during certain parts of your practice.  It’s ok to think during a form shooting session or when learning a new skill, but once you start developing rhythm and get further into practice, don’t think!

During games, train yourself to think about other things or nothing at all.

You’re going to miss a few.  So what!  Don’t think, just shoot the damn ball!!!

If you adopt this mentality, your shooting percentage will go UP.

Tip # 7 – Eliminate Negative Thoughts with this Simple Trick

Eliminating negative thoughts can dramatically improve your basketball shooting percentage.

To stop thinking and eliminate bad thoughts, you can try this little trick…

Before each game, practice, and shooting session, tell yourself that you don’t care if you make any baskets.   Say it out loud or in your head several times.

THEN, when you go to shoot (right as you’re catching the ball), say something to yourself like, “Nice shot. I can do better.”  In other words, try not to care if it goes in or not.

This simple little trick helps you to relax into the process and not think about the result. Using this technique will be enough to break you out of mini slumps and restore your confidence.

Tip #8 – Develop Optimal Arc

DID YOU KNOW that a shot with a flat 35 degree arc only has .6 inches of margin for the ball to clear without hitting the rim?  The shot has to be almost perfect to get a swish.

BUT a shot with a 45 degree medium height arc has a 3 inch margin of error!

That’s right.  Just by increasing the arc of your shot, your margin of error could increase as much as 500%!

How many shots bounce OUT of the basket because you missed by just a fraction?

As a general rule of thumb, finish your follow through with the rim clearly visible beneath the fingers of your shooting hand.  That way you will ensure that you have a decent arc on the shot.  Shots with proper arch have a much better chance of going in.

Just don’t go too high.  Because if your arc gets too high, you’ll loose your distance control.

Tip #9 – Watch DVDs

Simply by watching great shooters groove their shots over and over, you can improve your confidence and form.

The good habits and examples can be contagious.  As you watch, the good form becomes ingrained in your mind.

Not to mention, you should never stop learning.  There are lots of good shooting DVDs and books for you to learn from.

Tip #10 – Use a Partner to Tune your Shot Alignment

Spend a little time during each practice lined up along a court line about 20 feet from a partner, shooting back and forth and trying to have the ball bounce as close to the line as possible. This simple practice technique will help you to fine tune your control of the precision of your shot.

Tip #11 – Land In Front

Balance is a very important aspect of shooting.  You achieve balance primarily through a proper stance and footwork.  

After your shot, you should land in front of where you started.  You can do this by making sure that your momentum is going towards the basket on every catch. You should also establish good balance from your stance.

Tip #12 – Film Your Shot

You’d be amazed at how filming your shot in both games and practices can help you.

The most common response from players is… “That’s how I shoot!!??”

That’s right.  Most players haven’t seen their own shot before. Seeing your shot on film can help you to detect poor mechanics and motivate you to make commitments for improvement.  Bottom line– it’s a great way to refine your shot.

Tip #13 – Get a Partner

When possible, try to shoot with a partner.  Because when you’re alone, you end up chasing the rebound before following through properly.

This is important.  Think about how you practice…

You shoot and then you start following the shot immediately so you can get lots of reps.   Guess what?  This can mess up your follow-through.  You need to FINISH each shot and hold your follow-through.  That’s why we recommend getting a partner to rebound for you.  Now just because you can’t find a partner you can (and should) still practice by yourself.  Just be aware of holding your follow through.

Tip #14 – Fix Bad Habits by Immediately Correcting Your Shot

This is one of the easiest ways to break bad shooting habits.  For example, let’s say you forgot to hold your follow-through.  Well, immediately after you shoot, raise your hand back up and put your hand in the correct follow-through position.  This simple technique will help you quickly correct the bad habit

Tip #15 – Use a Return Device

Using basketball rebounding and return devices can literally double the number of shots you can take in practice.  Just think how much time you spend chasing the ball when you practice.  A return device solves that problem and lets you take more shots in less time.

Tip #16 – Get To Set

When you catch the ball, you should get the ball to your set position as quickly as possible. This will speed up your shot. Your set point can be anywhere between your hip and your shoulder.

Tip #17 – Don’t Fall for Gimmicks

Too many players spend their hard earned money on shooting gloves and gimmicks, thinking this will make them great shooters.

You can’t use these devices during a game so it really doesn’t do you much good.  You need to learn how to shoot effectively without these devices.  There is NO magic pill.

