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Following is Part IV of a sample collection of thoughts and suggestions I wrote mostly in response to email questions. This initial collection will slowly be expanded. It's a way for you to read my slant on a number of subjects related to shooting and how to learn/coach the skill.
---------------------------------------------------------- Q: I have a question for your regarding your thoughts on 'squaring up.' I also have taught the open stance approach so as to relieve tension in the shooting arm. However, I have also taught the "open window" approach, i.e. not putting the ball in front of your face when you shoot. I have always adhered to the school of thought that having the ball in front of your shooting eye affects your depth perception. Perhaps I misunderstood. I would appreciate your opinion on this, as I am always attempting to improve on my coaching philosophy on shooting. A: I think it's important to have the hand and ball "pretty much" in alignment with the shooting eye. I like it exactly in line, but when I'm moving left or right, that's not always possible, so this is a guideline, more than a hard-and-fast rule. I've heard that some people like to have both eyes on the target, and that requires a movement of the ball slightly to the right (for right handers). This is your "open window" idea. I find that I can cover one eye with my arm and still shoot just fine. My body "knows" where the basket is with a quick glance. You wouldn't want the ball in front of the face, blocking your vision totally, so you have to have a Set Point either above or below the eyes (so you can see the basket by looking under or above the ball). Depth perception is not a problem for me and the players I've coached. If you can see with even just one eye and you trust yourself, your body will know where the basket is in space and find the appropriate height for each shot. In general, it's effective to be "generally"
aligned with the shooting eye. A little bit left or right is
okay, just so it's not so much that you can't be consistent with
direction. I feel over the ear or the shoulder is much too far
off line and requires a calculation of angle each time that can
cause errors. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: "My question is where is the best release? My arms are like 2 feet long so i guess the release should be in front of my forehead. But should i bring the ball up to my forehead as i bend my knees then shoot? or as I push off the ground i start to shoot so there is no need to stop. When i am like 2, 3 or 4 inches of the ground the ball is out of my hands." A: The Set Point is best, I feel, if the back of the ball is near the front of the head and overhead, if you're strong enough. Young kids will have to start with the ball below the eyes, and when you're strong enough, raise it at least to above the eyes, and higher, if possible. As you get even stronger, then raise the Set Point above the head a couple inches, or more. That makes it harder to block, and may even allow you to get the feeling of letting go more, in that you won't feel "too" strong. The "Setting" of the ball happens as you start to bend your knees. It's all integrated. Don't separate it. Your goal is to have the ball set as quickly as possible so you can shoot early, quick and high, powered by the legs and lower/middle body. Make it a goal, for most jumpers and free throws, to "use" 100% of the available energy provided by the leg drive. You'll know what this is as you observe it. If you hesitate, you lose percentage. Top of the jump shooting is 0%. Try going for 100% (or very close to it) and see what happens. You will probably have to learn to set the ball quicker, but that's easily learned. Q: "Sometimes I don't follow through fully because if I do that, I feel like the shot is gonna be too long. My release is so high but i don't feel it is so effortless. My school has a small gym and the celling isn't that high sometimes I tried to make my shot a little bit flatter so it doesn't hit the celling. A: My guess here is that your Set Point is too low for your strength. You want the feeling of "full out," about 70-75% of maximum speed and force, in the Release action. It's full out and to the end-of-the-arm, quickly, no holding back. Experiment and see what that means for you. It's great that your shots are high, bordering on too high. That's very rare. It means you're plenty strong and can handle a higher set point, which is harder to block. Q: "Some people bring the ball up
and their knees are bent and they have to hold the ball over
their head for a second. I saw a picture of Larry Bird with the
ball over his head and his knees bent and in this book he also
said to shoot at the top of the jump. I know that is wrong. Return
to Index Q: Hi. I'm writing back to see if you can give me any more advice on shooting. I've tried some of your methods, but it seems like when i use more leg power, I'm a lot less accurate. My problem is usually not with the aiming but with the power, and I usually get the ball past the rim or airball it. Most of the shots I do hit are swishes. I'm about to go on Christmas vacation so I have time to work on my arms a bit for range. A: What you want to develop is a Release action that is quick, strong (about 70-75% of max), and "full out," meaning it is to the end-of-the-arm, no more, no less, with a relaxed wrist and hand. The hand will bounce when your wrist and hand are truly relaxed. That is the goal, as it makes it "repeatable." The Release starts from a Set Point that is over your shooting eye (if you're strong enough), with the ball, hand and eye in alignment with the target. The Release is then a quick, pushing, arm-straightening action directly in line with the basket, though high above it. Hold the Follow Through until the ball reaches the target (approximately). This will give you Accuracy. The power comes mostly from the legs for most shots. The exception is inside jump shots, where you want to elevate over people and need to delay releasing the ball a bit because you're in so close. But don't delay so much that you lose all the stabilizing power. Developing your arms is not the answer. Develop, instead, a quick release on the way up, utilizing as much leg power as you can. Shooting will become effortless. If you're short, either get more leg force in your shot or lower your trajectory. If you're long, shoot higher next time. It's very simple. If you are long sometimes and airballing the next, you just aren't staying connected to and aware of the target. Your body is very smart, but you have to pay attention and keep paying attention to where you want to go and at what angle. Then trust your body to figure things out. Key is mastering the simple, full-out (about 70-75% of max.) Release from a distance where you don't need leg power (except to trigger your Release, if it feels awkward). ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: Hello Tom, i am a 14 year old kid writing to you concerning a question on shooting. I am the starting Shooting Guard on my basketball team from Minnesota. Both of my coaches are always telling me to shoot the ball and that i am a good shot. Yes i do agree with them because i do make a majority of my shots. The only problem i have is with putting rotation on the ball. I don't think that i have enough on the ball in fact i can see that it doesn't have enough on it. I am wondering how to put more rotation on the ball? if you could answer this question in either your next news letter or write back to me personally i would greatly appreciate that. A: When you say you don't have enough rotation on the ball, how do you know? Please describe your rotation to me. I assume it's backspin. Is it slow backspin, very slow backspin, medium, medium-slow, etc. etc.? My first thought is that you are probably
"doing something" with your wrist and hand to power
or control the shot, and thereby interfering with natural, medium
backspin. I notice with my shooting that I get medium backspin
every time due to the quick, strong pushing action of the arm.
