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How to shoot a basketball like curry


Stephen Curry Shooting Form: How To Shoot Like Steph Curry

If you've ever wanted to know how to shoot like Steph Curry, you're about to find out. In this post, we did an in depth analysis of Steph Curry’s shooting form...

This isn’t necessarily what you must do, but our goal is just to show you exactly what one of the best shooters in the world does when he shoots...

And most importantly towards the end of this post, we'll discuss how you can develop shooting mechanics that can make you just as consistent, accurate, and deadly on the court. 

(Hint: it's not from trying to copy your favorite player's form...)

More...

Quick Navigation: Steph Curry Shooting Form Breakdown

ALIGNMENT

THE TURN

THE STANCE

THE DIP

HAND POSITION

THE SETPOINT

PALM SHOOTER

THE RELEASE

THE FOLLOW THROUGH

THE EYES

THE OFF HAND

YOUR ACTION STEPS

ALIGNMENT

Steph Curry keeps his shooting shoulder, elbow and hip aligned.

You can see that his shoulder is directly behind his elbow, in line with his hip.

His forearm is slightly tilted away from this line, keeping the ball above his shooting eye.

THE TURN

Curry is a right handed shooter, so in order to align his right side, he turns his feet slightly towards the left.

Sometimes, off the dribble, curry’s feet point directly at the rim.

When this happens, he rotates his hips as he jumps, and turns in the air to maintain that alignment.

THE STANCE

Curry is predominantly a wide stance shooter with his knees pointing inwards.

THE DIP

Off the catch, Steph Curry dips the basketball and uses the momentum to create rhythm for his shot.

This means that after catching the ball, he brings it down to his waist before rising up to shoot.

Off the dribble, most of the time he is already low and the ball is already at his waist, so he doesn't need to dip.

HAND POSITION

Steph uses a relatively relaxed hand position on the ball, with his index finger and thumb making a V-shape.

Also notice that his hand is on the side of the ball, and rotates towards the net as he extends his arm.

THE SETPOINT

When Curry shoots, the ball first travels backwards towards his head, before traveling forwards towards the net.

The point right before the ball starts moving towards the net is called the setpoint.

Steph Curry’s setpoint is just above his right eye.

At his setpoint, his thumb is in line with his eyebrow and his palm is facing to the side.

You will also notice that his arm makes a 90 degree angle at his armpit.

The angle between his arm and his forearm is much less than 90 degrees.

He always reaches his setpoint before his feet leave the ground, and then uses the power from his jump to push the ball forward.

PALM SHOOTER

Curry is a palm shooter.

This means that he rests the ball on his entire hand with the weight of the ball on his palm.

He then transfers the ball from this palm to his finger pads and off his fingertips as he snaps his wrist forward.

THE RELEASE

He uses a 4 fingers down release, and the ball comes off of his middle finger last.

Curry keeps his wrist relaxed and floppy on his release.

THE FOLLOW THROUGH

On his follow through, his elbow is right above his head and his arm is completely straight.

The ball travels in a straight line.

It starts off above his eye and on his follow through, his wrist ends up directly above his eye.

THE EYES

Steph keeps his eyes on the rim until the ball is released.

As soon as it leaves his hand, he follows the ball with his eyes all the way to the rim .

THE OFF HAND

Notice that his off hand comes off the ball right before he starts to snap his wrist forward.

Also watch how he tucks his thumb in next to his index finger on his off hand.

YOUR ACTION STEP

Almost every player I coach wants to get a shooting form that looks like their favorite player's form...

You've probably tried to do this too. I know I did when I was obsessing over how to improve my shooting. 

So you try to copy every single aspect by watching these breakdowns. But what happens?

You end up hurting your form more than helping it... Why? Because every player is different.

Every player has a different body type, different height, age, strength, shape, and even hand size. All of these things matter...

So when you're trying to shoot like Steph or Kobe, you're copying shooting principles that work for THEIR unique physical characteristics, not yours.

Now of course, if your shot is horrible, like you shoot with a set point over your head, then of course your form and shot will improve if you try to copy a pro player. But other than that, if you want to truly reach your MAX shooting potential...

Then you need to develop a set of mechanics that are UNIQUELY customized for YOUR body and YOUR characteristics. The way to do that is to learn the correct shooting principles and mould those around your unique characteristics like your strength, age, style of play, etc.

The worst part if you don't train for your own unique style of shooting like that, you can never find a form that 'sticks'. Which can get super frustrating because you never get that 'reliable shooter' status. Your consistency suffers. Your in-game shots are never as good as your practice. Teammates stop relying on you to take shots and no form ever starts to feel like "your own"... And now you know why.

