When There Is Too Much Form Shooting

   Editor's Note: Here are 5 great shooting tips from Jeff Huber to develop elite shooting.... Here's [part 1]( if you missed that on Monday.   1 - Take Your Spurs Shooting Vitamins  The San Antonio Spurs talk a lot about daily vitamins.   Daily vitamins are unique daily drills their players do to reinforce the skills and habits that each specific player needs.   Part of this would be shooting. So you could call these your shooting vitamins.  Your shooting vitamins might be primarily form shooting drills.  For instance, maybe you use your guide hand thumb on your shot. You might do a couple minutes of drills at the start of each shooting session that prevent you from using that thumb.   To do this, you first need to know which vitamins to take. There are a couple ways you can do this.  You can film yourself. If you do this, film from various angles. Analyze your shot for potential issues. If you’re not sure what you’re looking at, show your coach.   Have your coach take a look at your shot live or on film and give you feedback. Then use that to guide your shooting vitamins.   Then start each shooting session with drills that address those issues.  With that said. . . 2 - Don’t Overdo Form Shooting  Yes, you should take your shooting vitamins. But that should only be a short part of your shooting workouts.  Too many players overdo form shooting right at the basket. This comes from a good place. They think this is going to hone their form.   If you’re exceeding more than 5 to 10 minutes of form shooting, you’re probably doing too much.  Here’s the problem - the way you shoot during form shooting is not how you shoot in games.   Think about it. If you’re three feet from the rim in a game, are you shooting a normal shot? Probably not. You’re probably using a finishing move you’ve worked on.  Also, is the form you use from three feet the same as the form you use from eighteen feet? No. . . from three feet you don’t really need to bend your knees at all. Your shot is all upper body. That’s not the case when you move back.  That’s why too much form shooting may minimize your improvement.   Now form shooting does have a place in habit formation. It’s a great way to develop your shooting technique or focus on a specific flaw. That’s where your shooting vitamins come in.  But you want to keep the form shooting part of your workout short. Five to ten minutes should suffice.   Then get to the meat of your workout where you use other shooting drills.   Next, you should… 3 - Have A Plan  As a coach, it’s a big pet peeve to see players come in and just mindlessly shoot around.  Is that better than not shooting at all? Sure. But is it maximizing your time? I don’t think so.   The best shooters have a plan. JJ Reddick’s routine every Sunday for 13 years revolved around making exactly 342 shots.   The point is not the exact number of makes. The point is that he had a routine that he stuck to. He came in with a purpose.   There are dozens if not hundreds of shooting workouts available online. In fact, you can get [7 really good shooting workouts here]( Finding the workout is not the issue. Having one is.   Be intentional about your work.   And… 4 - Make Your Plan Fit Your Game  Speaking of pet peeves, you don’t have to search social media too hard to see players working on shots they would never shoot in a game.  You probably know what I’m talking about. The double between the legs to a step back, side-step fadeaway 3. While this might look cool to some, it’s largely a waste of time (apologies to Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving).  Why spend your time working on shots you’ll never shoot in a game? Some trainers would argue those drills help by overloading players, making the simpler game shots they’ll get easier.   I have my doubts about that, but that’s beside the point here. If you want to get better at the guitar, you play the guitar. If you want to get better at drawing, you draw.  Basketball is no different.   If you want to get better at the shots you take in games, practice the shots you take in games.   For most of you, that will be catch and shoot 3’s and shots off straight line drives. A few of you may also incorporate more off the dribble shots.   Whatever it is you do in games, make that the bulk of your plan.  That’s not to say you can’t try and add things to your game. You can. But that should be the dessert of your workout, not the main course.  As a kid, I remember doing the Steve Alford shooting workout. The majority of the workout was based around catch and shoot. But there was one drill called “Creative Shooting” where you could work on shots you might not be ready to take in games yet.   That structure made sense to me. You have the chance to work on those next level shots. But the focus is on the shots you get in games.     Additionally... 5 - Balance Quality and Quantity  I recently had a player tell me he went to the gym and shot 1400 shots on The Gun. I was impressed by his dedication. I was skeptical if it was the best way to work on his shot.  The offseason is a great time to balance quality and quantity.   Quality means taking game shots at game speed.   These are shots that often involve a cardio aspect.   For instance, these might be shots where you start at half court, sprint in to the wing and shoot a 3. Or you might start under the rim, sprint to the wing and fade to the corner for a 3. If those are shots you shoot in games, they should be part of your plan.   If you are shooting 4-5 days a week, 2-3 of those could be quality days. On those days, you are taking game shots at game speed.   These workouts will involve less shots. Maybe on those days you take 150-250 shots, but you’re doing so under game-like conditions.  Those workouts should last no more than an hour. If you are working at game speed, that’s more than enough time.  The other 1-2 days could be quantity days. These might be days where you shoot 400-600 shots.   If you have access to a Gun or Dr. Dish, even better. On these days, you won’t be taxing your aerobic system, so you can shoot more shots in the same amount of time.  Both types of workouts have their place. Utilize both to become the best shooter you can be. Conclusion  It is great that you want to become a better shooter. Having a goal is important. The next step is figuring out what you need to do to achieve that goal. Start with these five steps.  They will get you on the right track. In the next part of this series, we’ll cover four more to get you over the top!   Also, if you’re ready to improve your shooting ASAP, here are some great resources to help you become an elite shooter…  [Breakthrough Basketball Shooting Camps]( (20% Discount Ends Sunday!)  [Breakthrough Shooting System and Workouts](     All the best,  Jeff Huber Breakthrough Basketball  This email was sent to {EMAIL} because you indicated that you'd like to receive emails and updates from Breakthrough Basketball on 2016-12-16 05:42:39. 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