Tip # 18 – Keep Your Shot Motion Balanced, Fluid, and Consistent

A fluid motion means that there are no jerky movements or stopping points, just one constant flow from start to finish.

Consistency can’t be stressed enough.  Your feet, arms, set point, and jump height should use a consistent motion every time you shoot.  All the greatest shooters in the world have amazingly consistent movements.

Tip #19 – Groove 50 Shots Before Every Game

Before every practice and game, face the basket and shoot 50 EASY shots about four to ten feet from the basket.

Not only does this improve your shooting form, but it helps to develop phenomenal confidence.

You’ll quickly become very good at grooving these shots over and over.  You’ll see the ball going in the basket over and over.  You’ll swish the ball repeatedly and probably shoot 60%, 70%, 80%, or more, which is great for your psyche.

Why do you think that NBA players do this before games?  Why do you think that Tiger Woods starts all of his practice sessions by making 100 three-foot putts?

Because it works!  Don’t overlook this powerful strategy.

Tip #20 – Quickly Chart Your Shot to Determine Tendencies

Head to the gym and shoot a bare minimum of 50 shots.  Ask your partner to chart your shots.  The KEY is to chart the detailed results of each shot.  You will track how many shots fell short, too long, to the left, and to the right.   This information will help you to determine what you need to work on.

For example, if you consistently miss short (like many players do), you’ll need to work on your power and distance control.  If you consistently miss to the right and the left, you need to fix the mechanics of your foot and/or arm alignment.

Tip #21 – Work Game-Like Movement into Your Practice

To make game shots, you need to practice game shots.  You should use good shooting drills and practice movement off screens, cuts, chairs, and pivoting in both directions.

Get to the Gym and Apply What You’ve Learned

There ya go… 21 simple ways for you to improve your basketball shooting percentage.  Now get to the gym, apply what you’ve learned, and knock down more shots!!

Recommended Shooting Resources

FREE Basketball Shooting Workouts, Drills & Guide

Baden 28.5″ Shooting Basketball

Baden Heavy Training Basketball – 29. 5″

Baden 35″ Oversized Training Basketball

USA Basketball - 10 Tips to Improve the Mental Side of Shooting

Being a great shooter can change your life. Great shooters have a much better chance to make the team, become a star, get a scholarship or even play professional basketball.

Here are 10 mental concepts and techniques that will help any player become a better shooter and make more shots, in any situation, in any game.

Go beyond the physical fundamentals to get into the "zone" like all great shooters do:

Use Relevant Psychology

The part of psychology most relevant to sports performance is neuroscience. A major concept of neuroscience is that everything you do is controlled by thought. Your body is controlled by your mind. Controlling your mind through thought is called focus.

Peak performance requires focus. You must have very specific purpose and intent. Simplify that purpose to the smallest variable possible, and that becomes your focal point. You don’t need to think, but you do need to focus! Pure focus equals maximum performance!

Physics and Biomechanics

Before understanding and adjusting your personal shooting psychology, you must first establish this baseline concept. The physics of making shots are exactly the same for everyone. Things like arc, trajectory, and backspin are equally in play for all of us, with every shot we take. Yet the "fundamental shooting form" taught by most coaches when teaching players to shoot doesn't always match proven science. Biomechanics and physics say it's about the ball--not the body.

Rick Barry (6th on the all-time scoring list when he retired) averaged over 90 percent from the charity stripe for his entire career and has the second best free-throw percentage in the history of the NBA. At the NABC convention, I had the opportunity to talk to Rick about his two-handed/underhanded free throws. Barry’s shooting form is a totally different technique from what players prefer to use today. But Barry is the perfect example of a player who focused on getting the basketball to go in, regardless of how he got his body to do it.

While players can use totally different shooting form and "fundamentals," the physics of the shot arc, trajectory and distance remained constant.

Get Beyond Analysis Paralysis

As coaches we often tell players to "concentrate," or "take a deep breath and relax." Another popular coaching directive is "don't think too much" and just shoot. But how do you deal with the mixed signals of relax, stop thinking and yet still work to concentrate? What does being relaxed mean? By the way, when was the last time your mind was completely blank? Okay, except for now while you ponder the question! To get beyond analysis paralysis in shooting you must learn to control your focus.