Once you install those correct shooting principles into your own form by going through this training program, you'll develop a beautiful, consistent, smooth shot that's unstoppable on the court.

Coach Faizal

How to Perfect Your Jump Shot

Part 1 of 10

Face your 10 toes to the rim

Square up your toes so they face the basket. Your hips and chest should also face that direction.

Did you know?

Your feet might naturally point 10 to 15 degrees to either side of the basket. This is fine as long as you point them in the same direction and remain as square as possible.

Part 2 of 10

Plant the arch of your foot

Firmly plant the arch of your foot into the ground in order to increase strength and balance on your jump shot. This also prevents you from rolling on the outside of your foot, which not only decreases your strength and balance but can cause an injury.

Part 3 of 10

Use your legs as the foundation of your shot

The greatest shooters don’t shoot with their arms; they shoot with their legs to bring energy, flow, motion, and power to their jump shot. Keep your legs square with your shoulders and bend your knees properly so they load into your hips and backside.

Did you know?

If you extend your knees beyond your toes, your legs won’t provide power to your jump shot, and you might lose your balance. Avoid bending your knees in or out too far—bending inward decreases your power and balance and can cause an injury, and bending outward means you’ll be at a disadvantage against your defender.

Part 4 of 10

Hold the basketball so it sits on the pads of your fingertips

Keep a bit of space in between your palms and the ball—don’t let it just sit in the palm of your hands—for proper spin, rotation, and control.

Part 5 of 10

Place your lead finger on the ball’s air valve

This makes sure your hand is centered on the ball and will let you properly release the ball and keep it in line with your arm toward the basket.

Part 6 of 10

Aim for the net’s hooks

No matter where you’re shooting from, you’ll be able to see two or three hooks connecting the net to the rim. These are almost the same width as the basketball, and by aiming for the hooks at the front of the rim, you’ll get the ball just over and through the hoop.

Part 7 of 10

Jump straight up and down

Use the power from your arched foot and bent knees to jump with as little change in direction as possible. If you twist and/or jump toward the basket, your accuracy will decrease.

Part 8 of 10

Raise the ball high and release it at a 45- to 48-degree arc

The release point is the most important part of the shot because it determines how close your defender needs to be in order to block. A higher release point is harder to defend, but releasing too soon means the shot will start low, your opponent won’t have to get as close to block, and your opponent can also block your line of sight with the basket.

Did you know?

A flat jump shot will most likely hit the back of the rim and bounce out. You’ll want to shoot at a 45- to 48-degree arc—anything higher than that and you’ll lose control and accuracy—so the ball travels downward as it comes to the rim.

Part 9 of 10

Finish with your elbows high and your lead hand in a “goose neck” position

Your elbows should be fully extended and above your eyes, not out to the sides like a chicken wing. The “goose neck” provides a visual of putting your fingers right in front of the basket.

Part 10 of 10

Record and review your practice

Film never lies, and watching videos of your shooting techniques is a vital part of your success. You can break down your form and technique, see how you’re getting better, and learn from your mistakes. Be purposeful in how you watch—it’s different than watching basketball as a fan.

Stephen Curry's Throwing Secrets - Yes Basketball - Blogs

Yes Basketball

Blog

Today we'll talk about the throwing technique of the idol of modern basketball fans and one of the best snipers in history - Stephen Curry. Curry is an amazing player who, with the help of painstaking and diligent work in training, has brought his throwing technique to almost perfection. And we will analyze exactly what features allow him to dominate the NBA for more than a year.

So let's get started. The first is footwork. The foundation of any throw. Stephen Curry has truly phenomenal legs. He can change his decision and direction of movement depending on the situation that occurs on the court in order to improve his shooting position. It is very important. Note that his feet are not directed towards the ring. It is explainable. Curry needs to make his throws very fast in the first place. Therefore, when preparing to throw, he must quickly put his feet up and prepare to jump up. Curry is about speed. At the same time, his toes are always pointed in one direction, which allows him to maintain balance when pushing off and remove unwanted stress from his knees.

Second moment. Technique for bringing the ball up. The ball never stops! Curry constantly moves him. He builds up momentum in order to explode and make a throw if necessary. Plus, jumping straight up gives him the necessary impetus. It does not expend additional strength to shift, deflect, or step back. All these chips will only lead to a loss of time and proper balance when making a throw.

