Bears  Shooting Instruction

Perfect Shooting Triangle – Ball-Hand Alignment

Index finger lines up on the center of the ball.

Spread fingers wide – this puts ball on pads of fingers, not on palm of ball (all feeling is in the pads of fingers).

Pinky, index finger and thumb form shooters triangle.

Fingers two and three should never follow through in front of index finger.

Index finger is last to touch ball on shot.

The perfect follow-through

The only joint that moves on shot is wrist.

Rubber band shooters triangle – perfect follow-through

Fingers two and three should never follow-through.

Lay down shooting:  Focus, flick wrist, no other joints moving.

Guide Hand (We’re calling it the non-shooting hand):

Pick up strong, then off.  It does nothing.

Just before shot comes off, the non-shooting hand comes off 0.5 – 1.0 inch

Angle of Release:

The optimum angle of release is 42 – 48⁰

Bicep should not be level with head.

Hand shouldn’t end up below forehead.

Do the Zombie:

Ball between lower legs – good support, good base.

Both hands straight out, fingers spread out, index finger, wrist, elbow and shoulder all aligned.

Move shooting hand up to 45 degrees.

Twist non-shooting hand 90 degrees. And Elbow and forearm form 90 degree angle.

6 inch shot

Finger to knee

Elbow 90 degrees to shot done

Wrist flick motion

Pre-shot routine

Follow through on dribble

No movement on pick-up

Index finger on centerline of ball

Bend knees right before 90 degree elbow

Non-shooting hand comes off

Hold perfect follow-through,  end on toes.

Catch and Shoot Principle

Catch with hands 90 degrees to each other non-shooting had is forward.  Shooting thumb and non-shooting hand form “T”

Always think shot when you catch.

Forearm Lift

Arm elbow and wrist all pointing at the basket

Speed of Ball Release

Eliminate forced follow-through with fingers

Pause Principle

The ball should sit in the pocket for an instant before the release

Square Up  - Great Footwork precedes a Great Shot

Pivot on inside foot when going from side to side

Point pivot foot at the basket

If feet are square, the shoulders will follow and then the shooting arm mechanics are all in line with the basket.

Eye-Rim-Ball Relationship

When everything is lined up, you should be able to see the rim as you go up for you shot.

After the release of the ball, your eyes travel with the ball to analyze its trajectory and get ready for the following play.

Jump-Shot Principle

Nothing changes from your set-shot or free-throw

Don’t shoot until the “p” on  “jump”.  Don’t shoot on the J_U_M.

Shot-Height Principle

From the free-throw line the shot should be as high as the top of the backboard at halfway.

Angle of release = angle of entry

Missed-Shot Feedback

Are you connected with what happened on your shot when you missed.

Side to side misses have to do with elbow, and finger follow-through

(These principles taken from Baden SmartBall Shooting System)