Why Bad Shooting Days Happen to Good Shooters

I always try to match a video to the basketball drill, routine, or aspect of the game. For certain things, there is no adequate video. In Why Bad Shooting Days Happen to Good Shooters article Brian McCormick explains that bad shooting often has to do with poor body balance, not necessarily the shooting form itself.

Many missed shots occurred because players shot with poor balance.They rushed their shot or they worried too much about the defense and leaned backward or they never got to a zero-point before jumping for the shot when catching on the move.

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Ray Allen Teaches Shooting

Ray Allen, one of the best shooters in the history of the game teaches proper shooting technique and offers some simple shooting drills. Certain things are important to keep in mind at all times:

1. You want to take your shot the same way every time. It doesn’t matter whether you have open space or a sever footer in your way. You should get a lift and shoot the same way for consistency.
2. Plus 1 minus 2 drill explained.
3. Coming off the screen drill – curl and shoot, slide and shoot. This simulates real game situation.
4. If the shot feels uncomfortable or you release is not smooth, go to the free throw line and practice your shot. This will improve both game situation shooting and free throw percentage.

Dre Baldwin Ball Handling

These two videos make a solid 20 minute ball handling workout. I don’t know much about this player, but most of the drills are standard basketball drills, standard from the time when Pete Maravich taught them to the young players across the country.

Second part of the workout has some drills which I don’t recommend, like the drill when the ball gets bounced by the leg below the knee. The type of exercise implants bad habits. I recommend that players avoid any drill which would be called as violation during game.

Half Crossover (In and Out) with Tobin Anderson

Tobin Anderson, from Five Star Basketball Instruction, breaks down in-and-out move (also known as half crossover).

1. Big, hard step with the foot opposite to the hand which handles the ball.
2. Swing the ball in and out with the dribbling hand, have the defender jump to the move.
3. Second step, with the foot on the ball handling side goes by, NOT wide, by the defender.
4. Go low on the first step, the go even LOWER on the second step… until the defender is beaten.
5. Eyes are up all the time to see what the defender is doing, but also to be aware of what’s happening on the court.

Stop and GO with Tobin Anderson!

Stop, wait, raise your eyes, and GOOOO! One of the simplest and most efficient moves to beat your defender, here taught by Tobin Anderson from Five Star Basketball Instruction.

1. Wait long enough (2 seconds).
2. Raise your eyes to have defender react by relaxing a bit.
3. Go quickly right by the defender.

Of course, the dribble needs to be kept alive and body position needs to remain low.