Shoot it Like Ray Allen

One of the best pure shooters currently playing in the NBA is Ray Allen who now plays for the Boston Celtics. His is a pure stroke, toes pointed at the basket, nice quick release and a balanced follow-through. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below.



Here are just some of my tips that like to emphasis when doing shooting stuff,

1. Balanced posture, feet shoulder width apart. I see kids these days that are shooting with feet together or leaning towards their shooting hand. This results in very little to no lift and they usually take off of one foot. This always results in an inconsistent shot, sometimes too right, too high, pushed, etc..

2. Toes pointed to the basket. This is really basic, but you'd be surprised to see how many kids have feet inverted or sideways. If your feet aren't pointed in the direction of your shot, you're likely to favor one side, mostly the side of your shooting hand.

3. Basic arm motion. From hip to release. I talked about this in another post. Make sure the elbow is in.

4. Balanced follow through. I always watch a shooter's follow-through. After you shoot, you should be slightly ahead of where you started, on both feet still pointed to the basket with weight balanced, shooting hand extended and off-hand pointed to the hoop. I see some kids finishing on one foot, or ending up backwards, etc... These are all compensations for bad balance and lack of strength.

For more video info, Ganon Baker has tons of videos on shooting and unfortunately I didn't get to catch him at the last clinic I was at. But I like Jay Wright's DVD with some great shooting drills. Coach Wright is the head coach at Villanova where he has coached some great shooters like Allen Ray and Randy Foye.

Go over the Coaching Basketball Forum to discuss.