Two Ways to Get Your Shot Off Quicker
As young players grow up the need to develop a jump shot is apparent and necessary. People naturally grown stronger and become better athletes thus making it harder and harder to get off a shot. Something we are commonly asked is “What can I do to get my shot off quicker?”
Here’s a couple ways that players can get shots off quicker and none of them involve their actual release, they involve the feet and legs.
1: Players need to be aware that a shot is available. If you are a 3 point shooter and you sense that you are going to shoot the shot mentally then the next thing to do is get your body ready to shoot the shot. When i was in 9th grade I could score points easily but I didn’t know a lot of the little things necessary to get my shot off against bigger, faster players. It was when I started playing varsity ball that summer that i realized I would have to adapt. Our team point guard dribbled into the key and set me up for a jump shot at 21 feet and it was a shot I had made a million times before. I caught the ball and got set to shoot it but by the time I finally got ready I had a defender on me and I didn’t get the shot off. During a time out the coach pulled me aside and showed me something I could do to get ready to shoot the ball quicker. He showed me a simple hop.
Understand that there are 2 trains of thought and I’ll get to the 2nd one in a minute but by hopping while the pass was in the air I was ready to shoot the ball as soon as I landed. I had lined up my front foot already by pointing it at the basket and had already squared my shoulders. The next time the situation came up I was ready and hit the shot. It took practice to get more comfortable with it but it made a world of difference for me.
#2: 1-2 step. The 2nd train of thought is to avoid the hop and go straight to a 1-2 step. This is done by aligning your body while the pass is in the air so that 1 foot lands before the other with the other coming down right after to propel you into the shot. Your back foot comes down first and your shooting foot (same as shooting hand) comes down and allows you to correctly step into your shot. That is called a 1-2 step when it comes to shooting the ball. Some coaches love this because it allows the shooter to step into his shot or be able to quickly drive past a defender who is closing on the shooter quicker than expected.
I do both and I teach both. If I am shooting a shorter shot then I will take the hop but if i am shooting farther out I’ll use the 1-2 step because it allows me to use my legs more. Others will feel the opposite and that is why this should be practiced until confidence is developed.