The third moment. Let's dwell on his throwing hand. Note that at the moment the ball is released, it fully straightens. All the accumulated energy of the legs and body is supplemented by the hand and throws the ball into the ring. This is an important point also because it means one thing - the throwing technique is always the same, always until the arm is fully extended. Let's also look at the elbow. After the ball is released, it is above eye level. This indicates that the hand is raised high, which in turn means the following - the ball is given an incredible trajectory to enter the ring. It will be extremely difficult to block him. The brush is directed downward after the throw. Fingers literally at a right angle “look” at the floor. And it's not easy either. With this brush work, Curry sets an almost perfect spin to the ball.

Moving on. Sight. Steph Curry is already looking at the ring when he receives the ball. He already knows where and how to shoot to score. This is a very important point, since, again, the most important fractions of a second are saved. Look, he has not yet taken the ball in his throwing hand, and his eyes are already fixed on the ring. Incredible sense of your body. Behind this is hard training, and it is this interaction of a trained body that makes Curry a great sniper. Plus psychology. He always aims for the ring. As evidenced by his gaze. If you see the target, then you will always be ready to hit it.

The next point is the position of the elbow. Let's pay attention that at the moment of removal of the ball and until its release it is directed perpendicular to the floor. This allows you to maintain the necessary control over the ball and provides the necessary balance for the shot. The forearm does not “walk” either to the left or to the right. It is clearly perpendicular to the floor. That is, the trajectory of the future throw is already set from the elbow. And it goes straight to the ring. Without distortion.

Now let's focus on the position of the fingers on the ball. They always cross the seams. It would seem an accident, but it is not entirely true. Such a grip allows, when setting the rotation of the ball, to slow it down a little so that it does not stray from the required trajectory. This trick is done by all the best snipers.

That's it. We hope that these features will bring something new to your arsenal. Try, train and do not forget that the main thing is your diligence. Curry is a prime example of this.

Subscribe to our channel, ask your questions in the comments and remember that a lot of interesting things are ahead of us!

Three-point revolution.

How Stephen Curry Cracked the Basketball Code - Tablet - Blogs

Fivethirtyeight explains why Steph Curry could very well be averaging over 50 points per game.

Original

I spoke to a Golden State fan before the season started. He was pissing with joy, admiring his team, and willingly explained to me the secrets of the success of the Warriors: in his opinion, it was a team with perfect balance, with the perfect internal atmosphere, role players, coaches and leadership. And, of course, the brilliant performance of Stephen Curry also came to court.

One can hardly disagree with his opinion that the Warriors are a kind of basketball masterpiece of Zen Buddhism. And yet, after a very few minutes, I got into a furious argument, discovering that even a die-hard Curry fan doesn't realize how cool and how important Steph is.

With the exception of Daryl Morey, Curry is a symbol of the NBA's three-point revolution. This story is impressive: three-pointers have been underestimated for a very long time, and now smart shooters are finally becoming an important part of the NBA. Last season was dominated by those teams that make more shots from behind the arc and do it better than the rest. The ratio between the number of three-point attempts and the percentage of wins has never been so high (47). In the playoffs, the top three 3-point teams made it to the conference finals.

Even so, I was still a little skeptical that a 3-point shot would give such a big advantage. My attitude could hardly be compared to Byron Scott's anti-3-point attitude, but I felt like mid-range shots - traditionally the strongest rationale for success in the NBA - would prove just as important once defensemen adjusted to the new offensive math and a new balance will be reached.

But Curry trampled it all. Curry is not a product of mathematics. He is so good that he has his own math. Indeed, the math is so strong in Curry's favor that the Warriors - and even basketball in general - may not even fully realize what they have yet.

In an argument with a Warriors fan, I may have said some things that I shouldn't have said. For example, that Curry may well aim at the record of Wilt Chamberlain, who scored more than 50 points per game during the season. Even as an MVP, Curry only produced 24 points last season, so I exaggerated a bit for effect... right?

This season, Curry scored almost 32 points throughout November (despite often having the opportunity to watch the fourth quarters from the bench as the Warriors rolled opponents). As ESPN's director of analytics Ben Alamar wrote, "Curry seems to have realized there's no such thing as too many three-pointers for him."

And that's the crux of the matter. The deeper you delve into the data, the more you realize that Curry isn't just an effective thrower, he doesn't get the notion that efficiency goes down as the number of attempts increases. When Curry is required to shoot more and more three-pointers, he does not become less efficient (economists would say that Curry has almost constant returns to scale). The question is, how much more can Curry add on shots while still being the Warriors' best option?

I could juggle the statistics here and make some wild guess, but I don't want to be unfounded. I studied the problem from many different angles, including the latest data on the movement of the players and the ball.

There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that the results do not give us an idea of ​​what kind of burden Curry can still take on. The good news, however, is that there is not the slightest hint that Curry is even nearing his ceiling.

