Basketball Shooting Drills

Arguably the most important skill in the game of basketball is shooting, since fast passing and fancy footwork alone won’t get the ball through the hoop, and the best way to work on shooting skills is by practicing. While some player excel naturally in the art of shooting that shouldn’t make them exempt from basketball shooting drills. The following basketball shooting drills were created to improve your players’ shooting form and rhythm.

The first drill focuses on form, since having a solid set up is a crucial element to a good shot. For this drill, each player must stand about 3 feet away from the backboard on which ever side they feel more comfortable shooting from. Have your players take a bank shot using only their shooting arm and focusing on perfect form, where the ball is on the very tips of their fingers and their elbow is in towards their body. Each player is to take 15 shots first from the side where they feel most comfortable, then 15 shots from the other side. Once those shots are completed, have your players back up 3 feet and repeat the drill.

While good form is crucial to sinking baskets, another key element of being a great shot is being able to sink baskets from a distance. This basketball shooting drill will improve your team’s distance shots by having them focus on the long shots that can make or break any player’s career.

Have each player start at the further extent of their shooting range, that is the distance where they are the furthest from the basket where they still feel comfortable shooting. From this point, have each player make 10 jump shots. If they sink 8 of the 10 shots, then they are to move back 2 feet and start again. When taking the shots, the focus should be on achieving perfect form, and using the lower body for that extra strength to sink the baskets from afar. Continue having your players move back 2 feet each time they are able to sink 8 of the 10 shots until they are unable to maintain solid form and sink baskets. The best aspect of this drill is that its progress really begins to show after a few weeks of running it one or two times a week.

The next aspect that these basketball shooting drills aim to improve is having a quick release. The advantage of a quick release shot is that even if the opposing team’s defense is playing really close, having a quick release will enable your player to take a shot regardless of how close the defense is.

For this basketball shooting drill, start by having your players make a few jump shots in their regular form while focusing on releasing the shots as quickly as possible. After 5 shots, have each player speed up the entire process of the shot, from bringing the ball up to the shot itself and finally to the release without sacrificing their perfect form. Have each player perform 25 of the sped-up shots before allowing them to take it down a notch. If this drill is successfully performed at every practice and before games, it won’t take long to improve your players’ overall shot release times.