One of the first skills taught to budding basketball players is how to shoot the basketball. Every kid goes into their first practice wanting to learn how to sink a shot and good coaches realize this. In order to keep players from learning the wrong way and thus picking up habits that may be hard to break, coaches should begin teaching the proper way to shoot a basketball.
Form is important to having a shot that is accurate. Without good form control of the ball is next to impossible. A good shooting technique embodies the following four steps.
Step One: Balance
Players should practice jumping up and down and landing each and every time in the same spot. It is important that a player can jump straight up and land from the spot he has jumped from. Having good balance is essential to the set up for the shot. If a player jumps up and to the side instead of straight, the path of the ball will be off.
Step Two: Elbow Position
The elbow needs to always be in towards the body. Players should be taught that the elbow is held in to the body and after the shot should be pointed at the basket. This is part of the whole shot set up. If the elbow is off then the shot will be off.
Step Three: Eyes on Target
Being focused is important to the game of basketball. A player has to learn to always keep their eyes focused on the ball and where the ball is going. When shooting that focus has to be on the basket.
A player needs to keep their eyes on the basket. When practicing balance it is a good idea to also practice keeping an eye on the target. This is important and players should constantly be reminded.
When a player is focused on the target they tend to focus their whole body and movement to the target which in the end helps to land the basket.
Step Four: Follow Through
The final step of shooting a basketball is after the ball leaves the players hand. The follow though allows the final contact with the ball to be focused as the rest of the shot.
Following through involves dropping the wrist with the finger straight down to the floor. This prevents the player from doing any weird movement with their fingers that can send the ball off balance.
These four steps are all essential to the process of shooting a basketball accurately. Players will begin by focusing more on just throwing the ball than anything else, so it is important to take the focus off the power and put it on the technique.
After all, a ball flying through the air will not reach the basket just through shear force - there has to be technique to guide it there. Without technique the player is just hurling the ball through the air with no rhyme or reason and the chances of making a basketball are all left to chance.