Notice your wrist and hand as you shoot. Are they totally relaxed,
or are they tense (a little or a lot) and involved with the powering
or controlling of the shot? Try relaxing the wrist as you straighten
the arm. You'll find you get nice, medium backspin every time.
It won't be as powerful a Release as one with wrist and hand
firing, but it will be much more repeatable. The leg drive energy
will make up the difference. ---------------------------------------------------------- The shot is learned at what I called the Zero Point in the video, that distance where you can, with no leg power or just a "minimal" leg action (like a horizontal rocking motion) to trigger the action, make shot after shot after shot, forever, with no variation. This develops the "Constant Release" I talk about. If your Release is not constant, then consistency and repeatability are not possible. (I now prefer to call the Zero Point the "Pure Release Distance" because it's where you learn and re-learn and re-connect with your "pure" Release.) You should be able to make 90-95% of your shots or higher from that semi-circle, over and over and over, even with eyes closed. Watch the Release. Is the wrist totally relaxed? Are you aiming upward, high above the basket, with the ball getting up to 11 1/2-12' or slightly higher before dropping softly into the net, dead center, Swish? That's the goal. If you're not getting that kind of result, then start over, re-approach that motion with a fresh intention. Relax the wrist and hand. It's a "pushing" action, not a throw or flip. Do it without a ball, at first, to see if you are getting it. Then add the ball and see if it changes. Shoot against a wall sometimes, as it will be easier to do and observe yourself without a basket to judge your performance. The hand will flop forward, directly in line with the basket. Shoot over and over and over, until it's truly ingrained, simple, easy. The arm action is just a high angled push, "full out," at the same speed and force every time, (by "full out," I mean something about 70-75% of max, quite quick and strong). It needs to become automatic, this idea of a "to the end-of-the-arm, can't go any further" Release, no holding back. Once the Release is automatic and repeatable -- and it's supported by a strong leg action as you move further and further away from the basket -- your only decisions are WHEN to shoot and HOW HIGH. That makes it very simple! And the same principles apply to shots off the dribble. In fact with all the movement of those shots, the connection to the lower/middle body energy and having a powerful Release and Follow Through are even more important. (Did you read about the boy making 150 shots in a row in the May Newsletter? http://www.swish22.com/Nltr_305.html) Think of it as "pulling the trigger," which sends off the Release the same every time, like a spring-loaded mechanism, like you're a robot from the shoulders up. If you feel too much power, as you include the leg energy, then simply raise the angle, shoot higher. If not enough, lower the angle. An effective thought is to "never under-jump!" Always jump "at least enough." You can always aim higher. This is "key" to the Swish Method.
Once you can fire off that Release the same every time, no matter
what your body is doing, you're shooting will soar! ---------------------------------------------------------- Can you set the ball too early? How do you fix that? Q: A question related to coaching the girls team: I don't want to be overprecise, but is it possible to bring the ball up to the set point too soon? In other words, as a player has the ball in triple threat position, when should the ball get raised up to the set point? As the player's knees drop the body down before starting to rise up? Before that? I see some players getting the ball to the set point well before initiating the shot but it usually looks awkward. A: I'm aware of how tall girls (maybe boys, too) are told, sometimes, to get the ball overhead right away to avoid having it knocked away and this gets them very mechanical and unnatural. It works to get the ball more out of reach, but it also inhibits the player from getting a powerful, fluid lower body/upper body action to shoot from. I think the main thing here is not to get too technical about it. If you try to analyze exactly when, bio-mechanically, the ball should be set, it gets kids in their heads about it and all naturalness leaves. If the kids know that they want to get ready soon enough to "use" all the available leg drive (what I call "UpForce") as they go to shoot, they'll learn naturally when and how to set the ball. Until the "setting," the ball is held below the eyes in what can be called the triple-threat position. It will require a "quick" setting, without it becoming mechanical ("do this and do that," etc.). The following kinds of questions will help them get it: · Okay, that time did you feel you
set the ball too quickly, too late, or just in time to catch
the leg energy? Questions like these will lead them to learning, whereas telling them when to do things will make them mechanical and tight. Trust them to learn this stuff without analyzing too much. If they feel they're setting too early, they'll naturally adjust to a later setting. If they're too late, they'll figure out how to get ready sooner the next time. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Let me know how this works. I know from my coaching, if I mention anything physical, it gets the students immediately into (1) making themselves wrong, and (2) trying to get it "right" or trying to "fix" it. Awareness questions are much more powerful. Good luck with this great experiment! You're already a wonderful and caring coach. Hopefully my counsel will help you learn ways to coach even better. (I'm just passing on what I've been gifted by great coaching mentors.) -------------------------------------------------------- Written to a coach: Let me know what happens as you work with the guys on their shooting with my Method. I know it's mid-season, but these are simple, natural things that I'm sure they can start to look at and improve almost effortlessly. Can you see how a relaxed wrist and flopping hand lead to consistency and predictability, whereas a tight wrist, a wrist-flip kind of shot action, is hard to predict and is less reliable? For predictability, you want the "end-of-the-arm" feeling when you go shoot so the fewest possible variables are there in the shot. All a player needs do, then, is decide WHEN to shoot and, by feeling power in the moment, HOW HIGH to shoot. Most players have tight wrists because they're using the wrist, hand and fingers to propel and guide the shot. Thus the flight of that ball is harder to control. You can make some shots with any technique, but to be a great, consistent shooter, you have to do less with the small muscles and more with the larger muscles. You'll see that Mark Miller who plays for the Orlando Magic, rookie of the year in 2000-2001, has a relaxed wrist, and his action is a "Push," rather than wrist flip or throw. He shoots quickly, on the way up. Some other guys do that too, at least when they're shooting their best. A Suggestion: Get the guys who shoot poorly to experiment and report to you what they feel: · Are they shooting on the way up,
