TomScott
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Fixing a shot - 2008/07/07 20:02
How come you see high school or college players with a horrible looking jump shot in March, then in November the next season they have the same shot? Why is it so rare to see a shot get fixed? Is it that it's hard to fix it after age 12 or something? Or what?
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coachmccormick
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Re:Fixing a shot - 2008/07/07 20:20
1. It takes effort, concentration and feedback on a specific task, which requires hours working on shot mechanics, which is time spent independent of a team practice or game.
2. It requires specific and appropriate feedback, which means a coach or knowledgeable parent or self videotape is involved, but how many players set up their own video recorder and analyze it and how many have the knowledge to analyze it correctly if they did? For that matter, how many coaches and parents can really break down a shot and implement a plan to improve it?
3. Once the mechanics are a learned habit or an automated skill, a player must re-start the learning process which is a long, effortful process.
So, the question becomes: how improtant is changing the shot to the player and the coach and how much time is available?
Most coaches decide it is easier to make due with a bad shot than invest in the re-learning process because most players are unwilling to go through the learning process again to learn new mechanics. I have read comments by several college coaches saying that they will not try to improve a player's shooting technique because it is too hard and they do not have enough time (isn't it great that the NCAA limits practice time to protect the players?).
So, players seek individual trainers, but most of these trainers work with groups because it is more cost effective, so there is less and less individual work and attention and no guarantee that the trainer knows how to break down the shot and create a progression to re-teach proper mechanics.
Doing more shooting drills will not make the player with bad form a markedly better shooter because the drills lack the concentation and immediate feedback necessary to change one's mechanics and develop the skill properly.
The big problem is nearly every player plays so much, so early that skills are fully automated by 12-years-old, which means kids develop their adult shooting mechanics when they have pre-adolescent strength and coordination, therefore developing inadequate shooting strategies which need improvement which may or may not happen as the player gets older.
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TomScott
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Re:Fixing a shot - 2008/07/07 21:49
Coach Mac:
Thanks for responding.
I saw a college player who's shot didn't look so bad at first glance, but when you watched more closely, the ball rotated completely sideways. And it didn't take close inspection to not that it rarely went in and he shot 50% from the free throw line. As a freshman I thought they'd fix it after the season. But he played 4 years and it was never changed.
My 14 year old son had an ugly looking shot that started from nearly resting it on his shoulder, kinda like a lot of girls shoot, but not as natural looking as the girls. And it looked awkward in his hand. Much of this was from over-correction. He was told to keep his elbow in and the only way he could do this was put the ball on his shoulder. He was told to keep the ball on his fingertips and he tried too hard to do that (like Shaq does). He did hit over 60% of his freethrows, pretty bad but not Shaq level. He was his team's leading scorer and shot a high percentage, but that's all layups (he can dunk from a standing start).
I have no expertise in shooting whatsoever, but I decided I was going to fix his shot this summer since they made no attempt to do it during his first year of school ball this past year. We were in the jungle for a month but started working on it last week. Even though he argued with me, I had him bring the ball in from his shoulder. I had a brainstorm and said he should be shooting along the line from his eyes to the hoop rather than bringing it from the side. Don't know if that's standard, but it made some sense to him.
It still didn't look natural. His followthrough looked awkward. I couldn't figure it out. Then I walked behind him and noticed that his fingers were pointed to the side as he was shooting rather than in line with the hoop. I had him hold it so his hand/fingers were lined up more toward the hoop and, voila', his wrist flopped in a more natural motion toward the hoop and it started going in more.
I had him make 100 shots before we left, but he still insisted on throwing up spinning, fall-away 3-pointers and stuff. The next day I said he had to make 10 jump shots in a row. That worked better - he mostly did straight up 12 footers.
He still has too much arm motion in the shot, has a tendency for the ball to come out too far to the side, and shoots on the way down, but we'll get there. I keep telling him to watch Ray Allen, who's been his favorite player since he was a toddler. Allen shoots 30 footers with a few inches arm bend and a wrist flip.
