LaMarcus Aldridge Taped His Guide-Hand Thumb. Here's What He Said About His Form.
Stop offhand interference. Fix the guide hand.
In January 2015, LaMarcus Aldridge was having an All-Star season for the Portland Trail Blazers when he tore a ligament in his left thumb — the thumb on his guide hand.
Surgery would have cost him 6–8 weeks. He skipped it. On Jan. 24 against the Wizards, he played with his left thumb taped to his index finger and scored 26 points.
The injury made a lot of everyday things harder. But it came with one surprise: he said his form felt better.
What Aldridge said
Sporting News asked him about it. His answer:
"I think having my thumb taped back has definitely made my form better because it's not in there no more. It's knocked out of the picture so I think my form feels better, for sure."
It's not in there no more. That's an NBA All-Star describing offhand interference from the inside.
What the numbers show
Sporting News reported that Aldridge shot a little better from outside 15 feet in the games after the injury (41.6% before, 43.6% after). That's a small sample, not proof of anything, and we're not claiming his overall shooting improved.
What Aldridge didn't say (my take)
This part is my view as a coach, not something Aldridge or Sporting News said.
Aldridge said the tape took his thumb "out of the picture." What he didn't mention is the pain. A torn thumb ligament hurts, and I believe that pain is what really kept his left thumb out of his shot. He couldn't push through the ball with that thumb even if he wanted to. Without meaning to, he got rid of offhand interference.
Why taking the thumb out helped
Offhand interference means any unwanted pressure from the guide hand on the ball. Thumbing is the most common and most obvious version: the guide thumb pushes or flicks through the release and adds side spin.
The guide hand's job is to steady the ball at the set point and then get out of the way. The shooting hand should do all the shooting. When the guide thumb keeps pushing, even a little, you're shooting with two hands, and two hands don't repeat as well as one.
Aldridge's tape kept his thumb out of the shot. You don't need a torn ligament to get the same result.
How to train it without an injury
- Film one session from the side and from behind. Look for the guide thumb moving forward at release or the ball spinning sideways.
- Do one-hand form shots close to the rim. If your makes fall apart when the guide hand goes away, it has been helping too much.
- Quiet the guide hand. The Original Shoot Natural Glove goes on your guide hand and quiets offhand pressure, so you get less offhand pressure and more shooting-hand feel. It's natural, not restrictive: your hand still steadies the ball, it just stops pushing it.
Aldridge needed tape and a torn ligament. I needed a cast. You just need to quiet the guide hand.
Why I built Shoot Natural
I know this story because it happened to me.
I broke my left thumb, on my offhand, and played with a cast on it. I became a much better shooter with the cast on, and I got even better after it came off. The cast kept my thumb out of the shot, and my shooting hand finally did all the work.
Later, my son was learning to shoot. I taped a sock around his thumb and wrist, and his shot improved right away.
That became Shoot Natural. Today the glove does the same job without a cast, a sock, or tape. It quiets the guide hand so you get less offhand pressure and more shooting-hand feel. It's natural, not restrictive.
More consistent. Straighter. Game-ready.
Get the Original Shoot Natural Glove
Source: Deantae Prince, "LaMarcus Aldridge emerges from thumb injury with improved shooting form," Sporting News, March 9, 2015. Read it here. The quotes and the outside-15-feet numbers above come from that article. The analysis and origin story are Rob's own.