or are they waiting before they shoot? · Is their action a "push,"
or is it a "throw" or "flip"? · Do they get the feeling of "end-of-the-arm"
(can't go any further) as they shoot, or is their shot action
variable, a guess? I realize it may be hard to take this stuff from the page to the court, but the more you can do it yourselves, the easier it will be to coach it. Please keep working on the ideas with your own shots. As you "get" it, you'll be better able to "coach" it. ---------------------------------------------------------- You can do some powerful stuff, especially against a wall. Try these: First, without a ball, you could imagine a ball in your hand and go through the motion of shooting and observe yourself. Start with the legs and then, connecting with that power, release the imaginary ball upward toward an imaginary basket. Observe the Release. Is it about 70-75% of full out, quick and strong, yet repeatable? Is your wrist relaxed? Does your hand bounce, being so relaxed? Observe your Follow Through. Is your arm held straight toward the target? Your hand will be relaxed but pointing down. As far as the leg drive energy, notice what percent of that energy you're using? Aim for 90-100%. Catch all of the energy and transfer it to the Release and the shot. Then, with a ball and shooting against a wall, do the same things as above but now you have a ball to observe, too (height, spin). Working against a wall will be very valuable. The idea is to remain just 4-5 feet from the wall and shoot upward, with the ball glancing the wall on the way down, NOT on the way up or at the top of the arch. This teaches you to shoot UPWARD, and that inspires you to use your legs quickly and powerfully. As you add leg power, just shoot higher and higher, not from moving back, though you could. ---------------------------------------------------------- A reply to a question about a player being inconsistent: My feeling is that your Release is not consistent. This assumes you are shooting on the way up, using a high percentage of the leg drive energy. Check to make sure you're doing that, too. For the Release, you want it to be "full out" every time for all mid-range and longer jump shots and for your free throws. By that I mean, the arm extends to the end-of-the-arm at the same speed and force every time, at maybe 70-75% of maximum. Your wrist and hand are totally relaxed. The power is coming from the legs (lower and middle body) and from the pushing action of the arm, NOT from the wrist or hand. Note if you're throwing the ball or if you're pushing the ball (upward). The push can become consistent, constant. If your Release is constant, then all you have to do get the variable power from the legs and simply vary arch to control distance. If your Release is inconsistent, that could explain your streakiness. Work against a wall a lot, without a basket. Stand just 4-5 feet away to do this practice. (The wall needs to be clear of things, overhangs, bulletin boards, indents, etc.) There you can observe yourself shoot without the distraction of a basket, without the "lure" to make the shot to look good. You can note how you release the ball, observe the wrist and hand. The hand will bounce or flop if the wrist is relaxed, and that's the goal. Shoot upward against the wall at a very high angle, having the ball "glance" the wall on the way down, not hit it on the way up or at the top. The latter mean you are wristing or flipping or throwing the ball. Aim high and watch how you do it. The hand will flop directly forward, toward the imaginary goal. Start with no legs, and then slowly add the leg force, shooting higher and higher, staying in the same position. The idea is to shoot up. Observe what happens as you add leg power. Are you getting 100% of the leg power? That's the goal with most shots. You can even start to observe your "accuracy" by picking a line or a spot to shoot in line with, and see what happens. You will find the more you depend on the leg drive to power your shots, the easier it is to be accurate and consistent. Everything is very visible when you shoot against the wall. Master these simple things and shooting will get easier and easier. When you go to a basket, keep it small at first. Find a distance where you can make high arching shots over and over with no legs (or just a tiny, consistent amount of leg drive, to "trigger" the shot). High shots, not just over the rim. Master the Release this way. Over and over. Close your eyes and train yourself. Then as you move back, start adding leg power but keep the same, constant Release. You should be able to make 80-90% of your shots, effortlessly, high arching. The leg force will vary but the Release stays the same, and you vary arch to control distance. ---------------------------------------------------------- I didn't even mention bank shots in my video, and I often forget to address them in my clinics. That's because it is an easy shot from a very small area of the court. It might be only 5% of the shots or fewer. But I do need to talk about them. My coaching for this shot is that it requires a different kind of Release, so it's not at all like the jump shot or free throw that I coach. It requires a flipping motion or a throwing motion, the antithesis of what I suggest for the other shots. It's an important shot but I don't feel there is the failure in this shot that there is in the jumper or free throw. Anyone can coach it. It just requires learning in what zones of the court it's appropriate and how and where you need to hit the backboard and then practicing it a lot. There's no mystery to it. It's not a beautiful shot like the high arching swish shots I focus on. But, as you can see from the San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan, who has revived attention to it, it's a very effective shot. If that's all you practice, however, you could lose some the pure Swish technique I coach, which requires a relaxed wrist and hand, not the flipping or throwing action that the bank shot demands. