Let's Look at the Hand Position

This is just a quick little thing that can make a big difference in your shot. As I was practicing recently, having fun learning and observing the learning process (and drilling shots from 6-10 feet away, over and over and over), I noticed recently the very important thing we can call the Hand Position. Where the hand is in the setting and release of a basketball is critical for control and accuracy. If it points off to the side, then some kind of compensation has to be made as you shoot, and that threatens control. If the hand is not in line with the eye and basket as you shoot, accuracy will always be a challenge, as an angle back to the basket has to be figured.

Let's look at three different areas of the positioning of the hand:

1) Before the shot (the "setting" of the ball)

2) During the shot (from the Set Point forward)

3) After the shot (the Follow Through)

1) BEFORE THE SHOT

Before the shot is what we can all the "Setting" of the ball. This is the movement of the ball from wherever it is (off a dribble, from the triple threat position, from a catch) to the Set Point.

2) DURING THE SHOT

When the ball reaches the Set Point, you are usually involved immediately in shooting. Though you can hesitate a bit to shoot, if you need to, it's usually most effective to keep the ball moving. It's more of a change of direction rather than a stop-start. If it keeps moving, the Law of Inertia (Newton's First Law of Motion mentioned above) will help your shooting. So keep the ball in line with eye and basket and fire off your Release motion on line and keep it on line.

3) AFTER THE SHOT

After the ball leaves the hand, it's important to hold the Follow Through for at least a bit. I like to suggest holding the F/Thru from 1/2 to one second. That's enough. It helps to "complete" the action, and retains "connection" to the target for just that much longer. Whenever I do it sincerely, I notice that my shots have a little more range and are a little more accurate. That's helpful stuff!

So, increase awareness of your Hand Position throughout the shot and you will learn and perform at a higher level. Trust me. No, don't trust ME!!! Trust your experience! Try shooting with immaculate Hand Position, and then shoot with off-line or rotated hand position and compare the results. Your "experience" will teach you what works best.

(Note: I rarely use the word “immaculate," but it came to me and I went with it, knowing it was a good word, but not remembering exactly what it means. My dictionary says it means, "perfectly clean, without a flaw or error, pure, innocent, sinless." I'm not sure about the innocent and sinless part of that, but being clean and pure, that's great stuff. Work on getting your Hand Position, and all the other aspects of shooting, pure and clean, and they'll be writing books about you and your awesome shooting.)

Tom Nordland is a shooting expert and coach from California via Minnesota. His videos, coaching and writings are inspiring a Renaissance (a rebirth, a revival) in shooting around the world as players and coaches are taught the things that really matter in shooting. A great shooter as a youth, Tom was given a gift of seeing shooting like few have ever seen it. He sees the “essence” of great shooting and how to get there. The good news is that it’s very simple. The few great shooters of today and yesterday mastered simple things, not complicated motions. Improved shooting is now possible for everybody in the game, and mastery is available to those who sincerely dedicate themselves to it. Visit Tom’s website (http://www.swish22.com/) to read of his background and his articles and newsletters, and to view the remarkable endorsements and amazing testimonials for this approach to shooting.

Basketball Shooting : How to Get Accuracy, Consistency and Repeatability

I just did some clinics in northern California and noticed again the critical nature of these three qualities in a player's shooting. To shoot well, you have to have ACCURACY under control. Direction is critical, especially for the longer shots and the three's when the basket gets smaller and smaller and there's less room for error. CONSISTENCY in shooting performance is also needed, else your results will be streaky and spotty. And REPEATABILITY is the name we give to a motion that is so learned and mastered it can go on automatic.

ACCURACY comes from the ball being in line with the shooting eye and basket so the release motion can be easily gotten, and kept, on line. I see a lot of players who have the ball aligned with their ears or shoulders, some even the opposite eye or ear. If it's not on line with the shooting eye, then direction is always a challenge. If you shoot as far off line as the shoulder, good luck. You will be always struggling to get the ball on line to the target. There are some players who have shot well (at times) from in line with the shoulder, but it takes tremendous concentration and confidence. The slightest bit of doubt and the ball can be a foot off line on either side very easily.

To me CONSISTENCY comes from shooting more from big muscles and less from small muscles. If you would just shoot earlier in your jumping motion, you'll feel what I'm talking about. You'll feel the big muscles controlling things, and they are a large, powerful, steady source of energy. If you hesitate and start using more the upper body muscles, the shot becomes flatter and hotter, as we say. Little muscles are less reliable under pressure, too.

