Transitioning from Form Shooting to Game Shooting

Form Shooting is a technique used to help players develop, or refine their shooting technique. At the heart of the form shooting teaching strategy is the philosophy that slowing the technical movement down helps a player to realise the issues surrounding their shot. The challenge for athletes and coaches alike comes in transferring the knowledge learned in a static environment of form shooting, to game shooting.

In transitioning the lessons learned when employing form shooting to game shooting the focus needs to be on scaffolding with small incremental steps to ensure the benefits of form shooting are not lost or diminished when increasing the speed of the skill performance initially. Scaffolding is a name we give to how a coach can create steps that move a player’s current level of understanding about a topic or performance of a skill to a new higher level. Form shooting is no different to any other skill in that building from the simple to the advanced as quickly as possible is the key to success without corruption the technical skill itself.

A recommended pathway that could be chosen for the scaffolding of the shooting technique could be:

• One handed shooting technique: stationary shot with no jump
• One handed shooting technique: stationary shot with jump
• Two handed shooting technique: stationary shot with no jump
• Two handed shooting technique incorporating jump: stationary shot
• Jump-stop into two-handed shot from pass: incorporating jump
• Stride-stop into two-handed shot from pass: incorporating jump
• One dribble, jump-stop into two-handed shot from pass: incorporating jump
• Two dribble, jump-stop into two-handed shot from pass: incorporating jump

The pathway can be shortened to meet the need of the individual athlete. However, if a player needs to make significant changes to their shot the technique will need to be broken down and built up several times before the individual will be able to use intrinsic feedback and self-coach the correct technique and coaching points specific to themselves.

The One Hand Form Shooting Drill provides a useful format for performing any one of the steps in the transitional pathway.

Once the transitional activities have been utilised to the point where the technique is focusing on the finer motor skills and not instilling new ones. A player can then streamline the process and use the strategy of form shooting to re-align their technique periodically. The activities of one-handed shooting with, or without the jump are also a useful activity that can be employed by an athlete as a warm-up.

In summary form shooting is a very useful strategy in helping players learn, refine or improve the art of shooting. For those players who have a weakness in their technique form shooting is the best possible way to find and correct the movements most effectively. This teaching strategy though must be able to transition to the real pace of the sport of basketball. If not the time and energy put into the activity is wasted with little benefit.