How to Perfect Your Basketball Shot

The most important aspect of a basketball game is having a correct jump shot. After playing years of High School and travel basketball, I have accumulated many of the tricks and tips to perfecting a jump shot.

A key thing to remember: when trying to perfect your jump shot you are going to have to continuously work on improving it.

Preparation: The more preparation you make to your shot the less effort it will require to make the shot. Before catching the ball make sure to have you feet square and facing the basket. Some shooters prefer to stick their shooting side foot (right hand = right foot) forward a slight amount, but that is your choice). Keep your shooting arm in by your side with both of you hands completely spread open and ready to catch the ball. Before catching the ball force yourself into a slight squat so your knees a bent.

Balance: After you catch the ball make sure your feet are firmly planted and you are not leaning left or right.

Focus:Look up toward the rim and focus on the middle or the back of the rim. Make sure that you do not worry about the defender running at you trying to block your shot.

*After releasing your shot do not look at the ball, hold you gaze on the rim until you see the ball go in*

Jump:With both feet planted firmly and the ball in shooting form, push up straight into the air and raise the ball to about eye level. It is important to make sure that you maintain your balance as you push up and shoot the ball. Do NOT shoot jumping forward, backward, or to the side.

FollowThrough: At the top of your jump, or were feels natural, push the ball towards the hoop and make sure to keep your hand extended and pushed down. Imagine reaching up to get a cookie out of a cookie jar when shooting.

Hold: After the ball is in the air, hold your hand in the follow through position until the ball hits the rim or goes in. Doing this will not only force your hand to follow through, but any balls that rebound back towards you, you will be able to get.

Extra Pointers: 

1) Spreading your hands completely open while shooting helps tremendously. It allows you to get more surface area underneath the ball when shooting. This allows you to have better control over the direction of your shot.

2) If you ball is clanging off the rim, or you are shooting the ball short it means you are either not bending your legs while shooting or you are not following through and snapping your wrist. 

3) If the shot is long, just keep shooting and try to focus on holding your follow through. Eventually your body will adjust to your strength and fix your shot.

Below are some websites that have very good shooting exercises and drills.

Workout Schedule:

When first starting to training to improve your shot, I recommend going every day to the gym to shoot the first week.

Part way through the 2nd week, I recommend going at least 3 times that week.

After about the third to fourth week, you can only go to the gym once or twice a week if necessary. However, I strongly recommend to go and work on shooting as much as possible.

Remember to work on your form and keep in mind the key elements of shooting. 

Just doing shooting drills can help create a shot, but it can also destroy a players game. Too much shooting and too little competitive play can turn a player into a "practice player". That is, a player who excels tremendously in practice, but lacks the same excellence in games. Try to join an AAU basketball team or play competitive pick up games at your local community center, and integrate what you have learned about shooting into a competitive environment.