NBA shooting coach Dave Love wrote this article.

6 Ways to Improve Your Shooting: Without Changing Your Mechanics

Let me start by saying that I do believe in changing mechanics. I feel like it is easy to fall into the idea that “old dogs can’t learn new tricks” or “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” As I watch shooters, there is usually a physical reason for why they miss the shots they do, and I believe that if you can fix the physical flaw, the results will improve.

In fact, I have a social media presence and a whole newsletter (you can sign up for it here) dedicated to helping players identify potential flaws and the physical changes they can make to improve.

With that being said, I also believe there are circumstances where or when a player should not make major changes to their shot.

• If you are already an outstanding shooter
• If you are entering into a time of year with the most critical games
• If you are not able to be consistently held accountable.

Let us talk about that last one for a second. I get players all the time that come into my life, and I believe they need to make significant fundamental changes. Maybe they sign a ten-day contract, or maybe they are at a predraft workout. They are weak shooters, and I can see why, but the problem is I am not going to have the time to help them build the new habit.

So I have to bite my tongue and hope they find someone in their life that will give the consistent time needed, or that we end up in the same place long enough to do it ourselves. I do not want to start a two-month process with someone I can only support for one day.

But let us focus on little things that any player can do to improve some, without making significant fundamental changes that may be needed.

6 Ways to Improve as a Shooter in Basketball:

Warm-Up For Everything When You Shoot

This is so simple, yet I rarely see anyone do it. Do you have a practice? Individual workout? Game? Tryout? Get in the gym 10 minutes before it starts and warm up your shot. Get 25 form shots from close to the hoop. Have good balance, get to the bottom of the ball, get your non-shooting hand off the ball, follow through well.

Then get five catch-and-shoot shots from 5 spots on the floor, staying close to the hoop, then back out a couple of steps and get 25 more. Then practice a little faster and more game situations with cuts, pivots, and jab scoring moves. If you have time, think of 2 situations that you know you will get shots from and practice those. Shoot some free throws.

If you do not have time for all this, no problem, just cut everything in half or less. But do not bury your head in the sand and come into situations unprepared—even practice. You may think you do not need to warm up for practice, but your coach will be forming opinions of you, and if you are missing shots early in practice because you are not loose or feeling right, their opinion will be that you are not a good shooter.

Land on Two Feet After You Shoot the Ball

It is a natural impulse for players, especially young players, to want to make shots more complicated than they need to be. It is an ego thing, where we think it looks cooler to make a more challenging shot. In reality, our habits need to keep our shot as simple as we can, not to intentionally make our own shots more difficult and harder to make.

The best way to keep your shot as simple as possible is to try to land on two feet at the end of your shot. Do not kick your right foot out in front of you; rotate your shoulder, and lean back. Keep it simple. Sure, finishing on one foot might look cooler, but what looks best is swish after swish after swish.

Step Forward After Shooting the Basketball

This is such a subtle thing, but you will see it everywhere once you notice it. Players shoot a shot and immediately step back, usually to prepare for their next shot. Maybe they are on a shooting machine and immediately need to step back to hop into the next shot. Or the basketball shooting drill calls for them to shoot, then go to the back of the line behind them.

Players do this so often that it becomes a habit, and in time they start shooting mini-fadeaways in situations that they do not need to shoot mini-fades. Instead, try to finish your shot on two feet, hold your balance, then step forward. We want the ball going forward towards the rim, so if you lose your balance, we want to lose it going in that direction.

Be Honest With Yourself as a Shooter

This is everyone's least favorite idea because it involves separating what you can do consistently from the more glamorous things you can do once in a while. It involves putting the good of the team above the individual. It involves admitting our weaknesses and playing to our strengths.

Want to make more shots? Stop shooting the shots that you "can make, I swear, I can make it!" And only take the shots that you do make, regularly and consistently. If you are a weaker shooter who can make open mid-range, but your percentage drops significantly on contested 3s, then only shoot the open mid-range, and when you get the contested 3, try to create something for a teammate.

Everyone thinks that this means you are giving up shots, but the reality is, you are just giving up your misses. If you avoided the shots you do not make often, penetrated the ball, and got an open look for a teammate, then the next time that teammate was faced with a shot they do not make regularly, they would be more willing to penetrate the ball and create something open for you.

The same number of shots for each of you, but both are open. It just takes discipline, trust, and good team culture.

Find Your Target When You Shoot the Basketball

I will not even get into what I think the right target is or why. Just find something. Too many players are only vaguely looking at the rim as they are halfway through their shot. If you want to be great, just try to lock in on that target as early as possible and with as much precision as possible.

Instead of seeing the rim as you are into your shooting motion, try to locate the rim immediately after the catch or dribble pick up. "Yeah, but coach, I know where the rim is," people will say, and while that is true, it is not the issue.

It is not about knowing where the rim is; it is about using your eyes and brain to make the necessary calculations. The brain is pretty amazing and can quickly figure out the situation, but if you can do something simple to give it 50% more time to make the calculation, isn’t that only going to help?

