Ask any high school or college coach, and the vast majority will agree that when it comes to shooting development at young ages, the installation of the 3-pt line at the high school level in the 1980’s has been a huge hindrance.  While exciting for the game and the fans at the prep and collegiate levels, the fact that the line exists on every court in America poses problems when trying to get kids to come inside of it to work on proper technique while their young bodies develop.  Starting too far from the basket too early alters a child’s form, footwork, and ultimately their ability to consistently score from the perimeter.  We all wish we had a dime for every kid who came into our programs as freshmen with an “ugly shot”.

Given this is the case for most programs, what can be done?  The simple answer is to have your youth coaches discourage long perimeter shots, spend time on technique, and try to applaud good form shooting at the expense of missed shots, even in game situations.  Great ideas – but as we all would admit, most times this is easier said than done.  The coaches who have several youth level coaches buying into the above ideals no doubt over time have less shooting technique issues to deal with once players enter high school.  For the rest of us – myself included – until the day comes we get all of those under us on the same page (a Herculean task), what can we do?  The following are several things to think about:

1.  Do all the things we wish youth coaches would do – but with your high school players.  Spend time working on technique.  Spend twice as much time working on shot preparation and footwork.  Work off the catch, off of cuts, and off of the dribble.  Work with no defense, and under duress and pressure.  Applaud your players for good form and follow-through, even if the shot doesn’t drop.  You would be amazed at a players improvement over one season or a career with 15-20 minutes a day in practice spent on specific shooting technique and drills.  Put in one less play, and spend that time on shooting….and eventually you won’t need to run the play anyway.

2.  You don’t need to make lots of threes to win.  Your players don’t all have to be great 3 point threats to extend the defense/open the paint/beat a zone.  The defense just has to think they are.  In most programs – Waupaca included – there are many instances where kids have jacked shots from 20 feet when they have no business doing so, and have very little chance of making it.  If your players have great footwork/shot preparation/square-up ability every time they catch the ball on the perimeter, 99% of high school defenders will come out and play them, even if the kid with the ball knows he will rarely if ever shoot it.  This consequently opens drives, post-ups, and penetration and kicks.  Reserve the 3 point attempts for your players who have a legit chance of making the shot – it shouldn’t be a free for all.

3.  The 3ptr is a low percentage shot.  We all know we have to shoot them sometime over the course of the game.  And we all have read the stats about how 33% of 3pt makes  are equal to 50% of two point makes.  But does that help you win?  The single greatest statistical indicator at the end of any basketball game at the high school or collegiate level which will tell you who has won is team shooting percentage.  The team with the higher percentage will win 85-90% of the time.  Do you want to consistently take lower percentage 3’s or work 5-10 more seconds for a layup or ten footer?  Where will you draw fouls and get to the line more?  Is it easier to Off rebound a missed layup or a 3 ptr?  (See how many of your players block out when someone shoots a layup).   Check your shooting percentage stats from years past – it is true.

4.  Shooting the basketball is a learned skill.  None of us came out the womb knowing how to shoot a basketball.  The act of shooting the basketball consistently is nothing more than muscle memory.  Somewhere along the way, a combination of being taught and figuring out how to get the thing up to the rim influences each players form.  If  a player has learned to do it one way – and that way has flaws – with the proper effort he/she can learn to do it better.  It is tougher to change the older players get, hence the importance of proper emphasis at the grade school level.  But it can be done.  If you want to work with a player to make corrections on shooting form, convince them of this point.  For every rep in someone’s life shooting incorrectly, it takes two reps to retrain the muscles.

5.  Make your players take responsibility for their shooting.  Great quote – “The basket doesn’t move, and the ball doesn’t have a mind of its own”.  Players need to understand that the ball goes where they make it go.  If they miss, it is not the fault of the coach, a teammate, or the crowd – it is their own.  If they make it, they should take all the credit.  Players looking for excuses never make consistent shooters.  Although it is easy for us as coaches to take responsibility for things, this is one on the player’s backs.  Back to point #1 – we can diagram and practice the greatest plays in the world, and if our players miss the open shot every time, what good is the play

There are thousands of drills out there to work on shooting, and we have all seen or heard proper technique demonstrated many times.  The great challenge for us it to sacrifice some of our practice time to continue to emphasize shooting on a daily basis.  The difference between two teams who play equally hard, are equally sized, have equal athletic ability, and are equally prepared, is the one who shoots better that night wins – almost guaranteed.   Work to make sure that team is yours.