How to Shoot a Basketball 101

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It goes without saying that if you want to play basketball, you need to be a good shot. This all-encompassing statement can be broken down. Do you want to be a good 3-point shooter? An inside game shooter? How about a jump shot from the elbow or a high-percentage foul shooter?

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We want to help you understand how to shoot a basketball. We’ll give you basketball shooting drills and techniques for shooting the rock and break down the fundamentals.

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No, you won't be an ace shot when you first start. But with training and persistence, you can be tight with the pill when the game is on the line. (Translation - you can be a very good shot with the basketball in your hands when the clock is winding down and the next goal wins.)

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Fundamentals of Basketball Shooting

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You may have seen some crazy shots in the NBA and NBL, often on the highlight reels. Players getting bumped off their feet, or falling away and hoisting the ball in the air. That’s great for TV, but what you will rarely see on the highlight reels are all the standard shots that make bank.

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Why? Because of perfect form, a technique that is more reflexive than thought, which gets the job done, night after night, is more consistent and better for your team than those crazy shots off one foot as you fall out of court. 

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The BEEF Method

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The fundamental action for a good shot has the acronym BEEF - Balance, Elbow, Eyes, Follow-Through.

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B- Balance. As mentioned above, those random off-balance shots are low-percentage shots. You want your body balanced, two feet planted, ready to lift you off the ground, your body facing the basket.

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E- Elbow. The arm that has the ball and is about to shoot, the elbow must point to the basket. This ensures a straight ball launch and release towards the ring.

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E- Eyes. You want your eyes on the ring, where the ball will go. You don't want to focus on the ball or your opposition. Look at the ring, the intended target of the ball.

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F- Follow-through. A good, fluid motion has you landing, balanced again, and ready to move, go for a rebound, or even receive the ball again for another shot.

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Working on this basic first theory can have you making shots from all over the frontcourt. You will become a good, fundamental player.

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Advanced Shooting Techniques

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There are other shot types you can learn for different situations on the court. For big players in the key you can practice a hook shot - a one-armed hook towards the basketball, from the hand furthest from the defence, and very difficult to block.

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Guards can practice catch-and-shoot, for a quick release shot, handy if the shot clock is about to fire, or end-of-quarter in-bounds play. It's also good if you’re coming off a screen to receive the ball and shoot.

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Perfecting Your Shooting Form

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Repetition and practice are the best ways to refine your shooting style. Doing it slowly, like getting into the perfect stance, legs apart and knees bent, so you understand where you need to be when you shoot, is how you start.

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After a while, it will become muscle memory. You will receive the ball, get into your stance and shoot the ball without conscious thought.

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The Shooting Arm and Guide Hand

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This will sound funny, but you have two hands when it comes to shooting. The shooting hand and the guiding hand.

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The shooting hand, if you’re right-handed, is your right hand. It is the hand the ball rests in and leaves from when you shoot. However, have you ever tried to shoot one-handed? Tricky, yes?

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This is where your left hand, your guide hand, comes in. It rests on the inside of the ball, bracing it gently so it doesn't fall off your hand. You don’t want to hold the ball; just guide it out of your hand in the right direction. 

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Common Shooting Mistakes and How to Correct Them

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If you keep practising your basic shooting action and have a coach who helps you establish this pattern, soon you’ll have an excellent shooting action. However, there are a few common mistakes people make when shooting, which you can fix and, again, improve your shot.

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Adjusting Shot Arc and Backspin

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Have a look at the basketball ring, and imagine you’re the ball. Can you see the gap at the top of the ring you’re supposed to go through to score? No. If you throw the ball at the ring like this, you’re going to hit the ring and probably bounce off.

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The higher the arc of your shot, the more open the face of the ring is, and the more of the basket hole you can see. Shooting a ball up and over increases your chances of a clean ‘swish’, and decreases the chances of a defender blocking your shot.

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Practice shooting the basketball upwards, not forwards. Adjust your shot until it reaches the ring while still having a good arc through the air.

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Do you have enough backspin on the ball? When the ball is released from your shooting hand, giving it a little flick will produce a backspin on the ball.

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This is where physics enters the game.

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Backspin slows the ball's journey through the air by increasing air resistance going forward. This makes the ball ‘climb’ upwards and exagerrates the arc of the ball. It also makes the ball travel a little further.

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Bonus to this, if your shot hits the backboard, the backspin will drag the ball down quicker, and make it more likely to go through the hoop.

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Try exaggerating the hand flick with your shot-release so you can really see the ball spinning backwards. Adjust this rate of spin, combined with an arc, to produce a beautiful shot that splashes every time.

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Overcoming Mental Blocks in Shooting

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It can happen. You take a shot, and you miss. Two or three more shots, and they’re all bricks. So you start to doubt yourself; your mental game is out. So what do you do?

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There are two ways, in-game, that you can help yourself.

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1. Keep taking shots. As Wayne Gretsky said- you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. If you’ve practised your shooting action, eventually, shots will start to drop. Assess how the defence is working you, try and get clear, and shoot your way out of your slump.
2. Pass and assist. If you feel you don’t have a hot hand, help your team make the score. Basketball is a team game, after all, so get passing, and give your teammates the assists to hit buckets.

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After the game, have a chat with your coach, or think about what might have been the problem. Were you thinking too much? Were you releasing the ball too early or too late? Was the defence in your face and hard to beat? 

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Basketball Shooting Drills for Practice

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Just like anything in life- perfect takes practice, and practice makes perfect. You can do it with your team, or at home in the backyard with your awesome Dream Court outdoor court.

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Solo Shooting Drills for Skill Improvement

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Doing solo shooting drills can become very meditative. Get the ball, balance, shoot. Run to get the rebound, turn, balance shoot. You can begin to feel the rhythm of your body, start to understand how much power is needed for a drop shot inside the lane, versus a 3-point shot from beyond the arc.

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It can also strengthen you mentally. You shoot with no defence on you, you perfect your shot. Then, when you’re out on the court, you can put the defence out of your mind and just focus on shooting. Great for trash talk too - what defence?

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Team Shooting Drills for Enhanced Coordination

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Basketball is a team sport, so you should practice your shooting with a team. Run plays so they know where you will be, to pass the ball so you can catch and shoot. Run screens, cut and pass, baseline drives and more. Understand the play of the game, know how good your teammates are at passing, or shooting from a particular spot on the court.

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Elevating Your Shooting Game

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The best way to perfect your shooting action and guarantee many buckets is through practice. You have to get out there on the court and shoot thousands of baskets, and practice for hundreds of hours. It's how the best in the world achieve it. If you want to join the ranks of top-scoring point guards or power forwards, you need to practice.

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If you need a court built in your backyard, give our guys a holler, and we can talk half courts, quarter courts and more.

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