Shooting - the master skill

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

If you can't shoot, it makes everything else more difficult.

Junior players can be lulled into a false sense of security. Most of the baskets players in U14 and below score are from layups. You can dominate without ever taking a shot outside the key. As you get older, however, a reliable shot becomes much more inportant (and harder to teach).

If you're older, and you can't shoot, players will sag off you and help out on your team mates, making their lives difficult. In order to score you'll then have to be a better driver, or a better passer to bring your team mates into the game. If you CAN shoot, it makes everything else easier.

Players will have to play closer to you on the perimeter, which will open up passing and driving lanes. It will also mean your defensive player will have to play closer to you, opening up space for your team mates and giving them more room to score.

Unfortunately, by the time most players realise they can't score reliably from the perimeter, it's almost too late. It's simply harder to learn a refined skill when you're older. Habits are harder to break, and you have less time in your week for practice devoted to shooting because team practices are less skill-focused.

In other words, learn to shoot before it's too late!