Shoot to Kill
Shooting: Feet, Hips & Balanced Base
A. It’s a lot easier to shoot at a stationary target than a moving one. So we need to make sure that we establish a good balanced base to ensure that we can control our balance throughout our entire shot. There are going to be times when game situations may call for more advanced shots which require greater body control. However, without a complete understanding of these foundational basics, we won't be able to attempt those higher level shots with accuracy and consistency. We'll see this in the video breakdowns.
Let's get started with our feet and build our foundation from there. Our weight should be equally distributed for both feet and both hips. This is obviously easier to do from a standstill catch and shoot situation, but we also want to be able to do it when we are on the move with or without the ball in our hands. The faster our motion, the more difficult this may be.
We’re not leaning forward or in any other direction side to side or backward and we’re not favoring either leg. Again, there are cases to be made for adding fades, drifts, and leans to our shots, but we are beginning with the basic foundational principles and building from here.
Once we establish a good base and once we have our feet at the appropriate angle, we need to make sure that the balls of our feet have all the weight on them. Then we want to equally roll off of them. It's important that we find a base that's great for our shot. Some will like to have ten toes facing the rim and others will like to be slightly turned with their feet. The important thing to remember is the angle at which your feet start should be the angle at which they finish when you land. We'll get into this more as the series progresses.
When we jump, we want the balls of our feet to come up at the exact same time.
Make sure that our hips are even and that our weight is evenly distributed on both legs and that we jump at the same time and land at the same time so we have maximum balance for maximum results. We want to be machine-like in our approach so we can repeat the same movements, and develop that consistency that all great shooters have.
Here's an informative video from Drew Hanlen that gives you a couple a great keys.
Here's an older video from Allen Stein that has some great balance drills in it.
Here is a video I put together of some of the best shooters in the world doing it at a high level.