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guckie

Beginner's Shot

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I have an 8 year old boy who loves basketball. He's done well with fundamentals, dribbling, rebounding, passsing, etc. I haven't made an issue of his shot whatsoever, reminding him that it will come later. Well, now is later and I'm having trouble on teaching him how to shoot. He's very skinny and shoots right handed off of his right shoulder. I've had him focus on shooting from the center of his body (like an adult, but from his chest), and he's done this with just a little success. I have felt very confident with teacing him everything else, but this very basic teaching skill of mine concerns me. Shooting info is everywhere for the teen on up, and I'm a decent shooter myself. Can you help me?

Guckie

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Maybe I can help... maybe not, but I'll give it a try. I've been to several Swish clinics- www.swish22.com

I've had some good success working with kids shots, including one HS guard who was shoots from her shoulder.

First- your 8 yr old MUST be shooting at a lowered basket, either 8' or 8'-4" which ever is age appropriate I don't remember. If he's going to shoot at a 10' basket, don't even try to change his shot becasue he's not strong enough. Then accept that generally all young kids shoot from the shoulder because it's the only way they can generate enough power. This is compounded if they are shooting at a 10' basket, and even worse if they are trying to lauch 3's and of course are not strong enough.

If kids begin to have some success shooting from the shoulder, it can be very difficult to correct their form later. If we are talking about a serious player, about 12 yrs old is when you should have bad shooting form corrected. After that, they can be very stubborn, especially if they've had some success with the bad form.

I begin with the feet when I teach shooting form. As you may be aware already, teaching shooters to "square up" with both feet more or less evenly square to the basket is no longer the preferred method. I believe what happened is coaches started paying attention to the feet of the best shooters- and what did they observe? They observed that the best shooters shoot with one foot (same as shooting hand) further forward than the other. Look at old tapes of shooters like Reggie Miller, Larry Bird, Jerry West, and Fred Hoiberg, even Jordan, and you can clearly see that they don't "square up" like the old time coaches used to say, and many basketball books still reccommend. Their feet are far from "squared up," and their hips and torso are also rotated to match the allignment of their feet.

The reason for this is allignment. It's very difficult to allign the shooting arm over the knee, with elbow down from a square orientation to the basket. I've noticed that kids who shoot from the shoulder also tend to have their feet very square to the basket. In the case of the HS girl I recently helped, she also began playing very young and developed the shoulder shot to compensate for not being strong enough. She made second team all league last season with that shot. So there was no way I was going to change her shot. Instead what I did was point out that is she simply changed her foot position (she's R handed) placing the right foot 3-5 inches forward of the left foot, and allowed her hips and torso to turn to the left (instead of trying to stay square) that the allignment of her shooting arm would be much better. It worked- she's shooting the lights out in summer league, and a couple of her team mates have come up and asked if I'd help them with their shot.

Another common youth error is not spreading their fingers out. If they shoot with their fingers close together, their shot will be off to either side, and they also lose a little bit of power because the spread fingers have more of a natural flexible spring action than a closed hand does.

I hope this helps

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The Swish method is fine, or the Steve Alford tapes, or the Pete Maravich tape. It doesn't matter, they all teach effective shooting methods. The key is consistency.

Eight year olds are not strong enough to shoot with any kind of form from too far out anyway, and you can learn an effective jumpshot even much older, so don't worry about it. Use this time to make sure he can hit layups from either side of the basket, and that he looks to go to the hoop before settling for a jump shot.

My 3rd-grade team only had one kid who could reach the basket until the middle of the season. It wasn't until 5th-grade that all players could reach the 10 foot basket from the free throw line.

Start all shooting drills from one foot away. Do not let him shoot from any further out until he can hit at least 3 in a row. Pure form-shooting like this will help develop his muscle memory.

As Coach7 says, practice on an 8 foot rim.

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Briefly. You do a youngster a disservice if allowed to use a man-sized ball and a 10 foot basket. Use age- appropriate smaller balls (maximally a girls' ball) and lower baskets. Youngsters have not the strength to properly shoot a ball too big for their hands and at a basket that encourages poor attempts at form in order to reach it.

Yours in Sport and Spirit!

