Of all the skills that a basketball player works to perfect, none are more difficult than that of shooting. Shooting the basketball is indeed an art that takes a great deal of time to perfect. It is a difficult skill because it involves the entire body. To be a good shooter you must involve the following body parts:
Feet – the base of the shot
Knees – flexed to enable you the power behind your shot
Shoulders – squared to the target
Elbow – under the ball, bent for strength and accuracy
Fingers – to control the ball
Wrists – again for power as well as rotation and follow through
Eyes – fixed on the target
And of course, that is only the physical part as a major part of shooting is the mental capacity to concentrate on each shot. The key to being a good shooter is both simple and difficult at the same time.
The simple part is to develop good shooting mechanics. The difficulty comes from making sure that you consistently shoot the basketball that way every time. It takes a dedicated basketball player with great mental concentration to become a good shooter. You always see the streak shooter: the shooter that can hit seven out of 10 on one night and then hit two of 12 the next night. Those shooters have the technique to be good but they don’t have the discipline. It is the discipline of working on your shooting every day that develops the necessary habits to be consistently good.
There is also a difference in being a good shooting and having the ability to score. You probably know a player that can shoot the basketball well but doesn’t score a lot of points.
