BEEF Method of Shooting the Basketball

These basketball tips for better shooting are a great way for players, parents, and trainers to learn and understand the correct mechanics and techniques needed to become a good shooter and dribbler. Every basketball player wants to shoot as good as possible! The most common skill that is learned in the game is dribbling. Coaches spend most of their training time devoting themselves to shooting and dribbling to improve players' skills and bring them to a higher level.

After all, if you can not score the basket, you can not expect a good result. Whether a player uses a jump shot, layup under the basket, or free throw there are certain techniques that he must use to be successful. The basketball advice below will help players, parents, and trainers to better understand these techniques.

Remember these 4 words, they will make you an elite shooter:

BEEF (B-Balance, E-Eye, E-Elbow, F-Follow - through )

BALANCE

Feet are shoulder width apart for good balance.

• Feet should be in a slightly staggered stance that is consistent and comfortable for you. Your shooting foot is slightly ahead of the non-shooting foot in a comfortable position.
• Point your feet in the general direction of the basket, but not necessarily directly at it. We prefer an open stance, but you can also use the closed (squared) stance if that's more comfortable for you. With an open stance, your feet point towards one side of the basket. For example, a right-handed shooter will point his or her feet just to the left of the rim for a more natural position and shooting motion.

Once you develop a comfortable stance, line up your feet the exact same way on every shot. Whatever stance you use, consistency is critical.

• Flex/bend your knees on every shot. The lowered body position ensures that the balance is maintained
  Additional Keys 
• As you catch the ball, move it quickly into the “shot pocket” position. 
• Line everything up so the ball and your shooting eye form a straight line to the basket. This is very important. 
• Position the ball several inches above your waist.
• Grip the ball properly and be ready to shoot.
• Position the ball in your shot pocket the same way every time you catch it

Knowing where you intend to place the ball begins with your eyes focused on the basket

• To improve accuracy, locate the target (rim) as early as possible.
• Before shooting, see the whole floor, but when shooting, narrow your focus to the front of the rim. 
• Keep your eyes on the target and do not follow the flight of the ball.
• Keeping your target focus is very important!

ELBOW

This is the most important step. The elbow is directly under the ball in line with the basket. Not too close or too far from the body. I place my elbow under the ball, the elbow will keep the ball straight to the basket. Do not allow your shooting arm to stick out to the side or be on an angle.

• When the elbow is straight, the ball will rest in one hand easily and can still be released straight to the target.
• Your balance hand should not add force or spin to the shot.
• The ball should start motion directly upwards from the shot pocket (no dipping of the ball).
• Your elbow should be positioned comfortably under the ball.

FOLLOW THROUGH

Your shooting hand should be fully extended in a straight line to the rim.

• Allowed the ball to roll off your fingertips and your wrist snaps so that your fingers are pointed down and straight toward the basket.
• The ball should come off the hand with perfect symmetrical backspin.
• As shown in the picture to the left, your guide hand stays to the side and does not influence the flight of the ball.
• Hold your follow through position until the ball hits the rim. Additional Keys
• Your wrists should be floppy (relaxed).
• Fingers should be pointed at the target (rim).
• Finish high. You should see your fingers at the top square of the backboard

If you have not mastered the technique, you will get bad habits that are difficult to correct.

During practice, you should know when you are good at shooting and learn from it. This will find the balance between productive shooting and unproductive shooting. When you develop confidence in your shot you will also develop your ability to know/feel when you have a good shot.

Keep a proper posture, and be in the correct balance when you're shooting the ball. Do not jump/rely on one side of the body or the other side. Feel the correct balance required for each shot.

Follow through at every shot. Keep your follow-through after the shot, because it will show you why you score or miss the basket.

Do not force your jump - it should be fine and light. You should jump straight into the air smoothly and at the end of the jump "knock" the ball. "Up, Hold, Shoot" is an easy way to remember.

Make sure you have an arch on every shot. The height of the arc will vary from player to player, some players will shoot with a high arch while others have a lower arch when shooting. As long as you use the correct techniques of shooting and consistently hit the basket then your arch is good.

Be relaxed when shooting. Concentrate on the basket and let your knees bend slightly. Avoid excessive and unnecessary movement. Just use the moves you need to shoot and score the basket.

Practice all types of shooting. Learn to shoot the basketball from all the positions on the court within your capabilities and level. That way you will become a good shooter.

Always stay calm and practice in a good mood when you shoot, to gain good habits and develop a touch of from different positions on the floor.