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: My other student I am working with is a young lady who will be a senior in High school in Sept. She has what we on the east coast call the New York City guard syndrome. Great ball handler, can't shoot a lick. I attempted to work with her during the season but there really isn't enough time while you are trying to win games. She shoots with her elbow out. When she brings it in, the shots swish. She can see this, but she has been doing it with her elbow out for so long it is difficult for her to change. I gave her your video to look at overnight. Tomorrow we will go back to the grindstone. If you have any specific advice for a player like above I would appreciate it." A: The answer, for me, is always awareness and the exploration/discovery/learning that go with it. Ask her to simply watch herself shoot, and watch where the elbow is and report that to you. Tell her to accept it where it is because that's what's real, but it doesn't have to stay out there. A change in stance might help. The more she opens her body in the stance, the easier it is for the elbow to drop down. The key thing is where the hand points, not where the elbow is. You want the center of the hand to face exactly in line with the basket. When it does, the elbow will be a little out, but not way out. That's natural and desired. (It's the way our hands and arms are built.) If you jam the elbow in so it's under the ball, you actually tilt the hand off the target, not what you want. Also, if the elbow is way out, the hand will not be facing in line with the basket anymore and the action of the arm and hand will be "across" the target at an angle, not in line with. So you have a choice as to what's important, the hand or the elbow. Ask her to be patient but keep reminding herself she doesn't want the elbow out so far that it interferes with a simple, direct motion of the hand and arm in line with the target. If she sticks it way out, just notice it. Maybe quantify it: how far out is it? What angle does the forearm make with horizontal? If the forearm were the minute hand on a clock, what time does it show? (Make the hand be the point of the clock arm, so the goal is about 11:45. Ask her what time she feels and sees it to be.) Anything to increase awareness. AWARENESS IS DEVELOPMENTAL, in my understanding. In fact, it's the ONLY thing that is developmental in a physical sport. Return
to Index Q: My daughters are getting a dead ball, not the nice backspin you recommend. What can be done? A: If they hold the ball with the wrist cocked back (just by the weight of the ball) and then they straighten the arm in an upward action (a pushing motion) with a relaxed wrist and hand, the hand will flop forward and the ball will roll off the fingers with perfect backspin. My guess is that they are "doing" something with the wrist and hand, trying to wrist flip or snap the wrists, as perhaps they were coached to do. (Also the grip needs to have a little "finger pad" pressure to give them good control of the ball.) Have them start with no ball and do the motion. See if the hand bounces when they extend the arm quickly (about 70-75% of max. speed and force). If the hand does not bounce, that means there's tension which is interfering with the natural backspin that will happen. Do it until the wrist is totally relaxed. Then add a ball and they'll get the same action. As they shoot they will straighten the arm quickly, relax the wrist and hand totally and the hand and fingers will move forward leaving the ball to roll off the fingers with medium backspin. ---------------------------------------------------------- In moving to the right (for right handers), you will not have time to get your body all the way "opened" just so. Turn as much as you can to "sort of" get open, get the hand, ball and eye in approximate alignment, and then let the shot fly. The "letting the shot fly" idea is the key thing, trusting yourself with all that movement and letting go. With such shots, I feel it's really important to catch the UpForce energy (leg drive) powerfully, get the ball to the Set Point quickly, get aligned as much as possible, and then make, what I call, a "full out" Release action, strongly connected to the target. The Release and Follow Through will get the ball into the basket, just so they are supported by strong lower body action, early in the jumping action for most shots. Shooting off the move adds variables, so those shots are more difficult to hit. But if you are connected to the target powerfully throughout the motion, driven by the strong muscles of the legs and middle body, and if you Release and Finish well, your performance will be as high as possible. As you're aware, moving to the left for right-handers is easier because you're already, automatically "open" in stance. However, moving right does have the advantage of the pivoting on the left foot and stepping in to create the jumping action. That pivoting and jumping action gives the player more power than moving to the left, so they both have advantages. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: I'm starting to shoot a lot but how can i get to a point when I making all my shots? Is it the more I shoot the better my shot gets? A: Practice helps, but you need to know WHAT to practice. More shots with a poor technique won't help much, will even "groove" something that doesn't work. Q: Should I put more legs in my shot than my arms? A: Absolutely YES! The more you do with the legs and the less with upper body, especially the flippy wrist and hand action, the better. The goal is a totally relaxed wrist and hand, with the arm motion being just a push, a straightening of the arm at the same speed and force every time, aimed high. Power comes mostly from the legs, shooting early in the jump for most shots. Q: Which fingers are used to get the best rotation on the ball? A: All the fingers and thumb are used. The ball is held in the shooting hand with fingers spread wide apart without strain. Then a little pressure in the finger pads gives you a "connection" with the ball and a feeling of "control." With this grip, when you straighten the arm quickly and strongly (about 70-75% of max. speed and force), the ball will naturally roll off the fingers with perfect, consistent, medium backspin. Try it. Q: Is weight lifting affecting my Shot? A: It will if you try to shoot right afterward, but otherwise I don't think so. When you minimize the wrist, hand and arm motion, making it just a simple, relaxed and repeatable action, then muscularity shouldn't figure into it very much, unless you're too tight to straighten your arm. Watch the video, then go out and practice and watch yourself shoot. Really "feel" what you are doing. Feel and see what works and what doesn't work. You can coach yourself in most of this when you learn to be very aware of everything. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: My daughter is an 8th grade point guard. Lately when she shoots, many of her shots hit dead center/but off the front of the rim. Can you suggest what needs to be done to correct this and are there any drills she can do to improve? Thank you in advance for your insight. A: It's probably a lack of leg and lower/middle body power (let's call it "leg drive"). Ask her to rate from 1-10 how strong her leg drive is (I call it UpForce). As she gets aware that it's pretty weak, it will get stronger. Then ask her to tell you what percent of the available leg power she's shooting FROM. It may be a low percent. Tell her to experiment with both giving it a more powerful leg drive and using a higher percent of what's available. She doesn't have to jump high, just get those bigger muscles moving upward and then tapping into that power. It will require that she shoot quicker, earlier, and her shots will go higher and have more range. The big lower/middle body muscles also "stabilize" shooting, so she'll be more consistent. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: A player asked what he could do when he starts to miss after shooting well for awhile. He knows the Swish method. A: Shoot quicker and more powerfully from the UpForce, for one, and have a tremendous connection with the target as you shoot, a powerful Follow Through. Hold the Follow Through longer. I'm assuming your Release is relaxed, full out, a push and not a throw or flip. If not, work on that first. The UpForce will stabilize and the F/Through will complete the action as well as possible. From my experience, when shooting starts to go south (or go north, as the Aussies might say it), check first to see if you are getting a high percentage of power from the leg drive or UpForce. Usually this is the source of shooting problems, as players hesitate before shooting. Try to jump straight up off the dribble, as much as possible, but if you have to be moving a little left and right, do your best. The U/F will help if you "catch" the body's energy and the Release will translate that into a directional action. If you check on this and "up" the percentage by shooting earlier, most problems will disappear. If you're shooting from a high percentage of this energy and still missing, then your problem is probably with the Release. Check your Set Point. Is it giving you enough power? If you have it too high or bring it overhead, you'll tend to throw the ball, trying to generate more power. If it's too low, you might feel you're too strong and try to hold back. Check the alignment, and then check to make sure your Release action is an upward, quick pushing motion, directly on line and held powerfully in the Follow Through. Make sure your wrist and hand remain relaxed during the Release and Follow Through. You will know what to do if you increase awareness, incorporating the simple things I suggest. The basket is large. If you are coming in from a high arch, the landing area is quite large. If, however, you're wristing or throwing your shots with a flat arch, it makes shooting more difficult. ---------------------------------------------------------- Reply to a player who was worried about technical things: I think you're thinking about it too much. And if you're worried about which finger does what, you're complicating it. Just get the center of your shooting hand (the palm) lined up with the strong eye and the basket and let it fly! If you're taking extra time to set the ball, you are both inviting the defender in and also missing the powerful stabilizing power of the UpForce. Shooting on the way up gives you a quick Release, and that's what you want. If your Release is not quick, then you have to figure out why not. I can't tell you. If your goal is to catch all the UpForce, you have to set quickly and let it fly. A powerful Release and and a focused, connected, deliberate Follow Through to complete the action will put the ball into the basket over and over. The UpForce starts it and the Follow Through completes it!!! In between, you do whatever you have to do to catch the UpForce and direct it at the target with relaxed wrist and hand. Train yourself to do this in practice, and then, under pressure, with time it will become your automatic response. Remember how very simple it is! Let me know what happens. You said, by the way, that you "changed the finger I use to follow-thru with." With my Method, you follow through with the entire hand, not any particular finger. The arm straightens at the same speed and force very time, and the hand just flops forward, totally relaxed wrist and hand. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: Hi. I'm a sophomore in high school. i notice a lot of people are shooting 3 pointers and are either dunking. When i practice, should I practice more on my mid-range game? Will that open things up? A: Absolutely! Hone your skills from in-close -- that's where technique is learned!!! The players who spend all their time at the 3-Pt line trying for heroic shots or working on their spin moves and dunks are not developing good habits for the majority of shots and free throws. Get my video, if you can. It will show you a very powerful, yet simple, way to learn to shoot all shots. When you can make the 5 footers, and the 10 footers and the 15-18 footers, then 3's are just an extension of that, with maximum leg drive and a tremendous Follow Through and completion. But you have to master the Release motion first, and that's learned in close. It needs to be "repeatable" for best performance. And you want a high arch and a soft landing. And the same spin every time. These are the things I teach. This is what is called "pure" shooting. It's a lost art, but it's been found and you can learn it. Make sure you read all my articles. There is "gold" on my Website. Find it and mine it and you'll become a better and better shooter, maybe even without the video. With the video, you're shown exactly the simple things you need to master to become and stay a great shooter the rest of your basketball life. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: I am hoping you can answer my questions so I can help my little boy (9 years old). He plays in a school based AAU program and this is his second year playing. He has trouble getting the ball far enough, or he doesn't get it to the backboard/ rim. We have noticed that all the other players on his team can get the ball there even if they don't make a basket. What can I do to help him? Is it a strength issue or a dynamics issue? He has fun playing but is getting discouraged and I am afraid he will end up not having fun if we can't fix this. Thank you for your time and any help will be much appreciated! A: First, I assume your son is roughly as big as the other boys. If not, then it's partly a strength issue. But, assuming he is of similar size and strength, then it may be that he's not using as much leg power as the other boys. Either not generating as much as the other boys, and/or not utilizing as high a "percentage" of the available energy as they are. In my coaching I talk about "catching" the UpForce (leg drive) and shooting FROM it. By catch, I mean shooting earlier, on the way up, to get a high percentage. When you do, there's a lot of power. If you hesitate, you lose that power source, either all or some. A high percentage gives you, also, a high arch to your shots without even trying for arch. Ask your son to notice (1) how strongly he's jumping [rate it from 1 to 10, for example, so he has to be aware and report to you], and (2) what percent he's catching. The goal is 100%, all of it! He may be hesitating and getting only 50% or 25%. When he jumps strongly and catches a high percent, he should easily have enough power to get the bottom of the ball as high as 11 or 12 feet or more to come down softly into the basket. