There is potentially no motor skill within basketball that evokes more debate amongst coaches at all levels than the mechanics of the jump shot. Every coach has their own philosophy surrounding what a technically proficient jump shoot looks like, how the jump shot should be taught and whether mechanics should even be discussed or debated. Despite this, the perfection of the ability to shoot the ball has never been more crucial to playing at the highest level within basketball so mechanic proficiency must be discussed to some degree. It would seem that endless knew phrases and acronyms related to shooting mechanics bombard us all on a daily basis and if you are not continually pinned to your twitter timeline you'll probably find yourself, just like myself, scratching your head wondering what brand knew never heard before terminology even relates to. Shooting is a highly specific and highly individualised motor skill and we should treat it as such, however there are some general concepts that are essential to the success of the jump shot regardless of what specific mechanics a player chooses to employ.
The Role Of The Core In Ensuring Accuracy
Accuracy can be defined as "the quality or state of being correct or precise" which is self evidently crucial to being a successful shooter within basketball. In order to evoke accurate results there is a number of general concepts that regardless of specific mechanics utilised, players must be aware of. Accuracy is all about alignment and in basketball terms this means aligning the body in such a way that it ensures that the ball travels in a straight line in the direction that we want it to go in. There is two key principles in order to ensure this:
Stabilisation Of The Upper Kinetic Chain
Off Hand Guide Rail.
Think of this in terms of a train. You cannot start thinking about how fast the train can move or the time taken for the train to get from stationary to maximum velocity before a track has been laid in order to designate its direction of travel. The combination of the core and the off hand guide rail is designed to act as this track. The need for a quality off hand acting as a guide rail is well documented however from my perspective one key piece of advice would be to remind your players that the ball should touch the off hand, not the off hand touch the ball. This from my experience emphasises the need for the guide hand to be there to prevent the ball from slipping but it should not push the ball in any way. Stabilisation of the upper kinetic chain comes through 3 key core concepts that play a critical role in the maintenance of posture at the point of release that is complementary to a positive shooters alignment:
Anti Rotation Locks the hip’s in a position parallel to the rim preventing the centre point of the core from rotating in such a way that the hips move to an orientation were either the right or left hip is further forward than the other. Poor anti rotation ability within the core can result in the hips rotating freely which can force the ball to either the right or the left of the intended target as a result of the hips "opening" during the shot. The loss of power as a result of the core disengaging can also cause the ball to fall short of the rim. There should be a natural volume of rotation in the hips in order to maintain shoulder alignment however this rotation should certainly not be adverse.
Anti Flexion Maintains the integrity of the upper body mechanics by Preventing both an anterior and posterior tilt within the pelvis preventing the chest from following forwards or backwards. A backwards lean can upset the integrity of the upper body mechanics as it disengages the core and can result in the player "gunslinging" in order to try and make up for the loss of power. A backwards lean can result in loss of power and the resultant loss of technique causes the ball to fall majorly short of the rim sometimes even air balling. Allowing a forward lean can significantly lower the approach angle of the ball to bellow 45 degrees which significantly lowers to chance of success. Anti Flexion prevents both from occurring by maintaining a neutral pelvic tilt at the point of release.
Anti Lateral Flexion Maintains the integrity of the upper body mechanics by maintaining a neutral hip position preventing an orientation were the right or left hip is higher up than the other. Just like if there is adverse flexion, this results in a loss of power and as a result, players resort to poor mechanics in order to make up for this loss of power. If there is adverse lateral flexion in either direction then this can result in the ball falling to the left or the right of the intended target. Adverse lateral flexion can be characterised as a "caving in" to one side or the other and is common within youth players who lean to one side to try and generate power when shooting with either a ball that is too heavy or into a basket that is too high. This is why players should spend more time with a lighter ball on a smaller hoop until shooting technique and movement proficiency has been perfected.
Let's explore the above core concepts in relation to the picture of Ray Allen to the left.
There is natural rotation of the centre point of the core but the rotation is not so adverse that he looses his parallel hip orientation.
His chest neither falls forward nor leans backwards meaning that there is no adverse flexion within his posture.
Both hips are locked in a position at the same height meaning that there is no adverse lateral flexion or caving.
All these concepts allow Ray Allen to propel the ball in a straight line to the intended target- the basket. In other words he can maintain optimal shooting technique.
Power Generation And Transfer
Unless we put power into the ball it simply won't travel the distance we need it to travel in order to score. However, how we put power into the ball is critical. Power can be put into the ball in a negative way ( such as I mentioned earlier when young players "cave in" on their shooting side causing adverse lateral flexion and a loss in accuracy). To put it simply we must put power into the ball in a way that does not upset our mechanics. A concept that will be well known to those in the Strength and Conditioning world is that of "Triple Extension" however the concept is also key in power generation within a technically well performed jump shot.
Triple extension should occur during every jump. The image to the right outlines a body weight squat jump. The image demonstrates flexion, were the athlete dips, and through extension at the ankle, knee and hip, she propels herself upwards and off the floor. Think of a jump shot in exactly the same way (obviously without raising the arms above the head). We have all been told since we first shot a ball that it is the legs that generate the power for every shot, not the arms. If we attempt to generate power with the arms and not the legs then we shall significantly upset our mechanics and thus we will reduce the likelihood of us scoring. The process of triple extension is how we should generate all power for our jump shot. From an injury prevention perspective but also from a maximal power generation perspective, coaches should always be aware of both adduction at the knee joint as well as internal rotation at the knee joint as both can limit maximal power generation but also significantly increase injury risk.
