The Art and Science of Shooting a Basketball

I came across this great article about basketball shooting this morning and had to share it with you. Its written by legendary UNLV coach, Jerry Tarkanian. Tarkanian led the "Runnin' Rebels" to the NCAA title in 1989-1990 with a line-up that included future NBA players Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon (one of my favourites) and Greg Anthony.

In the article, Tarkanian identifies the elements that are key to becoming a great basketball shooter. These are practice/technique, stance, grip, timing, concentration, confidence, soft touch/finesse and shot selection.

Click on the title below to read the full story.

Basketball Shooting - The Art and Science of Shooting a Basketball

Basketball Shooting Is Both Art and Science
Fundamentals of Shooting A Basketball

By Coach Jerry Tarkanian

Shooting a basketball is both an art and a science. Basketball shooting is an art form because it involves finely tuned hand-eye coordination rather than gross motor skills. For example, unlike such skills as the defensive stance and pivoting, which are relatively invariable, shooting form is highly individualistic. There is no one correct way of shooting a basketball, although there are certain elements of basketball shooting form common to all good basketball shooters that may be identified.

Shooting a basketball is also a science because it involves such mechanical processes as depth perception, velocity, angle of release, and trajectory of the ball in flight. The comic strip Mary Worth once featured an episode about a brilliant mathematics student who became an outstanding shooter on his basketball team because of his analysis of the scientific principles involved in shooting a basketball. Though the episode is rather far-fetched, it illustrates that an awareness of the scientific bases for good shooting can help to improve a player’s shot within the limitations of his ability and time spent practicing his shooting.

Learning to shoot a basketball

Here's an article I wrote applying the way we learn, to the art of shooting a basketball.

Learning to shoot a basketball

When people ask 'how do I learn to shoot a basketball?', most of the time people tell them to just get out and practice. Grab a ball, find a hoop and just shoot ... you'll get better.

I tend to disagree with this statement. Sure, practice and repitition is important, but its just one part of the equation. Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Learn the right way to shoot, the best basketball shooting drills to work on and you'll become a great shooter much quicker.

We basically learn to do anything in 3 ways: by listening/asking, by watching or by doing. So applying these 3 ways of learning to the art of shooting a basketball you get:

1. Listening ... talk to other players, ask coaches

2. Watching ... watch people playing and shooting, watch games of professional players, watch instructional videos, get someone to video you shooting so you can see your own shot (and you can see what you're doing right and wrong)

3. Doing ... practice shooting, repitition, playing

So if you really want to improve your basketball shot, don't just learn by doing ... seek out people for advice and when you're not on the court, watch great shooters and learn from them. As well as just practicing your shot, use the others way of learning (and some of the suggestions above) and you'll find your shooting will improve much quicker.

Wishing you nothing but net,

Dodge Taylor