So last week he had football practice 6 to 7:30 am and basketball open gym 8:30 to 11 or 12. On Wednesday when I picked him up, he was hitting everything. At the end he hit 19 out of 20 freethrows. It was beautiful.
When I picked him up Thursday (squats, lunges, and stadium steps for football followed by 3.5 hours of basketball) he had the side arm shot going again and was clanking everything.
So it's a work in progress. He's at a non-sports camp for a couple weeks and will probably not touch a basketball, but we'll pick it up when he gets back. He's the kind of kid who will give 110% and do exactly what he's told, and he loves basketball, so he'll get it working if he gets good instruction.
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David E
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Re:Fixing a shot - 2008/07/08 13:21
coachmccormick wrote:
2. It requires specific and appropriate feedback, which means a coach or knowledgeable parent or self videotape is involved, but how many players set up their own video recorder and analyze it and how many have the knowledge to analyze it correctly if they did? For that matter, how many coaches and parents can really break down a shot and implement a plan to improve it?
This should not be an excuse at the college level and above (although it exists there, too), but below that the often-lamented lack of coach education is a major problem. Indeed, who does know the things Brian mentioned above?
I reached the quarter-century mark in my coaching career this past year, have probably spent thousands of hours during that time studying what and how to teach, but I still come across things that I just have no idea how to fix.
Example: Two years ago I had a sixth-grade girl on my team who was the poster child for lack of hip extension on her shot. I instantly saw that she had a problem, and I knew the general nature of the problem, but I didn't know the real cause and I certainly didn't know how to fix it.
I've studied a lot of material on shooting, been to camps and practices and watched people teaching shooting, but don't think I had ever seen hip extension addressed as an issue. It's one of those things that you just know is wrong when you see it, so nobody talks about it.
After reading some CrossOver material, I finally got a name for the problem. She wasn't extending her hips. At least I knew what to attack now. But how?
I tried verbals: "Pop your hips." We did exercises to activate the muscles. We shot coming up out of chairs and did as many other things as I could think of.
The result? Following two years of my coaching, her feet were much better, her release was improved, but she was still messed up in the middle.
Then a couple of weeks ago she was fooling around before practice and starting shooting from her knees. Bingo! Instant hip extension. She finally realized what that felt like. Now that's certainly not automated in her shot yet, but at times it looks much better. I have one more year with her and I think we will have the problem eliminated by the end of next season.
I like to think I'm a pretty intelligent guy who is eager and willing to learn, but I'm shocked by my ineptitude in this matter. How many other shooters have I turned out over the years who had this same problem, just not to the same degree, and I didn't even recognize it?
Sorry for getting carried away. I continue to be both amazed and frustrated by what I don't know and am unable to find out.
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coachmccormick
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Re:Fixing a shot - 2008/07/08 14:21
I understand the frustration, but at least you are willing to seek new information and continue to learn. One of my favorite quotes is that "learning is the only competitive advantage." I am astonished by those who reach a certain plateau - college assistant, head varsity coach, whatever - and stop seeking learning opportunities. People ask why I don't go to the Las Vegas Nike clinic and it's because I think it's a joke. It's a big social affair where coaches tel some funny anecdotes, throughout an old play or two and go out for drink.
I agree that many people - even those who call themselves shooting specialists - often have no idea. Most coaches use the same "buzzwords" all the time: concentrate, bend your knees, follow-through, elbow-in, etc. If a player misses short, the coach automatically says "bend your knees" regardless of whether that is the problem or not.
My great frustration is not being able to extend the information on this site in more usable ways to reach and assist more coaches. Unfortunately, most coaches appear only interested in the information provided by "name" coaches and new plays to run with their teams. Actually developing players is too hard, so coaches wait to see which players develop and then recruit them, which is the basis of an article I wrote four years called "Recruiting is Killing U.S. Basketball," which was later changed to "Sonny Vacarro killed U.S. Basketball" to get more readers.
Anyway, I am starting a shooting site based around the training programs in the 180 shooter book. Phase 1 should be done this month. In phase 2, I hope to add some video content to the membership site in lieu of producing a shooting DVD. Hopefully that helps a little.
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