Shooting Mechanics Archives

Steph’s Shooting Mechanics: 1 Motion vs 2 Motion

Check out Pro Shot’s analysis of Steph Curry’s shooting mechanics during the 2015-16 season then watch the video on “Understanding 1 Motion vs 2 Motion.”

Things to look for:

ONE MOTION – Look at the fluidity of Steph’s one motion shot. A big reason why Steph is able to get so much power and range on his shot is because of his “one motion shot.” He shoots on the way up, very early in his jump.
TURN – Steph also has a turn prior to shooting the ball every time he shoots. This helps him keep the ball straight and is a BIG part of his accurate shooting.
SHOULDERS/TURN – Steph’s shooting shoulder ALWAYS leads his shot and his guide arm shoulder is always behind him. Yes, this is part of the turn. When you see a turned shooter, the shooter’s chin should be behind his shooting shoulder.
ONE EYED SHOOTER – Steph is a right-handed shooter so his arm/follow-through is in front or very close to in front of his right eye. For a left-handed shooter, the arm would be in front of the left eye. We call this being a ONE EYED shooter, because when you look at the shooter you see only one eye. The player’s follow-through is covering the other eye.

Always remember that to become a great shooter shooting mechanics come first. Once you have the correct technique, you then you have to consistently practice (reps, reps, reps). After you have the mechanics right, it’s reps, reps, reps of game situational shots, contested shots, and shot under pressure.

Stephen Curry 37 Points Highlights

Steph Curry is just simply fun to watch, I always talk to players about the importance of watching the game and watching great players. Take advantage of the opportunity out their to watch players like this every chance you get!!

Obviously we can look at a lot of things that Steph Curry does, his changing of speeds and direction with his ball handing, his movement w/o the ball, his finishing moves and ability to finish around the rim, his craftiness and basketball IQ, his level of confidence and toughness that he plays the game with, his shooting, shooting and more shooting. B/c of all these things I suggest you look at this video several times.

Pertaining to his insane ability to shoot the ball look for some of these things:
1) Look at Steph’s ARC and how the ball drops into the rim. Majority of the time the ball is dropping down into the rim. I’ve seen a lot of players struggle with getting ark on their shot. a couple things that may help with ark are: shooting one motion, raising your release and relaxing your shoulders back, and working on shooting up and over a defender or D-Man can be helpful.

2) Look at his footwork (how he utilizes the hop as well as 1-2), he used the hop often off the dribble as well as on catch and shoot whenever he needed to get the shot out quickly. the 1-2 is good to have in your game as well but know that the hop allows to get into the shot very quickly. Also look at how Steph is always on the balls of his feet before he springs into his shot.

3) Look at a few of his shots in slow motion to see what his overall technique looks like. Specifically how he starts and ends his shot.

Look at how Steph likes to start with a slight turn and ends with his shooting hip and shooting shoulder aligned to the rim. also for those very athletic guys out their, look at how he shoots the ball in one fluid motion, he releases the ball on the way up which will help with your arc and power. There are some shooters that elevate and shoot at the peek of their jump, but always remember their are a lot of benefits to shooting earlier in your jump, ON THE WAY UPWARD…

Buddy Hield’s mentality and shooting mechanics

Buddy_Hield Buddy Hield is a dynamic scorer to keep an eye on during this NCAA tournament. There are a lot of things that I really like about Buddy Hield’s overall game and most importantly his mentality.

Buddy has great shooting mechanics, moves very well with and without the ball, has a great understanding how to use deception to create his own shot with go to moves, and hesitations.

Buddy’s mentality is great, he is always in attack mode and when he catches the ball he is always thinking shot. Buddy is such a threat on the court he creates tons of offensive opportunities for his team and similar to some of the great shooters in the pro’s, he demands so much attention he constantly makes he teammates better.

Things to look for when watching Buddy:

Shooting Mechanics– Buddy has great shooting mechanics, he has a great turn before he shoots and has awesome shoulders. By great shoulders I mean he always has his shoulders relaxed back, even more specifically his guide arm shoulder is behind him.
Creating Space– He does a great job creating space and taking away space for the shot he wants. He utilizes this in any opportunity he can. He constantly look to attack space in transition by pushing the ball, He creates space and attacks space on his man very well with the half court and he does the same to any help defenders.
Consistently Attacking and Hunting for scoring and game changing opportunities– Buddy is always in attack mode he makes the game simple, his mindset is, I’m going to attack you and if you stop me I’ll find my teammates, and he is always ready to shoot. He hunts opportunities in transition, in the half court and on the defensive and rebounding end.

Watching the game and watching great players are very important in a player’s development as a player, just like everything else. Buddy is a great player for youth players to watch to open up their minds on how to become a dynamic scorer and the best part is that he does it on both ends.

DeAndre Jordan Free Throw Breakdown

Do’s and Don’t TIP for your shooting mechanics

We always stress the importance of watching and learning shooting mechanics from great shooters, but there is also a lot we can learn from observing struggling shooters. I thought this was a great breakdown of Deandre Jordan’s shooting specifically his free throws because obviously he does not shoot from many other places on the court.

When looking at this breakdown you may see something that may help your overall shooting mechanics. But remember, to make a change in anything you have to be aware of what you currently do, know what your shooting mechanics are and, most important, HOW YOU MISS.

Steph Curry’s shooting form

Check Out Steph Curry’s shooting form and how he creates shots for himself. When looking at technique-based skills it’s great to look at it in slow motion or pause it through his shot and quick offensive plays to pick up footwork, shooting technique, etc.

Also think about how aggressive a person has to be to score 51 points! You can’t score 50 with 10, 20, or even 30 attempts. To put yourself in the elite level the #1 thing you have to do is be aggressive every possession. Great players constantly hunt for opportunities to attack and constantly make things happen. They don’t wait for things to happen. If you don’t constantly look to attack you are holding yourself back from being a great player.