Practice Shooting Basketball Shots You Will Take In Games

When young players go out to shoot, they often shoot a shot, grab the rebound, take a couple of dribbles and shoot again. There is little to no thought put into game situations. If you play at a reasonable level, you should have an idea of the basketball plays that will get you shots.

They might be different for everybody, but you should start to see situations that your shots come from. Maybe you come off a wide pin-down screen and curl for a jumper... great, practice that. Or, perhaps you get most of your shots from catch and shoot situations with the ball swinging around the perimeter…  great, work on those.

Avoid standing with the ball in your hands and just shooting. Slide a step or two on the catch because, in games, we rarely get perfect passes. All it takes is investing 15 minutes and a little thought into what shots your coach tries to get for you, then practice making those shots.

6 Ways to Improve as a Shooter in Basketball Conclusion

There are a million ways to improve your jump shot. Some of them are physical changes, some mental, some emotional. Most involve some discipline and accountability. The majority involve remembering to use a new skill. As a player, it is on you to apply some of the lessons you learned here. As a coach, it is your job to hold the player accountable continuously.

Nothing will come easy, so don't even expect it. Take a couple or all these ideas, invest slightly more attention to them than you have in the past, and I'm confident you'll see improvement.

To learn other ideas that NBA Shooting Coach Dave Love teaches his clients, subscribe to his free newsletter and follow him on social media @coachdavelove

This article was written by the University of Southern California Assistant Coach Chris Capko. 

As a player, you should be watching the game of basketball. Whether it is your level, conference, a level up, or a level down, you should be paying attention to how the game is being played. Each level or league generally has its own style and brand of basketball. Some leagues are more physical, while some are more fast-paced. You need to be big in some leagues, and some you can get away with being a little smaller.

One thing that has become more apparent at any level to win in today’s basketball is the ability to shoot the basketball. No matter the position, you become more valuable in today’s game if you can help spread the floor by shooting the basketball. Even if you aren't deficient as a shooter and it is one of your strengths, you can always develop and improve.

Regardless of whether it is the offseason or in season, you need to improve your shot regularly. Here are some ways that you can take your shooting to the next level.

5 Shooting Concepts

The best shooters in the game have mastered the details of shooting by first spending the time learning the correct shooting techniques and then putting countless hours into turning them into muscle memory. Here are five concepts that I use with my players at USC to help take their shooting to the next level.

The "L" Drill: Regardless of the shooter, every day starts with the “L" Drill shooting. All we do in this basketball shooting drill is accentuate what I call the “L” in someone’s shot. This is a one-handed shooting drill in which we want to emphasize both follow through and arc. I may have our players make anywhere from 100-150 shots right around the basket. This is repeated EVERY DAY.

Guide Hand: The next thing I will generally do is bring the second hand or “guide” hand into the shot. Again, we will do this from a close distance to ensure that the technique is perfect. I make them hold their form up through the result of the shot. They will make anywhere from 50-100 makes at about 1 step further than “L” shooting.

Footwork: We will then begin to get our footwork into the shot. We still will stay inside the paint and make sure the top part of their shot is correct. I teach a 1,2 step into every player's shot. To me, this helps give the player a plan for each shot, as opposed to guessing.

Also, I believe it is an easy transition into a player’s triple threat moves. When doing this, you want to ensure that the player is jumping straight up and down, and his/her momentum is taking them to the basket. Do not let your players start walking backward or fade. The principles that you teach for the top part of your shot should remain intact.

Consistent Repetition: Now, regardless of the shooter's level, I will still go to about 15 feet and shoot at about 5-7 different spots on the floor. I like to give each player a goal at each spot. For instance, if a player is very good at 15 feet, the goal is not to miss two shots in a row.

If he/she misses two in a row, the shooting drill starts over. They must make ten shots without missing two in a row. After completing 10 makes from one spot, I like to go right into consecutive shooting and see how many in a row they can complete.

Basketball drills like this force your players to focus on the mechanics you had worked on before you got to 15 feet and the competitor in them generally comes out. If they miss two-in-a-row, you will usually see them get mad and really lock in to end the drill. If they make 10-in-a-row, you will see them want to make eleven now and so on. I will do the same out to the 3-point-line and off of the dribble shooting as well.

Contested Shots: With better shooters, I will make them make shots with a hand in their face yet maintain the same discipline as if they were five feet away. This isn't teaching them to take bad shots in a game, but instead to make shots when the clock is running down or if there is a slightly late defensive closeout and just enough time to get a shot off over the defender's hand.

Conclusion

This skill development basketball article can be applied to both coaches and players. Whether it is a coach looking to develop shooters on their team, or a player looking to improve their own shot, this article's keys apply to both. The biggest takeaway, though, needs to be staying disciplined with the keys offered and then knowing that developing into a high-level shooter is a process. If you are willing to buy into the process, though, you will find yourself shooting a much higher percentage or discover that your team is consistently making shots at a higher rate.

