Basketball Daily World

Purpose:

• hand-eye coordination;
• “muscle memory” (using physical and mental practice to create an automatic shooting motion);

This drill is adapted from Paul Westhead. He has been a college and professional basketball coach for about 30 years. He coached Magic Johnson and the Lakers to the championship back in 1979-80, Magic’s rookie season.

This combines real practice and visualization for helping you to become a better shooter. The combination of real shots and visualized shots and shots with your eyes closed will build muscle memory, so that when you are shooting in a game, it will be like a natural reflex.

The drill:

1. Shoot five shots (physical practice);
2. Picture five successful shots in your mind (mental practice);
3. Shoot five more shots (physical);
4. Close your eyes and picture five successful shots (mental);
5. Open your eyes and shoot five (physical);
6. Take five real shots with your eyes closed (physical and mental);
7. Open your eyes and shoot five (physical);

When you start doing this drill, stay close to the basket and go at a nice slow pace so you can focus on using the proper shooting techniques with your footwork, release, and follow-through, etc.

As you become successful doing this drill, you can gradually go faster toward game speed and move out further on the court. Over time, you’ll build your muscle memory so that your shooting routine will be a natural reflex.

In this segment, Sam Cassell of the Los Angeles Clippers teaches you the lost art of the NBA, the mid-range game. Above all, Cassell shows you how to create space against your defender 10 feet from the basket by giving him a little nudge and stepping back. He also explains that the way to create space in the open floor is to pull up around the free throw line and shoot over the defender. When you are down low, you also push the player down close to the basket, give him a slight nudge, and then jump back to release the shot. In his opinion, the mid-range game is the most effective style of play in basketball.

This video tutorial is really a drawing on the board. It explains well the concept of help defense, concept sometimes hard to grasp, especially for younger players. Coach Pat uses this video to heavily advertise his website. He made me believe that there I could find more free tutorials, but it was all for a hefty price.