How to Fix an Inconsistent Basketball Shot!
The science of performing a proper jump shot in basketball is like solving a puzzle. Players tend to develop tendencies over time that may make their shots inconsistent and wonky. Being able to correct many of those mistakes takes time and practice, but they tend to have simple solutions.
Here are 6 of the most common mistakes that can be corrected with simple adjustments.
How to Hold the Ball with the Thumb on Shooting Hand
Sitting the ball on the tip of the thumb of your shooting hand can cause extra strain that can negatively affect your shot. Instead, you can rest the ball on the side of the thumb, which may feel awkward at first, but it will keep your shooting hand relaxed. It also makes sure the thumb doesn’t interfere with what your other fingers are trying to do.
Don’t Flick the Ball with Thumb on Off-Hand
A lot of players tend to flick the ball with the thumb of their off-hand when shooting, which makes the ball not fly straight. This problem tends to be ingrained in the player early on as children, when they’re not strong enough yet to shoot with one hand.
Normally, you fix this by teaching yourself to squeeze your thumb against the index finger to keep it out of the way. But if you have trouble with that, then you can use the Shoot Natural™ glove to remedy it.
Shoot Natural™ glove keeps the thumb of your off-hand out of the way of your shot so it doesn’t make the ball veer off upon release.
It’s one of the most common mistakes in basketball, and Shoot Natural™ can help create the muscle memory to avoid that.
Don’t Put Too Much Pressure with Off-Hand
As you try to fix the problem with the thumb of your off-hand, you will also have to fix the problem of applying too much pressure with your off-hand. Doing so makes your shot veer off too much to one side, which can also make you overcorrect it by twisting your arms or body away. That short-term will only make your shot even more inconsistent in the long run.
This is also something the Shoot Natural™ glove can help you with in practice. It keeps your off-hand straight, so you don’t apply too much pressure on the side of the ball as you shoot it. That keeps your shot straight and true, with the off-hand fulfilling its purpose of guiding it on the way up.
Avoid Unnecessary Jerky Movements
Correcting your shot isn’t just about minding what your arms do, but also what the rest of your body does. The two most common unnecessary movements that many players tend to do in their shooting motion are twisting the body and fading either back or to one side. The twisting can be caused by many reasons, including sub-conscious efforts to correct what the arms do wrong.
The twisting can be corrected in three steps. First, make sure to correct how the hands and arms execute the shot. Second, make sure not to bring down the off-hand too early during the shot. And third, make sure to correctly keep feet lined up before every shot.
Meanwhile, the unnecessary fading can be due to wanting to imitate superstar players without having established the foundation of a proper shooting form. The fadeaway jump shot can be a powerful scoring tool, as shown by many legends of the sport, but it can only be done properly once the basic shooting form has been mastered.
There is nothing wrong at all with the basic jump shot. Practice jumping straight up for the shot and don’t even try to attempt fadeaways yet while you’re still under the age of 18 or even 21. It’s not advisable to practice the fadeaway while the body is not fully developed yet.
Make an Arc with Your Shot
A lot of shots miss because they don’t come down at a good enough angle, often being too flat that it just hits the rim at too shallow an angle. This is due to a lot of reasons, mainly wrong initial position of the ball and flinging the wrist.
You can fix this by having a good initial position. Move the ball forward so it’s in front of you. This lets you aim and not have a hitch that can mess up the release of your shot.
Shoot Before the Top of Your Jump, Not After
Much of the power in the shot comes from the legs when you jump, and the arms are only there to guide the ball towards the basket. So, when you release the shot after reaching the top of the jump, much of that power is already gone. That makes for a weak shot, which can also make the arms overcompensate and put too much force into the release.
Fixing this is easy enough. Just practice releasing the shot before the top of the jump. This will take thousands of repetitions, but that’s what it takes to master a fundamental part of the technique. When you properly use the power from the jump, the arms won’t have to overcompensate and the shot will fly straight and true.
Fixing an inconsistent basketball shot is all about spotting the bad habits that interfere with the shot and correcting them through practice.
If those bad habits involve the hands, Shoot Natural™ glove can help make a huge difference in how you shoot the basketball!
