Shooting the Jump Shot Part 2 by Michael Lang

E. Grip

1.    We believe in the “Whole Pad Method”.

a)    It makes sense that the more control we have of the object we are throwing at the target, the more chances we have for success.

b)    The “Whole Pad” means the ball literally touches or sets on these parts of our hands.

                                               i.          The thumb pad.

                                             ii.          The outside pad of our hand.

                                           iii.          All the fingers, including the lower finger pads.

     c.) The only part of our hands that the ball does not touch is the palm

2.    Success or failure on the shot comes strictly from the shooting hand.

a)    You can successfully shoot with one hand, the shooting hand.

b)    Your shooting hand needs no “guidance”.

c)     The best placement for the shooting hand on the ball is to put your index finger on the air valve.

                                               i.          You do this in practice every time and this hand placement will become habit.

                                             ii.          In a game, this placement can be part of your Free Throw Ritual.

3.    We call the non-shooting hand, the Balance Hand.

a)    It is not “guiding” anything, it’s only purpose is to balance the ball from the shooting pocket, through the alignment, to the release.

b)    We believe it should be placed on the side of the ball.

                                               i.          To check for proper hand placement, you would move the thumb of your: balance hand” forward and it should intersect your “shooting hand” at the knuckle and form the letter “T.”

4.    Great shooters have great hand control of the ball.

F.  Power and Rhythm

1. Power and Rhythm are the singular most important facets of  the Jump Shot.

2. Two extremely important concepts are at play here:

a)    Power:

i.                 The strongest muscles in your body are your legs.

ii.               If you want to be a three point shooter and if you want to be a great shooter in the fourth quarter, you want to get power from your legs.

·       Most games are won or lost in the last five minutes.

·       Every player on the floor has some degree of fatigue at the time in the game.

·       We believe the best shooters at the game’s end and the best 3-point shooters generate power from their strongest muscles, their legs.

b)    Rhythm

i.                 Rhythm is essential to any skill – throwing, running, shooting, etc.

ii.               Rhythm means you execute the skill the same way every time.

·       You don’t think and you don’t change.

·       You simply perform the sill the same way every time.

    c.) Power and Rhythm

i. The trick to incorporating both these concepts into your shot is to take the ball from your Shooting Pocket (your chest area) and to dip or circle the ball down from chest to knees simultaneously with you knee bend going from medium to LOW CENTER.

·       One coach and called this executing the “Backward 6.”

–        This is especially effective for younger players just learning the game.

·       Another coach used the terminology “Bend, Dip (the ball) Shoot” or Bend, Circle (the ball) Shoot.”

·       Both coaches were teaching Power and Rhythm.

–        They wanted shooters to begin in a medium center, dip the ball to get to a LOW CENTER, so the first generator of power will be their legs.

–        By always bringing the ball from medium to LOW CENTER you are also instilling the same rhythm on every shot.

iii.             Some coaches and players are concerned that this dipping of the ball takes too much time and allows the defense to better cover the shooter.

·       This dip takes a fraction of a second.

·       If the defense is so close that you cannot take a fraction of a second to dip the ball, then you are probably taking a poor shot using the Pressure criterion.

·       Taking this fraction of a second allows you to shoot every shot the same way (i.e. have the same rhythm) and has your legs as the first generator of power on every shot.

·       We are convinced this dipping of the ball far outweighs any perceived disadvantages and our study of great shooters shows that they all do it.

G. Alignment

1.    Alignment refers to taking the ball from the Shooting Pocket down for the                                                                Dip, and up to the point of Release.

      2. Alignment is analogous to the front wheel alignment on a car.

a.) If the wheels are not properly aligned, the car will veer either right or left.

b.) If the shot is not properly aligned from Pocket, Dip, to Release, the shot will miss to the right or the left.

i. Good shooters miss long or short, not right or left, because they                                       have developed proper alignment.

3. As you bring the ball from your dip and up into your release point, you     pronate your wrist to a 90 degree angle.

a)    This alignment allows you to “set a table” for the ball.

b.) The wrist alignment forces you to shoot the ball “up” and not “out”       in a line drive fashion.

c.) The higher the arc, the more “took” the ball has at the basket and   the more chance for success.

      4.   We believe there are two correct Alignments:

a)    Through the Face.

b)    Side of the Face.

2.    Through the Face Alignment

a)    You want to catch the ball with the “Block and Tuck” (baseball catch) method with your shooting hand behind the ball.

b)    You then center the ball by bringing it to your Shooting Pocket – the center of your chest for this Alignment.

c)     From the medium center, you dip the ball and go to LOW CENTER.

d)    Now you bring the ball from the dip right up “Through Your Face” to your release point.

e)    When you bring it “Through Your Face” three things happen:

                                               i.          The index finger of your shooting hand goes through the middle of your shooting eye, right-hand shooter’s index finger through the right eye.

                                             ii.          Your shooting elbow is directly above your shooting foot.

·       You never want the elbow inside or outside the shooting foot.

·       Draw an imaginary line from your elbow to the floor and that line will hit the shooting foot.

                                           iii.          There will be a slight slant in your shooting forearm.

·       When you shoot “Through the Face,” the forearm cannot be straight or you will put too much pressure on your back muscles.

3.    Side of the Face Alignment

a)    You catch the ball with the “Block and Tuck” method and bring it to a different shooting pocket.

                                               i.          You bring it to the side of your body, i.e. to your shooting hand side at the chest level.

b)    You execute the same dip of the ball, but you bring the ball from the dip to the release point just to the “side of Your Face.”

c)     There are three potential advantages to this “Side of the Face” alignment.

                                               i.          The ball does not block your dominant eye.

·       Your arm literally form a “Window” for your eyes.

                                             ii.          You can generate more power from this alignment than the “Through the Face” alignment.

·       The “Side of the Face” alignment keeps your shooting elbow straight and directly under the ball, thus giving you more arm power than the slant of the forearm in the “Through the Face” alignment.

                                           iii.          This alignment is a more natural arm movement.

·       If you shot with the “Through the Face” alignment, finish your shot with the proper follow through, and then bring your arm back to its natural position, it will come to the Side of Your Face, not back to the shooting eyebrow.

4.    Both alignments are fundamentally correct, but the “Side of the Face” alignment may lead to greater range on the shot due to more arm power.  The shooting arm is the second generator of power on the shot.

H. Jump

1.    We believe the jump, i.e. trying to jump as high as you can on every shot, has been overemphasized.

2.    Because there are so many skills that must be instantly coordinated into a successful jump shot, we believe jumping only as high as you have to is the best answer to the jump on the jump shot.

3.    The single, most important concept on the jump is to coordinate it with the release.

a)    We believe you want to release the ball just PRIOR to the peak of the jump.

b)    Players lose their Rhythm and Power when they release the ball just AFTER the peak of the jump.

                                               i.          This negates all leg power and totally disrupts rhythm.

c)     Because the very peak of the jump is so close to AFTER the peak and because AFTER the peak negates both power and rhythm, we have never bought into the “Peak of the Jump Release.”

d)    We think stressing the Release of the ball PRIOR to the peak of the jump makes for great timing.

4.    We teach two counts on the jump:

a)    One Count

                                               i.          You are not in traffic and there is no need to jump high.

                                             ii.          You dip the ball and take a low jump, enough to generate strong leg power.

b)    Two Count

                                               i.          Now you are in traffic and being relatively closely guarded.

                                             ii.          You do jump higher, but you still release the ball PRIOR to the peak of the jump.

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Shooting the Jump Shot Part 2 by Michael Lang