6 Techniques That Improves Basketball Shooting

Basketball shooting is one of the most important skills you must acquire. In this post, we will be discussing the techniques which improve basketball shooting.

 

6 techniques that improve basketball shooting accurately:

 

1) Hands and lower body:

 

Pro athlete Stephan Curry’ currently Ranked at No.4 on cbssports.com (NBA rankings) says positioning of the hand and strengthen of the lower body is the key in shooting consistent, mostly 3 pointers. 

Most pro athletes keep their hands positioned towards the basket. Shooting the ball is all about maintaining your control over the ball. Hand positioning helps in the AIM and its all you need for a good 3 pointers basket.

During drills, it's easy to maintain that control but when the pressure is on and the opposing team is giving you a hard defense, controlling the ball and Aiming is the most important trick.

Getting that Muscle Memory over the Hand positioning is so important as it forms a good Aim, definitely helps shooting in the right direction. 2nd would be to acquire lower body strength making your throw, strong enough to shoot from a distance (3-pointers).

2) Quiet eye training:    

 

This method works very well in improving your shooting ability within the basketball court. 

Quiet eye training is defined as keeping your gaze on the outcome longer than most individuals and with an empty clear mind.

 

A Quiet eye training can be the difference-maker between Pros and newbies mentioned in a study at the European Journal of Sport Science and Progress in Brain Research

 

You should practice eye gaze on the basketball rim and practice to do that more often at least 62percent more than you do normally as reported on bbc.com.

 

A study published in Sport Psychologist (SPORT PSYCHOL) experiment done on a women's basketball team in which team A was given Quiet eye training resulted in performing 76 percent better in shooting accuracy than team B and Team C.

 

Do everyday focus for at least 10 to 15 mins at basketball rim and keep a clear focus, train your mind to do the gaze . This will result in an increased focus and improved shooting accuracy.

 

 

3) Instructional self-talk:

 

As an athlete, you must have watched motivational videos likes "Rocky" and others. Motivating self-talk is great but there is a different type of self-talk known as "Instructional self-talk".

 

It is considered to be a positive contributing factor in improving your shooting accuracy ability in basketball and other sports as well.

 

Instructional self-talks as defined by Frank Heggebo MS in Sport Psychology "being your self-coach". It means you should self-talk in an instructional manner like 'don't look back, 'keep up a straight posture', 'focus on the goal basket', etc. 

 

Believe it or not This simple type of instructional self-talks through your mind proves to be beneficial in improving shooting accuracy in the game. 

 

Research published in journal " The Sport Psychologist " studied the effect of motivational self-talk vs instructional self-talk in 20 pro basketball players and results show an increase in accuracy of shooting through instructional self-talk.              

 

Another study published in Journal of Strength and Conditioning studied the effect of both types of self-talk on vertical jump and yet again results were quite positive with an increase in posture for higher verticals.

 

Bringing "Instructional self-talk" in your game plan will help you increase shooting accuracy, more importantly opening up the chance of 3-pointer shooter baskets.

 

4)  Keeping nerves calm:

 

An article published in Frontiers in Physiology (Exercise Psychology)  studied the effect of heart rate on 3 pointer shooters and results were good. At about 10 shots of( 3 pointer shooters ) were taken from a 7m distance from the basket. 

 

It shows that 0 to 50 heart rate 3 pointers accuracy were stable while 80 heart rate the accuracy significantly decreased showing, you should remain calm and train yourself to relax during a match.

 

Arms should be like jelly:

Any stiffness in your arm muscles can hinder your ability to shoot better. The stiffness can lose the power transfer towards the basketball. Remember you are throwing a ball meaning transferring energy from hands to the ball.

 

According to Newton’s law, energy is converted from one form to another in this case potential to kinetic. To increase your kinetic energy potential energy has to be great and flexible arms are the key in doing that.

 

There is a big difference between a real game and practice drills. Playing with friends and playing competitively are two very different worlds.

 

Keeping yourself calm is consider as a positive contributor in increasing shooting accuracy.

 

Releasing:

The more you relax your accuracy will definitely improve .Just look at pro basketball players videos how much they are calm during a match. Whenever you’re anxious your ability to perform decreases.

 

Whether your trying for a three pointers basket or driving a car every coach will teach to practice Relax and control these are a must skill include to a basketball game-plan.

 

Bear Grylls one of world famous survival expert always teach to remain calm  because if you don't your mind will go in a flight and fight making you waste most of your energy and senses keeping you less productive .

 

Maintaining calmness during a tough match is a skill you must have to increase basketball shooting accuracy.

5) Limiting:

 

Limiting your goals what you don't want and do want. Do you like 2 pointers or 3 pointers and focus on a single goal.

 

If your end goal is to place 3 pointers then keep your training around 3 pointers basket . Practicing to score a basket from a 3 point arch more from a distance by practicing on one specific object training your hand ordinations, body movements will be able to adapt to a particular goal.

 

If you limit yourself on one type of style it will definitely increase shooting ability . Make a choice do you want to be a good dunker , passer or a 3 pointers.

 

By getting clear on your outcome help you achieve it much quicker than others.

6) Strong triceps and biceps muscles:

 

According to Universal Journal of Educational Research a study conducted on 13 pro basketball players and total 8580 shootings of the ball were tested. The results concluded of positive result among players who had undergo arm strength trainings.

The muscles used in throwing a ball is your arms . Triceps are responsible for a strong throw and biceps are efficient in aiming. 

Training your triceps and biceps muscles will certainly provide benefits in a strong accurate throw thus increasing your accuracy in a baseball shot.

 

You can read my post on  how you can get better in basketball by dunking higher learning vertical jumps and strong throws.

Summing Up:

Techniques that improve basketball shooting accuracy:

1. Hands and lower body
2. Quiet eye training
3. Instructional self-talk
4. Keeping nerves calm
5. Limiting
6. Strong triceps and biceps muscles