Shooting

I thought I could do my first real post about something pretty basic: shooting.

As straightforward as it may seem it is probably the aspect of basketball which involves the most mathematics. To start, you always should build the shot from the ground up:

1)      Firstly you need a strong base for your shot; this should the same for all shots. Feet about shoulder width apart - this will ensure that the base isn’t too narrow or too wide; not causing you neither to have poor balance nor lose explosiveness to score the basket.

2)      Once you have step 1 set, you must ensure that your knees are bent so that you have better balance, power, and more explosiveness in the shot. When you bend your knees, you should also bend slightly at the hips.

3)      This step is where the magic happens. ANGLES. The path the basketball will take once it is shot, comes down to the angle at which it is shot, the force applied and the height of your arms. When shooting from behind the free throw line, a smaller angle of your elbow is necessary (about 45º) to get the ball through the hoop. However, when making a field throw, a larger angle in the elbow is better (the closer to 90º the better). Understanding arcs will help determine how best to shoot the ball. ALSO shooting the ball in an arc will increase its chances of falling through the hoop as you can see in the images. The bigger the arc you choose the better the angle the ball will arrive at to the hoop and it will be more likely that it goes through. The arc you are looking for is one that allows the ball to find the hoop and an angle of about 70º.