Hop On The Bus, Gus

Remember the old Paul Simon song about
the many ways to leave your lover.

You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free

There are actually four ways to miss a basketball shot
according to Bob Topp, instructor at the Shot Doctor
Basketball Camp and girls varsity coach in Annapolis,
MD. With his help let's look at two of them today.

It's not rocket science. You can miss left or you can
miss right and that means you didn't shoot the ball
straight.

The question though is how do you stop misfiring like
that?

One cause of the ball not flying straight is unintentionally
helping propel the ball with your off (non-shooting) hand.
Remember now they call it the off-hand for a reason.

Start paying attention to what that hand is doing. It
should be there to keep the ball from falling out of the
shooting hand. To stabilize the shot, but that's all.
Remember, it only plays a supporting role.

One way to stabilize the shot better is to leave that
non-shooting hand where it starts till the ball goes
through the hoop. It shouldn't move forward, nor
should you bring it down. And make sure the index
finger on the shooting hand is in the center of the ball.

The other main cause of the ball not flying true is not
having the forearm straight, i.e in line with the center
of the rim. The shooting hand can compensate for
misalignments, but it's going to make the shot less
consistent if the forearm isn't straight.

Note this means the shot lines up on the shooting side
of the body, not at the midline. Bob says make sure
the ball starts in front of the shooting arm's bicep
and you'll be sinking a lot more of your jumpers.

Bob works with Ed Stahl former UNC player and
presidentof Shot Doctor Basketball which has a team
of instructors who regularly run shooting camps all
across the United States, and internationally.

If you want to bring one of their youth shooting camps
to your area check out http://www.shot-doctor.com/.
Besides shooting they also emphasize developing
leadership skills in young people, and they are great
folks who care about your kids very much.

Shoot for The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Tom Nordland's Swish 1 and 2 videos are all about
guiding the ball straight and true. Check out Tom's simple,
yet profound methods at:

http://www.deandelker.com/swish.html

Copyright, Delker Enterprises, Inc. 2006