We all teach shooting the basketball a bit differently, I prefer the elbow connected to the knee concept, although this might be a bit dated it has worked for me. We presume that everyone speaks about looking at the basket and focussing your attention on some part of the rim. Step Curry in a recent video spoke about looking for the parts of the rim where the mesh connects (ringlets?) and focussing his eyes on 2-3 of the ringlets which equate to the approximate size of the NBA basketball. Interesting concept and everyone probably have their own focus point.
Here are some detailed analytical points affect the success rate of shooting the ball ((these are from a compendium of scientific papers – paying subscribers get access to more detailed breakdown of this subject) and by paying I mean for the cost of a large coffee and donut / month)).
An average high school/university basketball game has 80 shots broken down by;
2pt shots – 50%
3pt shots – 25%
FT shots – 25%
There will be variations depending on style of play and competition level but for the purposes of this commentary, this will do. Eye focal point has been tested and measured over the past 20 + years and shooters that maintain consistent eye focal point (lets just all agree that shooters are looking at the rim) at the target make a higher percentage of baskets. This goes without saying so lets dig in a bit more;
University Level shooters difference between make or miss is essentially 300ms meaning shooters we either able to focus before the defence got to them or they focusses longer
High School Level the difference falls to roughly 200ms meaning their is less of a difference in eye focus as a determinant of whether or not a shot was successful
If a player can get their head and eyes focussed earlier and longer or earlier the chance of success increases. Key factor is - not just get your head turned, body square and focus on the rim- we are speaking of less than ¼ of a second preparation – to develop longer eye focus on the rim earlier in the shot and through the shot. Here are some drills to incorporate in your practice times to increase shooting eye focus.
- Dim the lights in the gym during shooting drill
- Change the lights frequently during shooting drill
- Have the player stand in a ready stance facing the opposite rim, have the player jump and turn in ready to shoot form and pass the ball to the player – have the player focus on the same part of the rim each time
- Simple activities of finding paint chips on the rim or how the light glares off the rim
- Use a laser pointer and tripod(cautiously) and point it at the rim and have the player focus on the point of the rim where the laser is cast
- Change the color of the laser pointer to cast different color of light on the beam – change from green to red to blue over different shooting drills
I am reminded that for every scientific study there is always an opposite opinion and study that deconstructs the arguments of the former. What we are looking for are ways to take the athlete into the flow and measure all the flow moments so that we increase the amount of time an athlete is in flow. What is relatively unanimous is fatigue decreases shooting percentage and eye focal attention. Fatigue is always a factor but if you can increase eye focal attention even 50ms or 100ms there is an advantage to be had. Incorporating drills and situations into your practice where you can affect shooting percentage might have the largest impact on your game success.
Paying subscribers get more shooting technical details based on defenders, off the dribble and receiving a pass on the non-dominant hand.