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: Tom, I enjoyed the video immensely. I learned a lot and your teachings helped to reaffirm my theories on shooting. I can't wait to introduce your methods and drills to my team. One question I do have is with the legs. This is still a dilemma for me to understand. I have always taught that you stand with your legs straight and bend your knees and then rotate to your toes. This way the ball and your body does not drop down. Some kids want to drop down and almost touch their rear end to the floor. That way there is too much movement with the body and the ball. Do you agree with what I'm saying about rotating to the toes? Should I be concerned about the players dropping their body along with the ball? A: It sounds like you're getting too complicated, and I don't know what you mean by "rotate to the toes." If you mean rotate the entire body to become "open," then that works. I don't think you have to concern yourself with how they are jumping. Just ask them to be aware of ... (1) how much energy or force they're generating, say on a scale of 1 to 10, and then (2) what percent of that energy is being transferred to the shot. From my study and thought since the video, I've come to feel that we need 100% (or as close to that as possible) for all medium- and long-range shots and free throws. Any hesitation in the jump reduces the stability factor that the UpForce (leg drive) provides. Close-in jumpers don't need 100%, since you're in so close and you may need to elevate to shoot over people, but don't wait so long there's nothing left of the UpForce. And for these shots, you can raise the set point so you can shoot more quickly and more fully, without holding back. The kids will learn how to generate leg power and how to utilize it through the awareness. If you complicate it, they spend all their energy trying to "do it right," and lose the naturalness. If you ask for awareness and they're still bending their knees in an exaggerated fashion, then help them see that. Keep it as natural as possible. Remember that almost every time you "say something," it gets the kids into the trying mode, trying to do it right, trying to impress you, trying not to screw up, etc. If it's an awareness instruction, that puts them into the curiosity mode, the exploration mode, where real learning takes place. ---------------------------------------------------------- I hope you can get the boys to open to the Swish Method. Shooting is SO critical!!! If they can learn to shoot well, their entire basketball life will be more enjoyable and successful. Since the bar is so low, ANY degree of learning will vault them to a higher status on the team. One important thing is for YOU to learn to shoot a little this way. If you can stand there 5', 6', 8', 10' from the basket and drain shot after high-arching shot, it will impress them. And then as a couple of them start to "get" the ideas and shoot better, highlight them as examples. Ask them to demonstrate and point out what they're doing: shooting earlier, from leg power (they're "catching the UpForce), doing less with the wrist and hand and arm and more from the bigger muscles. Their hands should be flopping, the wrists are so relaxed. The Follow Throughs should be much more focused and in line with the target. Great shooters have a tremendous "Finish" to their shots. It's imperative that the Release action from the Zero Point (in the video I called it that, I prefer "Pure Release Distance" now) be so simple, automatic and repeatable that they can make 90% or more, any time. It has to become a "no brainer," like a robot, and that's possible because it's the simplest possible motion. Just a push, to the end-of-the-arm, at the same speed and force, with wrist totally relaxed, about 70-75% of maximum). That is the most important key. Once that's working, then they will HAVE to use UpForce to shoot from as they move back. Let me know what you discover as you work to coach the boys. And keep it simple. This is not rocket science. It's simple "bio-mechanics." You "do" this and the ball "does" that every time. It's not a mystery. But if their motion is varying every time they shoot, how can they expect to shoot well, especially under pressure? ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: I know you have covered this but can't find it - Where do you look when shooting? I have read 1) front of rim, 2) back of rim, 3) middle of the basket opening and 4) at or between the net holder hooks closest to you. A: I used to think I looked at the front rim and imagined "high over the front rim," but now I realize it's most effective to just see the whole rim and basket without staring at any one thing. Note if you look at the front rim, it's a target you don't want to actually hit. Same for the back rim, you don't want to hit what you're staring at. You might look at the middle of the basket, but that's vague. And staring at a hook is usually off target. The body is pretty smart, and concentration works to quiet our minds, so the above focuses can work, but most of them require a compensation, which complicates things. I think it's effective, thus, to have what I call "soft vision," seeing the whole thing without focusing on anything. Then the body will know where everything is. Try it all different ways and see what makes the most sense to you. I find with my method I can close my eyes (after I see the target) and shoot fairly well. I can even look at the ground (at a spot exactly under the basket) and shoot pretty well, even 3's, because of the way I fire off my Release the same every time. It works better to look at the target, of course, but the body is amazing at "knowing" where things are if you give it good input. ---------------------------------------------------------- Reply to a young boy who says he's desperate, his shot is so inconsistent: 1) Read my article, "Simplified Shooting Coaching" on the articles page (http://www.swish22.com/articles.html). That will coach you to improved shooting right there. 2) Read all the articles, testimonials, newsletters, etc. on my site. They will "hint" at what you need to do to shoot better. The good news is that great shooting is really quite simple. The article "Coaching Shooting with Large Groups" will also be very helpful. It talks about the kinds of awareness questions you can ask yourself to come to know how you shoot now and start developing an improved shot, just from that awareness. That, along with the first article I mention above, will give you the tools you need to coach yourself very well. My video will pull it all together, when you can afford that, but in the meantime you can do a lot on your own. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: Ok I am starting to understand your meaning about the Pure Release Distance (PRD). I have one question though. If I have the same release each time and I am really close to the basket like 4 feet away, how am I suppose to adjust my shot so that I won't end up airing it? When I am that close, my shot will always be strong. A: If you're just 4-5 feet away and doing a "jump" shot under pressure, raise the Set Point so you're not so powerful. That way you can still shoot "full out," but you're weaker, your pure Release goes shorter. You can also hesitate before you shoot, catching only maybe 10-25% of the leg power, which gives you some stability, which works because you have a high margin for error when in close. Q: Also, could I practice PRD shooting with free throw shooting? A: Yes, but you're practicing the "pure" Release, not the PRD. That distance is where you can drill shot after shot with no legs (or a minimal, constant amount of leg power just to trigger the action). To do this, go to a distance a little beyond the PRD (say 6-7') and do a miniature free throw motion. Call it a "micro" free throw. The leg drive is more than for the PRD and less than for a full free throw but the Release is the same. Learn to use the leg drive (in this case, just a fraction of the real free throw distance leg drive) to drive and trigger the shot. You can say it's just another way to practice and master the Release. Note that the body motion is a "Down-Up" motion, starting from a straight-legged position. This is a powerful, stable way to shoot, unlike the crouching method, where you start from a bent knees position. The crouch takes away almost half of the powerful down-up action that will help stabilize the shot, so I recommend against it. With the Release full out and high, you will find the perfect arch for each distance and leg drive and start to drill shot after shot ... swish swish swish. Then move back further (maybe half way to the free throw line) and call it a "mini" free throw and do the same thing, now with a bigger leg drive. Train yourself from there, and then further back again until you reach the free throw line. The leg action triggers everything and stabilizes it; the constant Release puts the ball into high orbit to the center of the basket. You'll find these will start to become automatic, because of the full-out Release. ---------------------------------------------------------- I don't believe in the "Elbow under the ball" theory. I believe you shoot best when the center of the palm is pointing directly in line with the basket. That's where the ball is. With palm directly in line, you have the strongest hand position. In that position the elbow is NOT directly under the ball! In fact I feel elbow-under-the-ball theory interferes with what is natural. Here's the proof: This can be done anywhere. Pick a target, whether it be a basket or a spot on a wall, sitting or standing. With or without a ball, let your stance (or sit) be "open," turning your body to the left (for right-handers, right for lefties). Now bring the shooting hand above your shooting eye and in line with the eye and target. Point the center of the palm in line with the chosen target. This gives you the strongest hand position, with the most fingers behind the ball. Now look at your elbow. Note how it is to the right (for right handers) from 3-6 inches, depending on the length of you arm. If the hand faces directly in line from eye to target, the elbow has to be off to the side a little. It's not way off to the side. That won't happen if the hand is in alignment, but it is to the side some. That's the way our hands, wrists and arms are built Now bring the elbow under the ball. What happens? Do you see that it tilts the hand off the target? Isn't that a weaker position for the hand? Sure, you could shoot that way and the body would find a way to propel the ball forward, probably by rotating the hand a little, but it's not as secure and solid as having the hand directly behind the ball. With the center of the hand in alignment, ACCURACY occurs when you push your arm directly in line toward the target ... if the wrist and hand are relaxed and do not throw the shot off line. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: I have what I think is an interesting problem. I know why it occurs, but I'm not sure how to fix it. I was playing H-O-R-S-E yesterday and getting killed on shots inside the paint, so I moved back to about 24 ft from the basket. I swished four in a row and won. For some reason, that is what I normally do: if my shot feels off, I step back. I know that my shot feels the best from that distance because I use my legs more and everything is fluid. However, how do I get that same feeling on close shots? I am always afraid to use my legs a great deal from closer in, or I hold on to the ball too long and lose my leg power. Any ideas on how to fix this problem? Do I just shoot the ball higher from a closer distance, working on getting more arc on the ball?" A: All you need do is raise your Set Point for the close-in shots, maybe anything inside 10-12 feet. Experiment and see what height works. If you raise it up, it weakens the Release and allows you to fire it off more quickly and fully, without holding back. It's very simple. What works is the "full out" Release, about 70-75% of maximum speed and force, with relaxed wrist and hand. If you're real close, you can add some "hang time" before you shoot because the target is so large and the margin for error is large. That close you don't need all of the UpForce, but don't wait until the top of the jump, because then you lose the "stability" factor of the powerful lower body energy. You should find you are able to make just about every one of those shots, as the margin for error is so huge and the full-out, constant Release makes accuracy so easy. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: Can you tell my why I can't perform as well under pressure as I do in practice? A: Pressure is what we create for ourselves, an anxiety about a future event. The more important we value it, the greater the pressure. It's based on fear and self-doubt. Fear of failure interferes with performance and actually creates the problem we fear, the failure. So I hope you can see that fear is the enemy, here. And like most things, from my point of view, awareness is the answer. If you face a fear, it will eventually fade away. Fear is like a shadow that cannot face the light. If you shine light where a shadow was, it will not be there. The light, in this example, is your awareness, your conscious observation and acceptance. But you have to have patience. Can you be curious to find out how this process works in your head and mind? It's fascinating how we interfere with ourselves. From what I can see, we're the only species that does this. Cat's don't miss a jump on a mouse (real or toy) and then pout about it. You don't see them looking up in the sky wondering if they're any good, questioning their "catness." They just do it again. But we humans worry about it, think we're "no good," or "unathletic," or "uncoordinated," thus making it worse the next time. Our minds actually interfere with our ability to grow and perform. If you can observe the process, and find
a way to overcome it (actually it will be overcome in time just
from the awareness and curiosity about it), you will have learned
a huge life lesson. It happens to all of us. The inability to
perform on a golf course what can be done so easily (or relatively
easily) on a practice driving range happens to EVERYONE in the
game of golf. It's the subject of countless articles and books.