Chris Capko
University of Southern California Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach

Chris Capko was named an assistant coach for the Trojans in 2016. He has also been an assistant coach at Georgia Southern University, Florida International University, and Stetson University. Along with coaching, Chris Capko also played at the Division 1 level for the University of Southern Florida.

Basketball HQ co-founder Kyle Ohman wrote this article.

One of the easiest (and unfortunately, one of the most common) ways to avoid potential situations where you might experience failure is to come up with excuses. It is natural as humans to use excuses to help us justify why we won't be able to accomplish something. In life, excuses come in all forms. With basketball, though, they are pretty much narrowed down to, too short, not quick enough, not strong enough, not fast enough, low basketball IQ, etc.

Players are constantly being evaluated from a young age and are critiqued based on what they are perceived to be able to do or not do. They allow themselves to be put into boxes created by other people's criticisms, and even worse, they begin to place those same criticisms on themselves! Players become their own biggest doubter based on what other people are saying about them. Their own mind is now creating their limits, and instead of figuring out a way to overcome them, they are using them as an excuse for failure.

Too many players (and people in general) allow different perceived limitations to determine so much about them, instead of working and overcoming perceived limitations like being a little bit shorter, not as highly recruited, not built like the next LeBron James, etc. They allow these perceived limitations to define them and determine what they are capable of.

This article aims to get you out of this type of fixed mindset and negative approach to your game and life as a whole. If you can have confidence in yourself and are willing to back it up with your best effort and hard work every day, there is no telling what you are capable of.

Personal Basketball Experience

One of the reasons I am so passionate about this topic is because of my playing history. To make a long story short, I went from not receiving a single college scholarship offer (from any level) to walking on at a division 1 school, earning a scholarship, scoring over a thousand points in my college career, being one of the best shooters in the country, and playing professionally in Europe.

If I would've listened to the limitations that others placed on me, I would've never even allowed myself to have a chance at all of those things. One thought in my mind of, "I didn't get any offers, I guess I am not good enough to play," could've changed my entire life plan.

Not every player's story ends up like mine, but if you allow yourself to come up with excuses, you will never even get the chance to prove what you are capable of.

I am so passionate about this topic because I have seen way too many players in my coaching and training career that have allowed themselves to be limited by excuses. They allowed themselves to believe that it couldn't be done for one reason or another, and because they bought into this idea, it became true.

I look at similarly skilled players all the time. One player has the mental toughness to do whatever it takes, and the other has the mindset of limiting themselves with excuses. The difference between the two similarly skilled players is night and day. You must have the mentality of anything being possible if you want a chance to do something extraordinary.

When the Rubber Meets the Road

At this point in the article, I hope that I have done my job and have you fully believing that you can overcome any perceived limitation that you may have and that you are willing to run through a wall if need be. However, that is just the first part of the equation. Your mindset is a huge part of getting rid of excuses, and it is definitely the first step, but without also following it up with action, it doesn't do much good.

I have always heard the saying, "when the rubber meets the road," and I thought this is the perfect time to use it. I looked up the phrase's meaning because I wanted to use the exact definition, and I really liked what it said. Here is what I found, "When something is about to begin, get serious, or be put to the test." This is perfect when talking about what needs to be done next.

Believing in yourself is great, but if you are not willing to put the work in and "begin, get serious, and put yourself to the test," it really is for nothing. It wasn't enough for me to believe that I was good enough to play college basketball. I had to work every day and prove to people that I was good enough.

As a player, you may find yourself in a similar situation with playing in high school, college, or professionally. This means that it is up to you to prove what you are capable of. It doesn't matter what others say about what you are capable of; it is up to you to work and show what you can do.

You don't need to talk and complain about other people; just put in the work, and there will be no doubt about what you are capable of.

Why Not You?

There are so many different stories of players that were doubted in college or overlooked coming into the NBA, but they believed in themselves, put in the work, and then proved that they belonged. From players like Steve Nash, who only received one scholarship offer and then went on to be a two-time NBA MVP, or more recently, Stephen Curry, who was told he was too small and slow to play, but is now a two-time MVP and has multiple championship rings.

The list goes on and on, and the natural tendency is to see them as inspirational stories but not believe that you could do the same thing. Don't fall into that trap! There is no reason why you, as a player, can't be one of those same stories. It may not happen right away, and you may end up having a story like Jonathan Simmons, who took years to break into the NBA.

Not everyone's journey is the same, so don't give up on yours just because it looks different than everyone else's. So I want you to ask yourself this question, Why Not Me? Ask yourself that question every day and use it for motivation. Why can't you be one of the players with a story like Steve Nash, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Isaiah Thomas, or one of the other players that everyone said wouldn't make it? WHY NOT YOU?

Removing Excuses in Basketball Conclusion

After reading this article, you may be feeling invincible and that nothing can stop you from accomplishing your goals, and that is great! However, the reality is that you may fail and you may not make it, but wouldn't you rather give everything that you have and know that you gave your best? I know that I would!

There is no guarantee that if you believe in yourself and work your absolute hardest that you will accomplish everything you want, no one can. I can guarantee, though, that if you do not do those things, you will never even get the chance.