So how good are curry rolls?

Although Curry does a lot of things well, his main asset is his ability to hit the ball, so let's start with that. To deal with Curry's throw, I pulled data from the start of last season through Saturday's matches. It provides information not only about the distance to the ring, but also the distance to the nearest defender and the time left to attack. From this, I tried to determine the value of each perfect throw, which I then compared with the results. This diagram shows the added value of shots made by each player since the start of last season compared to the number of shots made (the size of each bubble corresponds to the number of shots per match).

Among players with over 200 shots, Curry is only fourth in efficiency (behind Kyle Korver, DeAndre Jordan and Kevin Durant). But Curry alone has more than 1,600 shots, while none of the first three scored even half of that number. Shot efficiency alone gives him 371 points, while Korver is in second place with 247 points. Note that this does not take into account the added value from earned free throws - which would have given Curry an even greater advantage (Curry made 416 free throws over this period, while Korver made 118).

Compared to this season, Curry's MVP last year looks mediocre. Curry has improved in many ways - among other things, it should be noted that he is moving on a schedule that will allow him to put out a career best in steals and rebounds, as well as a better defensive rating. In addition, he has career-highs in shots per 100 possessions (29.0 this season vs. 25.1 last year) and three-point shots per 100 possessions (15.5 this year vs. 12.1 last year). year). But the most important thing is that although he makes more attempts, his efficiency has also increased! Here's a map of Curry's throws this season from Kirk Goldsberry as a reminder:

Here are probably the numbers I like best: Curry's assists per 100 possessions are down (11.6 last season, 8.5 this season, the worst since his first season in the league (7, 8) It is fair to conclude that Curry is making more shots by sacrificing the shots he created for his partners

And rightly so! so often

Curry's bad throws are better than everyone else's good throws

I usually joke that Curry has to make "all throws" - and that's probably an exaggeration. But there is every reason to believe that the Warriors could ask Curry to throw more.

Let's go back to the basics: some throws are better than others. Sometimes the defenders make a mistake and allow the player to make an open throw, sometimes the time for the attack runs out and the player has to throw it at random, although an opponent is standing next to him. A good attacking system is about making good shots. Of course, it is also important who makes them: an open three-pointer does not make sense if it is made by someone like Shaq, while even a shot made with resistance can be valuable if its author is a good "shooter" like Curry .

If the Warriors gave Curry more shots, someone would have to take them. If Curry could steal shots that were better than what his partners are doing, then that would be a real fluff. But, assuming the Warriors are already sparing shots sparingly, more emphasis on Curry would mean the distribution was wrong—Curry would get shots that are “better” by his teammates. Moreover, Curry's share of new throws should, on average, be worse than those he currently makes (if they were better, he would most likely have made them already).

So if our hypothesis that Curry should make even more shots is correct, then that means the Warriors must sacrifice good shots for Curry's bad shot. So how good is Curry at bad throws?

Very, very good.

One way to tell if he's good at throwing bad shots is to see how he throws when he's being defended tightly. These shots include the distance to the nearest defender. For example, NBA players as a whole made 35% of three-point shots last season, while in situations where the distance from the defender was 3 meters, this figure rose to 44%.

Here's how Curry shot from behind the arc in the last two seasons, when distance to the nearest defender is taken into account: meters, 44% - when he was at a distance of from a meter to two meters, and 47% - at a distance of more than two meters. Yes, that's right, Curry shoots 3-pointers with a defenseman three to two meters away (which is considered "tight marking") just as well as the average NBA sharpshooter in a situation where the nearest defenseman is three meters away from him.

Naturally, Curry throws badly when he is "strangled" by opponents at a distance of less than half a meter from him. This should come as no surprise given that Curry is only 191cm tall, and with such a guard, he automatically gets a block shot. But note that these kinds of shots are rare: they make up only 25 percent of the data, about 3 percent of all his three-pointers. And Curry doesn't seem to have a problem creating comfortable throws for himself:

So other than the rare cases of super-tight marking, Curry is practically immune to defense. He makes about 42 percent of his hardest shots (28 percent of situations where the defender is less than a meter away), which is 126 points per 100 attempts. In other words, if Golden State could trade their entire offense for Stephen Curry's worst three-pointers — and that's without counting his fouls and offensive rebounds — they would still have the best offense in NBA history by a wide margin.

Then things get even more incredible.