You're not alone, but if you can learn something about this process
of interference through basketball, it will help your entire
life. ---------------------------------------------------------- Answers to your questions about efficacy of the video Q: Does the program increase your shot dramatically? How much of an improvement will i see? A: Results from the Swish video can be extraordinary, but how much you develop as a shooter will depend on how good a "Learner" you are. There are a few simple things you have to learn that open up the world of accurate, consistent shooting. But great ideas of anything physical have to be translated into "experience" to be learned. That's up to you, but you can see from all the remarkable testimonials that many people are transforming themselves with this Method. In my clinics, almost everyone has terrific breakthroughs. The video reveals what I call the "secrets" of great shooting, the simple, natural shooting principles that players like Jeff Hornacek, Detlef Schrempf, Chris Mullin, etc. live by on a basketball court. They're not secrets, really, but most people are asleep and don't see them. Once you see them AND understand them (intellectually and physically), you'll be able to coach yourself to dramatically improved shooting. It takes awareness and commitment and practice and patience. You'll get immediate results, so it's not something you have to trust will work eventually. Q: Is it easy to follow? A: Yes, very easy, very simple. That's why I have such great endorsements and testimonials. It's guaranteed unconditionally for 90 days. What do you have to lose except your ineffective shooting stroke? ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: I have been practicing using the method outline in your Swish video. I agree that a high arching shot increasing the size of the target (more of a circle than an oval), but the ball will be falling at a faster speed with that trajectory. My observation is if the shot is close, it'll either fall right through, or rebound high and far. A more horizontal shot will be falling slower, but also towards the basket. What are your thoughts? A: In my opinion, if you shoot very high, say 8', 10' or more above the rim, then gravity starts to accelerate the ball. But for shots less high than that, there is some acceleration but the horizontal speed is greatly reduced, so the overall effect is a softer landing than a flat, "hot" shot. Can you see by pushing the ball upward, rather than throwing or flipping it horizontally, you have a softer shot? And you also get the benefit of the larger landing area, coming in from on high. Big advantages. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: Hey! Coach, I noticed on the video that your demonstrators weren't jumping that high on their jump shots (maybe I should say that it doesn't look like they're jumping that high). Then, when I look at the likes of Jordan, Ray Allen, Kobe, and so on, they get a lot of air under their "J"s. When I try to get air under my jumps, I feel like I have no control over my shot and it doesn't "feel" comfortable. Like I mentioned before, my Achilles heel has always been my jumper, and I'm willing to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to improve it!!! A: There are two kinds of jumpers, as I see it now. The one where you are not being pressured, you have a moment of separation from your defender, and no one to jump over. This is the simple catch & shoot or off-the-dribble shot where your purpose in jumping is to generate power and trigger the motion, not to elevate. You shoot early, on the way up, as you see in the video. I feel this is the majority of shots, maybe 85-90%, and for younger kids, at or close to 100% of the game (including free throws). The jump-over-people kind of shooting you see in Jordan, Kobe, etc. is for the minority of shots, and it's a difficult shot to do well. The jump-and-the-shoot method goes way back to the 40's, but very few players could ever do it. If you are taking that kind of shot, you just have to realize that the stability of the UpForce won't be "with you," and the shot will be more difficult. You just have to do your best. If you can "catch" some of the UpForce, that is shoot before the top of the jump and not at the top, it will help some. The Release is the key thing here, unsupported mostly, and you just do the best you can. Unless you can do these shots well, it's probably better not to take them. Rely, instead, on fakes and picks and screens to get you the separation you need to take the first kind of shot, on the way up. Q: Also, what do you suggest me doing to improve my UpForce? This may sound like a rhetorical question, but instead of assuming and speculating, I'd to hear it come from someone who has experienced success and knows what they're talking about. A: You can strengthen your legs, of course, with weights and jumping routines. Also, if you just make the "surge" of energy more powerful, as you are, you'll probably find you have a lot of power. Note also if you're catching 100% of the UpForce or not, and, if not, there's more power available there. Play with it. See how powerful your lower and middle body muscles really are. If you hesitate before you shoot, then your range is dropping right away. If strength is an issue, then do some weight training or jumping training. ---------------------------------------------------------- Reply to a coach who expressed frustration with finding a shooting method that really works: Dear Ed, I know of your frustration, and my Swish Method can be the answer you are seeking. As you could tell from the remarkable testimonials and endorsements, it has touched the hearts of a lot of basketball people. I think the reason for that is its "simplicity." All great motions are based on simple moves, not complicated ones. I think most shooting coaching, if done at all, makes things too complicated. Anytime someone says the elbow has to be a certain way or the feet have to point this way or that way, I think they interfere with learning. Even if it's a "correct" way to do it, which most of those instructions are not, it gets the kids into their heads, trying to do it "right." I stress a few "key" things that matter, and then I invite people to try them on for size. (See my July 2002 Newsletter on "The Things that Matter in Shooting.") The basics are there -- like the shooting eye, palm/ball and target need to be pretty much "aligned" before you shoot, and using leg power (what I call UpForce) to power the shot is effective -- but I don't make them into "rules" (Do this, don't do that...). After you watch the video and put it to the test, write to me and tell me what you noticed. What kind of learning happened, both with yourself, and with your kids? A key in all this is communication from the student to the coach as to what is experienced. Encourage a lot of sharing. What made sense? What worked? What didn't work? If something didn't work, what happened? If something is working, share it with the whole team and ask the kid(s) who are developing to demonstrate what they're learning. This is not rocket science. It's simple "bio-mechanics." If you DO THIS, the ball DOES THAT ... every time! Most players, I feel, are not very aware of what they do. They're only aware of what happened with the result. To them, a make is "good," a miss is "bad." But can they tell you how the ball got a foot long and a foot left that time? If they could, the body would adjust the next shot accordingly. Learning can be incredible, but it requires awareness without all the judgment. Let's see if you love the video. Then we can communicate more about it. I'm serious about training coaches with this Method. I'm not sure exactly what form that's going to take, but we'll proceed together, those who want to be coached. I feel I can impact thousands of coaches with simple coaching suggestions. We'll find a way to communicate it. I'm also beginning to plan on my next video now, a video for coaches. ---------------------------------------------------------- Q: I am working on my 8th grade science fair project. I want to find out why do most tall NBA players have a lower free throw shooting percentage than the shorter players. I have compared the top 20 free throw shooters to 20 of the worst, and height seems to make a difference. Can you help me figure out why this statement is true? A: My theory on that is that the tall guys think they don't have to use their legs, they're so strong, so they stop their bodies and shoot almost entirely with arm and hand. That flattens the shot and makes it less stable. Also, being so tall, I believe they don't think of shooting upward. They maybe think they can just ram it in horizontally. It's very weird. The shorter guys can see that they need to shoot upward for the ball to come down softly, so they rely more on leg power and get higher arch. The problem for the tall guys is that their ball flight is flat and hot and less stable. If they would just use more leg power (shoot quicker during the leg action), they'd shoot much better. I have more to say about shooting than
that, but this answers your question. That one factor, using
more leg drive in the shot, will make a major difference. A tall
guy who could shoot free throws very well was Rik Smits of the
Indiana Pacers. He would flex his knees down and back up, catch
that energy early, and get a nice high arch to his shot, and
he is 7'4"! Alonzo Mourning does pretty well with it, too.
Shaq O'Neal, meanwhile, has a very poor use of the legs. He used
to not use them at all, and now he's trying to get some leg action
in the shot but doesn't do it very well. |