Movement in the upper body (above the transverse plane) is all about the transfer of the power generated by the lower body (below the transverse plane) into the ball. Above the transverse plane, biomechanically I would say that the wrist is the most important component part. There is a number of considerations when it comes to the wrist:
The extension and quick flexion of the wrist which basketball players and coaches would associate with "follow through" is what creates the back spin on the ball which we all know is critical to a successful jump shot. Under flexion or not following through enough can result in a loss of power transfer into the ball but can also result in a loss of back spin in the ball which can cause it to "thud" off the rim or backboard in an unconducive manner.
Any ulnar deviation or adverse pronation of the wrist in a right handed shooter will cause the ball to slip or move to the right of the intended target. We tell players that when passing they should finish their pass, in a position where their fingers are pointing towards were they want the ball to go. Shooting is no different.
Equally any radial deviation or adverse supination of the wrist in a right handed shooter will cause the ball to slip or move to the left of the intended target. Returning to the train analogy, if the train tracks turn right then the train will go right, if the train tracks turn left then the train will go left. It is no different in shooting.
Players must lock their wrist into a straight/neutral position (as demonstrated by JJ Redick in the image above) in order to ensure that the ball travels in a straight line towards the intended target. This begins by the position of the players hand on the ball.
Another key consideration is ensuring that all of the moving parts of the upper body, remain at all times within the players cylinder. Bare in mind that from a rules perspective, a players cylinder continues all the way until it reaches the ceiling, accounting for good outside shooters such as Nikola Jokic and Dirk Nowitzki shooting from above their head whilst still managing to keep all their arm mechanics within their cylinder. Let's look at this concept in relation to Joakim Noah:
I know it's difficult to tell however he is shooting the ball with the right hand. There is some flexion of the wrist which, and I am admittedly clutching at straws here, is a positive thing. Despite this there are some obvious negatives:
There is some ulnar deviation of the shooting wrist which will cause the ball to move to the right of the intended target.
Shooting arm and guide arm have moved outside of the players cylinder which negatively impacts Noah's ability to keep the ball in a straight line (imagine the result of the train tracks separating and widening).
Guide Rail arm has separated and is now facing away from the ball which can push the ball to the right of its intended target.
And I have literally no idea what he is attempting to do with his fingers!
The core also plays a critical role in the transfer of power from the joints and muscles of the lower body to the joints and muscles of the upper body and naturally as a result, poor core strength, stability and control will account for a loss of power transfer. We've already explored the impact of negative core stability in terms of adverse extension, flexion or lateral flexion on shooting accuracy. It could be said that there is no more important Motor Ability in relation to jump shooting than core strength.
In the simplest of terms the Kinetic Chain includes all parts of the body that impact and control movement. When looking to trouble shoot errors within a players shooting mechanics we must firstly establish whether it is a Motor Skill problem or a Motor Ability problem or in other terms whether the problem is technique related (for example poor wrist position) or physically related (for example tight shoulders). If we are looking to develop motor abilities then I would summarise development priorities as: stop from moving what shouldn't move and promote movement were movement should occur, in other words- stabilise what needs to be stabilised and mobilise what needs to be mobilised. In relation to shooting mechanics we take a two fold approach. In order to maintain postural alignment that is favourable to correct shooting technique we must stabilise the upper kinetic chain (Cervical Spine, Thoracic Spine, Lumbar Spin) through proper strengthening of the core preventing unhelpful or even harmful movement. This ensures that our kinetic chain is entirely balanced and as I outlined earlier, this is extremely important to uphold the integrity of our mechanics. If you want to watch a player who had a remarkable ability to maintain a balanced kinetic chain nearly all the time then Steve Nash is your man. In order to maximise power output we must mobilise the joints of the lower kinetic chain (Ankle Joints, Knee Joints, Hip Joints). A larger range of motion within each of the individual joints allows for a larger range of motion across the lower kinetic chain as whole, easier flexion and extension at each joint allows for easier power generation whilst decreasing injury risk.
One quick summary on the implications this has on coaches interjections in the shooting form of players. I believe that a coaches interjection into a players shooting mechanics should be limited to 3 priorities:
Improvement of postural control
Economisation or maximisation of the power generation mechanics
Development of straight line alignment
It's a basic principle that before external resistance is applied, the athlete should have perfected the related fundamental movement pattern with only his body weight as resistance. A similar concept should apply with shooting. Countless repetitions are required in order to become a great shooter. Countless. However it is first key that players perfect the ability to control their posture through their core muscles and generate power in the correct way before they are allowed to naturally fall into the specific shooting form that suits them. I don't believe that players should be shoe horned into a certain way of shooting, if coaches are being entirely objective, you'll rarely see two different players shoot the ball exactly the same way. Why? Every athlete is different. Stephen Curry shoots the ball differently to Vassilis Spanoulis who shot the ball differently to Larry Bird who shot the ball differently to Juan Carlos Navarro. Every player is an individual. Provided that players can generate power in the correct way and maintain proper postural control and alignment they should be allowed to fall into whatever form they feel most comfortable with.