Another way to determine how difficult a shot is is the time left on the scoreboard. When the time to attack decreases, the value of possession drops as players sacrifice the quality of the roll. Curry doesn't work very well with this:

Curry makes a huge amount of throws at the start of the attack (more than 50 percent), and in this area he is deadly. His worst time frame is when there are 12-16 seconds left on the scoreboard - then he makes 42 percent of the shots. But the less time left to attack, the better he throws! Not only is this yet another example of how the traditional notions of "good" and "bad" rolls do not apply to Curry, but it also gives Curry's partners a practical indication that they should forgo relatively good rolls if they can help in doing so. Curry make your own.

Curry vs. Warriors

Of course, the Warriors are not your average team. So it's probably stupid to think that their great shooters should turn down good situations. Let's now see how well and how often the entire Warriors team throws. I compared "true shooting percentage" to Golden State's 36-minute field attempts this season.

There is a common relationship between the two: low-shooters are more selective and more accurate (usually hitting open 3-pointers), while high-shooters take on the dirty work of shooting from under the defenders and shots that are difficult to execute, but still better than nothing. This is why so often great players who have to shoulder the burden of many shots seem less valuable than they really are: when they are forced to make bad shots, they do it better than the average performers, but still have low efficiency.

Curry doesn't have this problem:

Curry reverses this trend - he makes an incredible number of attempts and does it effectively. But Curry's true shooting percentage over the past four years is relative to the rest of the Warriors.

This has already affected the Warriors' bottom line. But the huge gap between him and the rest of the team - his "perfectly balanced" lineup - again suggests that his mediocre shooting performance can be better than the average of the rest.

Curry's Trick

One way to create more tries for Curry is to have his partners give up some of theirs. Another is to get Curry to make some throws as quickly as possible. For example, such a throw as a three-pointer from a dribble.

A 3-point dribble is not considered a good shot in the NBA. In the league as a whole, about 28 percent of these attempts are made (that's about 84 points per 100 possessions) - which is much lower than the 35 percent of hits of all three-pointers. But since the start of last season, Curry has made 42 percent of those shots. Here are all the players who made at least 100 three-point dribble attempts in the same period:

Let's say that Curry would be told to make many more three-point dribbles than he does now. Even if one considers that such shots would be slightly worse than what the Warriors could have otherwise (which is highly doubtful), effective shots at the beginning of possession would have paid other dividends. First, the Warriors could have a lot more possessions as the game progresses, which is a good thing since they have an edge over their opponents in every possession (unless they face a better opponent, which hasn't been the case for a long time). Secondly, the ability to accelerate the attack in this way when necessary allows them to lengthen the game in those minutes when they fall behind. As well as in situations where they win, they can hold the ball for a long time and then give it to Curry to shoot under pressure.

In other words, if your offensive strategy revolves around Curry as the first, second, and third options, there are many bonuses that increase the chances of winning, in addition to the effectiveness of Curry rolls.

No, seriously, Curry is getting better

Every story about a great young athlete ends with the same type of phrase: “And he keeps getting better and better” – even when it's not true. So let me end like this: "No, seriously, he's really getting better and better. "

Apart from the fact that Curry is so good now that it simply can't get any better, there is no reason to believe that he can stop developing. Here are all the seasons in Curry's seven-year career:

Over the course of his career, Curry took on more and more shots, but his "true hit percentage" got better and BETTER.

As I said, for most players this involves sacrifice - the larger the number, the less effective they are. I've added examples here for all players except Curry to show that the trend is flat. I also highlighted LeBron James and Kevin Durant so you can see the standard ratio that holds even for MVPs. But Curry has posted career-bests in both attempts and efficiency in the same season four times, including three times in the past three years. That is, Curry can only be good, better, or even better (in that order). Curry is truly Dennis Rodman from the cast!

Indeed, considering Curry's potential, I think Rodman is perhaps a more important precedent than Chamberlain or Michael Jordan. Rodman came into the league as a fairly versatile player, but he had an incredible talent for rebounding. As the years went by, the teams exploited this advantage more and more. He took on less and less offensive duties and instead began to take more and more of the team's rebounds. In the 1993/94 season, he collected almost 29.7 percent of all possible rebounds - at that time, Moses Malone could boast of the highest indicator (23.4 percent in the 1976-77 season). While Rodman proved to be one of the most limited players in history, this limitedness has made him one of the most valuable.

Although 50 points per game is ridiculous, Curry needs to take on half of his team's shots. As Rodman's example shows, a bold experiment with revolutionary talent can lead to unthinkable results.

Do I really think the Warriors will adopt this Curry strategy and try to beat Wilt's record?

I don't know. But Curry himself is the epitome of the revolution we're already seeing. Just as the math suggests that a good mid-range shot should give way to a bad one from behind the arc, so good shots that aren't made by Curry should give way to bad shots by Curry.


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