REPEATABILITY is what you get when you relax the wrist and hand and let the arm do all the work in the Release. The Swish Method is about how to control the Flight of a Basketball, how to control distance and direction. You want to maximize the use of big muscles and minimize the use of small muscles. A "Huge" part of this is the idea of relaxing the wrist and hand and then releasing the ball with the same speed and force every time. When you do that, all of the variables of shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, hand and fingers become ONE CONSTANT!!! I hope you can see the advantage of that. The Release can stay the same, thus making the shot more reliable, measurable and predictable. The lower body (legs, UpForce) provide the majority of power, the Release power is the same, and you simply vary the arch to control distance. It becomes really SIMPLE and something anyone can learn and start to master! How far you take it is up to you.

Tom Nordland is a shooting expert and coach from California via Minnesota. His videos, coaching and writings are inspiring a Renaissance (a rebirth, a revival) in shooting around the world as players and coaches are taught the things that really matter in shooting. A great shooter as a youth, Tom was given a gift of seeing shooting like few have ever seen it. He sees the “essence” of great shooting and how to get there. The good news is that it’s very simple. The few great shooters of today and yesterday mastered simple things, not complicated motions. Improved shooting is now possible for everybody in the game, and mastery is available to those who sincerely dedicate themselves to it. Visit Tom’s website (http://www.swish22.com/) to read of his background and his articles and newsletters, and to view the remarkable endorsements and amazing testimonials for this approach to shooting.

An Object In Motion ...

I had a revelation in 2004 when I was out shooting for fun at a neighbor's basket. The partial thought that came into my head was that "An Object in Motion tends to stay in motion ..." This is an old law of physics we all learn in high school and which came out of the blue these decades later. When I Googled the phrase "Object in motion..." I discovered it's called "Newton's First Law of Motion" and its nickname is "The Law of  Inertia."   The basketball corollary I'd like to add is, "A basketball in motion AND IN LINE WITH A BASKET tends to stay in motion AND IN LINE until acted upon by an outside or unbalanced force."

The point is that the longer and stronger the ball is in motion and in line, the more accurate will be your shooting. The concepts of momentum and inertia explain that. One way to experience this law is to shoot early in the jumping motion (or down-up motion of a free throw or set shot) and see what happens. Most great shooters I've seen shoot on the way up, very early in the body/leg motion. If you hesitate, then you have to re-start the motion from where you stopped or slowed it down (the Set Point usually), and accuracy is more difficult.

PLAY WITH THIS AT A WALL OR WITH A FRIEND

Ideally at a wall that's free from wires, overhangs, doors, windows, etc., shoot in different ways and see what works best. Pick a spot on the wall so you can get a feel for accuracy. Also, have the Set Point in line with the eye, either below the eyes for younger players, or above the eyes for stronger players, and let's assume you're shooting on the way up.

Now bring the ball up in different ways to the Set Point and shoot. Bring it up off line from the right, like up in line with the ear or shoulder, then get it to the Set Point and shoot. Notice how you have to "create" accurate direction from the Set Point and beyond. Now bring it up the left side to the S/P and shoot, noticing the same thing. Now bring it up in line with the shooting eye for as long as possible and shoot. Notice if your accuracy is greater, if it isn't easier to hit the target line.

NOW HESITATE TO SHOOT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS

Now, instead of shooting on the way up, bring the ball to the S/P and HESITATE before shooting and see what happens. Even if you bring the ball up in alignment with eye and basket, notice that you have to CREATE accuracy FROM the Set Point. The momentum, the inertia, gained from shooting in one motion, from the legs and arm action, is lost. You have to start over, and it's easier to push or pull or throw the ball off line.

IT'S NATURAL TO WANT TO DIP THE BALL

If you catch the ball in the general area of the Set Point, it's a natural thing, in my opinion, to want to "dip" the ball down and back up. This is the instinctive way our bodies have to get the object in motion and in line. Shoot some shots from the S/P without dipping and see how your accuracy and consistency are. I'll bet you'll feel kind of lost as far as direction. Sure, you can do this perfectly some of the time, but it's very easy to lose connection with the target. Then shoot again on the way up and see what that feels like and what the result is.

These exercises will teach you the things that matter, and alignment early and long and catching and using the leg muscles early along with any arm dipping will give you superior accuracy and consistency in my book.

Tom Nordland is a shooting expert and coach from California and Minnesota. His videos, coaching and writings are inspiring a Renaissance (a rebirth, a revival) in shooting around the world as players and coaches are taught the things that really matter in shooting. A great shooter as a youth, Tom was given a gift of seeing shooting like few have ever seen it. He sees the “essence” of great shooting and how to get there. The good news is that it’s very simple. The few great shooters of today and yesterday mastered simple things, not complicated motions. Improved shooting is now possible for everybody in the game, and mastery is available to those who sincerely dedicate themselves to it. Read of his background and his articles and newsletters, and to view the remarkable endorsements and testimonials for this approach to shooting.