All great shooters have one thing in common: they’re consistent. They don’t have bad games and shoot at an amazing percentage on a regular basis. That type of consistency comes from mastering the fundamentals and eliminating mistakes in your shooting form, which may seem like an impossible task when you’re just starting out with basketball and you feel like you can’t do anything right. To help you get started on fixing your shooting, here are the three biggest shooting mistakes youth players make and how to fix them.
3 Biggest Shooting Mistakes
1) Not taking enough shots
Consistency is key when shooting the ball, but not enough youth players actually follow through with the strategy. In order to make shots in the future, you have to take shots in the present. If you’re used to hoisting up 20 shots a day during practice, don’t let yourself get away with just a few jumpers at game time. We’re all human and our minds are naturally prone to laziness, so it’s very important that you force yourself into positive habits like consistent shooting during games. Too many youths think they can do without drills at practice because they can just shoot or just play instead. This is exactly how shooting mistakes happen!
2) Lack of consistency
Shooting is a skill, and like any other you need to practice it to master it. The biggest mistake that players make when they’re trying to become better shooters is simply not shooting enough. You can’t just go shoot a few times here and there then expect yourself to make jumpers consistently at game time. Shooting the ball takes time and the more you shoot, the better you’ll get at it. Be sure to set aside time for shooting everyday if you want your game to improve quickly.
3) Lack of focus
Shooting is a skill that requires focus. You need to clear your mind of distractions and be able to keep your focus on shooting only. It’s not unusual for youth players to shoot with distractions, whether it be noise or other people nearby. Learning how to block out these distractions can help you become more efficient at shooting while avoiding common mistakes. Once you’ve learned what works best for you, you should develop a consistent routine that helps keep your mind focused when shooting basketballs. With practice, these habits will become second nature and improve your ability as a shooter on and off the court.
Get A Coach!
I say it all the time to younger players, get a shooting coach to help! Young players tend to make three biggest shooting mistakes in basketball. The first is not being fundamentally sound on their shot. I have seen kids shoot jump shots with their shoulders turned, elbows flaring out and even hands over the eyes. That’s a recipe for an inconsistent shot that isn’t effective and gets them into bad habits later in life as shooters. The second mistake is lacking consistency on their shot. Once they perfect the form, they need to do it 100% of the time without fail if they expect to get results on offense.
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