Shooting a Basketball
Coaching Youth Basketball

Shooting a basketball is the most FUN thing to do in the game!

All kids love to shoot the ball. We teach all kids to be a THREAT TO SHOOT the ball as the first option out of Triple Threat Position. Many times in the game of basketball the kids are nervous and worried about what to do if they get the ball - TELL THEM TO SHOOT IT! - the team can't score if you don't shoot the ball, and even if they don't make the shot, sometimes the best OFFENSE a team can have is to rebound a missed shot and score on a second or third shot attempt.

One of the most important facts to teach the kids when shooting a basketball is that the RIM is much BIGGER than the BALL. In fact, you can almost fit three basketballs inside of a rim.

So, when the player is shooting a basketball, they don't have to be perfect, they just need to be close. The easier they THINK it is to make a basket, the easier it will be.

When you shoot a basketball, there in only 4 reasons the ball WILL NOT go into the rim:

1 - TOO FAR RIGHT
2 - TOO FAR LEFT
3 - TOO LONG
4 - TOO SHORT

If its not any of those 4 things, it will go right in the basket,

We eliminate the RIGHT and LEFT variable in our shot by establishing ALIGNMENT on 3 holes.

1 - NAIL HOLE - at the middle of the free throw line (we imagine that nail from every spot on the floor)
2 - BALL HOLE - middle of the ball - index finger on the valve
3 - BASKET HOLE

The alignment of these 3 holes establishes Right and Left Side Alignment for the shooter and and eliminates or greatly reduces the right and left variable in the shot. With good alignment, now we just focus on how long and short to shoot the ball.

We also use MATHEMATICS, and put a string to the rim. The string forms a Right Triangle, with the long side opposite the 90 degree angle being the HYPOTENUSE.

We tell the kids to line up the three holes - nail, ball, basket - and "SHOOT THE HYPOTENUSE"

The picture below will illustrate the HYPOTENUSE Concept.

Click Here for a Free Instructional Video Clip of Shooting a Basketball

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