Feel Your Body and Trust Your Feelings

Top shooters have a feel for what a good shot is. They know the moment a shot leaves their hand if it is good or not. So what "feel" should you aim for? Here's a simple drill to get more control over the basketball and one of the most effective ways to improve your shot:

Stand within eight feet or so from the basket and make an all-net shot with one hand. Do this over and over again. Memorize how the ball feels rolling out of your hands and off your fingers as you make all-net shot after shot. Do it with your eyes closed and focus on feeling the ball roll off your fingers--don't look, just feel!

When you duplicate that feeling, you will engrain the necessary physics of arc, directional control and even backspin to make more shots. When you focus on getting that feeling, you are better able to duplicate the feeling. When you use this technique you stop thinking. Your mind will then subconsciously search for and recreate the feeling/sensation of the ball rolling off your fingers towards the basket. As you focus on that one specific thing, all of a sudden your footwork, jumping, and everything else will begin to align to give you the best chance to make the shot.

This "focus on the feeling" action is how our mind clears away conscience thought (even fear) and finds "the zone." This will happen all by itself if you "focus" on one simple feeling. This is exactly what happens when people use a mantra to meditate and find enlightenment.

Meditate to Concentrate

According to psychologist Daniel Goldman, "powerful concentration amplifies the effectiveness of any kind of activity." Meditation, or mindfulness, is the ability to retrain attention, so that it fosters concentration. Several NBA players meditate before games. Lakers coach Phil Jackson is a proponent of meditation and is known as the "Zen Master." Coach Jackson has had both his Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers teams practice Buddhist meditation before they practice jump shots.

Jackson has won 10 NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers. Meditate on that...

$PageBreak$

Improve Your Shooters EQ

Basketball IQ is incredibly important in shooting. Shots are often made or missed before they are ever even taken. Shooters IQ is the instinctive ability to know how to get open for a shot, where and when to take a shot, what type of shot to take, and even when not to shoot.

Basketball EQ (Emotional Quotient) is a player’s ability to control emotions regardless of the changing circumstances (time and score – missed/made last three shot attempts, etc.) of a basketball game. EQ affects a player’s abilities to adjust on the fly and perform under pressure. Our research indicates that your emotional quotient may be twice as important in contributing to shooting excellence than basketball IQ and shooting skill alone.

Actualization

Start doing. Stop practicing shooting. Start making shots. It doesn’t matter how many shots you practice. What matters is how many shots you actually make during practice.

For true shooting mastery, it also helps to limit practice to making only the one or two types of shots you will actually get to take while in the flow of your team's offense. Also, instead of trying to "practice at game speed," make shots while being denied the ball and even guarded by one or two defenders. Successful experience in practice leads to successful experience in games and raises the your personal level of expectation.

Raise Your Level of Expectation

Make perfect shots. In our player development sessions at 1on1 Basketball Academy, we require that all layups go off the backboard and through the net without ever touching the rim. Hit the rim and the shot does not count. Jump shots must also be "all-net" in order to count.

Make shots with your eyes closed. Play "all-net/eyes closed" shooting competitions in practice to develop your "feel" for making shots. Focus on the feel needed to make perfect shots from warm-up to cool down, and your practice effort will transfer into real game success.

Transference

Basketball players and teams practice hard and often still play inconsistently or poorly. Make better use of practice time. Get your practice time effort to transfer into real performance in real games.

As an expert in pedagogy and behavioral science, I firmly believe that the most effective way to perform at peak performance levels is to practice (even when you are initially learning new skills) with a success/failure-based immediate and effective consequence. That's how it is in a real game. That's how it is in life."

Go Beyond Confidence

We do clinics for coaches and players all across the country and internationally. Unannounced at every clinic, I walk to half court and a make shot, facing backwards, with my eyes closed! I never practice, yet I consistently make the shot in less than seven attempts.

How can I do this? I have simply memorized the feel of a successful shot. As I'm holding the basketball, I take just one to two seconds to focus/meditate on getting that feeling as I take the shot. With everyone now watching, we then take a player from the clinic group and get them to make the shot (eyes open for rookies!). Always a crowd pleaser, this is a great example of what mastering the mental aspects of shooting can do for any player.

Release old ideas and beliefs. Empty your cup of pre-conceived barriers and fill it with new knowledge. Be in the moment--no past, no future--and only aware of the meditative mantra feeling of the ball rolling off your fingers.

9 ways to increase the effectiveness of shots without changing their structure - All about basketball