Coach Ronn

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About that smaller ball.... at one of the Camps I worked there was a 12 yr old whose Dad had given him one of those heavy yellow KBA balls when he started playing as an 8 yr old. His Dad had made him practice with that heavy ball for years, and the result was sad. He had developed horrible form to compensate for the extra weight. And when you put a regulation ball in his hands, his shooting form -as you can guess- didn't change. A couple of the coaches tried to talk to the Dad about this, but he wouldn't hear it. In fact he insisted on having his son moved up (play up) in camp. At the level we had assigned him with other 12 yr olds, his skills (other than shooting) stood out. But once moved up, he was lost, just another camper.

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What are your thoughts about "one-handers"?

I took me until my college years to develop a good jumper and I attribute it all to practicing one-hand shooting since it forces you to use perfect form and builds tricep muscles.

Of course with young kids you'd have to use a lowered basket, but do you think one-handers would be beneficial at this age to re-inforce good form?

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What are your thoughts about "one-handers"?

I took me until my college years to develop a good jumper and I attribute it all to practicing one-hand shooting since it forces you to use perfect form and builds tricep muscles.

Of course with young kids you'd have to use a lowered basket, but do you think one-handers would be beneficial at this age to re-inforce good form?

ABSOLUTELY One-Handed! To get it right, we have to practice it right from the beginning. To learn one way and then to try to unlearn it would most likely be disastrous. When using the age/size appropriate ball and basket height, there's no reason to have a child use 2 hands. Teach the shot from the center of the body, as you mentioned earlier, to get it off his shoulder and from behind his ear. When the ball is small and the basket is low the child doesn't have to go for strength (what is being compensated for from the shoulder), rather have him learn it correctly and well now at the age of 8. It'll save coaches later a lot of grief trying to reteach. Incorrect habit and muscle memory are a tough combination to try to undo. I can't tell you how hard it is to break entrenched bad shooting habits. Every other part of the game is easier to teach or correct. Below is an excerpt from my book and DVD about teaching shooting. It's too much to put all in here, but if it's the kind of help you are looking for, feel free to email me separately for the rest (bballonatriangle@cs.com). I start by mentioning video. Show your son what experienced shooters are doing. Then have him shoot while you video him. Then have him watch it and ask him if he thinks he's shooting it like the bigger guys. He will hopefully recognize the disparity in forms and technique. Tell him you will help him get his shot to be more like the big guys, if that's what he wants. (I can't think of a player in major college or pro ranks shooting from the shoulder, can you?) Good luck. Yours in Sport & Spirit, Coach Ronn

When the methods I will describe here are combined with video recording, I can

usually teach a beginner effective technique or change an experienced player’s shot to be

more effective. Video is a great medium to help a shooter see what they are doing and

be able to help teach and correct themselves.

The whole body is involved in taking a shot. Even the non-shooting side is

involved in creating proper balance. I start without a ball in order to get the stance, body

angle, feet, and the shooting hip, elbow, hand and eye coordinated so every part

complements all the other parts. I call this “dummy shooting”. I want the focus initially

on technique, not on the ball. I want to have a chance to work with a player’s form and

delivery technique first.

Because of body and skill variances, every player will develop his or her own style.

There is no “one style fits all”. Some parts of the shooting process must, however, be

the same and correct for all players. These parts are what I teach from the beginning

Starting from the floor, we need to get the body on balance and in line with the

basket. The stance should have the feet as wide spread as the hips, both feet pointed

toward the basket. The shooting side foot is forward while the toes of the other foot are

parallel with the arch of the shooting foot. Bend the knees slightly so they flex directly

over the feet.

Now we’ll place an imaginary ball in the non-shooting hand. Turn the palm up as

if the hand is holding the ball. Move that hand with the “ball” across the body at chest

level so the “ball” is in front of the shooting side of the chest. Place the shooting hand on

the “ball” with the back of that hand toward the shooter’s face, at chin level. The body

will probably need to be angled slightly away from the shooting side to accommodate the

elbow. The shooting elbow should be tucked in and at a 90-degree angle to the floor and

pointing down at the shooting foot. The non-shooting hand supports the “ball” from the

bottom, while the shooting hand is in front of the shooting side of the face.

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