As important as it is to work with your child or players on shooting drills for basketball, it is just as important to make sure they are doing it right. One of the most important skills your as a coach can develop is the ability to spot what is wrong with a shot. You can have the best drills in the world but if the player is repeating those drills over and over with poor form, all that is being done is the reinforcement of that poor form. The old expression that practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect is very true for shooting drills.

So how do we pick up on all the little things that can go wrong in a shot so as to be able to correct them. Well some are easy to pick up on. If the player isn’t squaring up to the basket, or if the player is shooting to upright, the errors can practically scream at you. But for many of the other things that happen so quickly in a shot you may not be able to see the problem without first focusing on the area where it is coming from. To correct these we often need to first look at the results and see what is occurring then trace it back to the root causes. Today I would like to focus on one common shooting problem – the flat shot. The flat shot is defined as a shot that comes into the basket at an angle of less than 45 degrees. This can greatly reduce a players accuracy and needs to be corrected in order to develop a consistent shot. For a great article on the reasoning behind a hire arc shot read Noah Basketball’s How to make more shots.

Basketball Shooting Drill - Lower Body Adjustments for Flat shot

The arc of the ball can be a good indicator of where there may be a flaw in the shot. Quite often we can see a ball coming in a flat trajectory towards the basket. The cause of this is usually a result of the player throwing and not shooting the ball. Start by watching the players lower body. Make sure they are moving upward with there legs. The shots power should come from the legs not the arms. If the player is not starting their shot with an upward movement driven by the upper body then the shot will tend to be flat. Once you make sure they are making that are making that movement upward with there body, look for little hitches or hesitations in their form. Once started the upward movement should be a smooth continuous motion until completed. Another thing to look for if they are getting good upward movement without any hitches is are they holding the ball too long.

Basketball Shooting Drill - Upper Body Adjustments for Flat shot

If all is well with the lower body and the player is getting good upward lift and the shot is still flat, its time to check the upper body. Check to see the the players shooting arm is above a 45 degree angle from the plain of the floor. If not work with him on getting a higher release point on his shot with the arm moving more upward then outward. Also watch that the player is not leaning back when they are shooting. the head and shoulders should be moving upward and forward towards the basket during the follow-through. Finally check to see that the hands are not too far apart on the ball preventing the player from getting good upward movement on the shot.

These are the major causes for flat shots. Some of these might be hard to pick up on without focusing on them first. But the results, the low arc shot, the clanging noise the ball makes when coming in hot and hitting the rim, and the long rebounds are very easy to identify. Use that as the notice you need to work on the players shot and then go through the list of items to find what needs work. Then have them work on that area using the appropriate beginner basketball shooting drill.

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