1. From the basic basketball position in the attack, the ball is lifted as quickly as possible ("explosively") above the head where it remains "fixed" (elbow in the direction of kick-off, holding the ball with both hands ...), simultaneously (synchronized) raising to the front of the face and holding the knees slightly bent. This movement of the player should be performed at the highest speed at the moment of the jump.

Note: this position gives the player and trainer the chance to see all possible mistakes in this stage of the jump shot.

2. The exercise relates to the previous one, as the player performs all the actions described in it, but does not remain on the floor, instead, he jumps (performs the reflection) and then lifts the ball above the head (he lands holding the ball in his hands ). Even though this is not in accordance with basketball rules, such an extended "flight phase" allows players to get a sense of the rhythm of the jumping performance (there is a certain time interval between the jump and the shot). The player must look at the hand after which he has finished, checking that he has been doing everything technically correctly (a hand stretched in the elbow, fingers looking down).
    
3. The exercise also relates to the previous one. The player after the reflection needs to throw the ball over his head, just before touching the ground with his feet (which is actually a jump shot).
    
4. The exercise is done in pairs. The ball is sent to a partner set at a distance of 2-3 m using a jump shot. The coach should ask the player to observe the position of his hand after the shot.
    
5. Jump-shot to the basket. The players are placed on the baskets and shot from close range using the board. They are positioned towards the basket, on the side of the hand that they are shooting with. Attention should be more on the proper technique of the shot and less on the precision of the shot. After a certain number of repetitions, the coach can increase the distance from the basket by 1 step.
    
6. The players are placed at a close distance from the basket, with back to the basket, they make chest pivot towards the rim and after it, they perform jump-shot.
    

7. The players are placed at a close distance from the basket, facing the rim. They jump and turn in the air, landing with their back to the rim. After that, they make a chest pivot toward the rim and after it, they perform a jump shot.

   
   

8. Connection with the dribbling. Players start from the baseline, they make one dribble and go into the shooting pocket as quickly as possible. After that, they make one dribble with the other hand and do the same thing. A drill is done full court.

   
   

9. The Drill is done in pairs. The player with the ball (shooter) starts at the free-throw line while the other player ( passer) is waiting under the basket. Shooter makes one dribble and performs a jump shot at game speed. Players change positions after 10 shots.

   
   

10. Similar to the previous drill , just this time shooter starts from the three-point line and after the first dribble he needs to make any change( crossover, behind the back...) after it he tries to get to the shooting pocket as quickly as possible and to shoot with proper mechanics

    
    

11. In each basket, the coach determines a player who can "play the defense" semi-active, which means that he is moving only his legs in order to close the attacker's penetration line. If he doesn't do so in a timely manner, the attacker uses the "open" (opposite) side, and he starts dribbling away from the defense. goes to the shooting pocket and tries to score using a jump shot. Then, the coach can ask the defensive player to be active, which means he can use his hands.

    
    

12. Players are in pairs. The player with the ball can score only using a jump shot, and he has a dribbling restriction(depending on the level, not more than 4 dribbles). The defense is active and tries to block the shot.

    
    
13. This is an advanced version of the previous drill . The shooter can score only by using a jump shot but this time 2 defensive players are guarding him. He doesn't have a dribbling restriction but in other to score or even take a shot he needs to be very quick and to use the perfect jump-shot technique. Players who can score in this drill have the potential to become top-level shooters and professional players.

Psychology plays a major role in achieving top results in sports, and in certain situations, it is even crucial. True, in the last few years it has begun to work more and more with athletes on psychological preparation. But there are still those trainers who ignore it, or with such preparation only in top sports when it is known to be late, while for younger categories, psychological preparation is considered inadequate.

Concentration is the fixing of attention on the job at hand and is characteristic of every great athlete. Through continuous practice, good shooters develop their concentration to the extent that they are oblivious to every distraction.

Ability to relax: is closely related to concentration. You often hear great shooters have "ice water in their veins".

Watch a good foul shooter as he approaches the foul line. They usually begin the ritual of adjusting the feet and bouncing the ball (nearly always a set number of times). As his/her eyes open wide in sighting the basket, the concentration is so intense, there is little wonder that he/she is undisturbed by the crowd or game pressures.

That is a gut certainty the ball will drop through the basket without touching metal. Although a good shooter never takes a shot that he/she is not confident he/she will make, they often miss.

Therefore, the probability of making any given shot is somewhat less than 100% which his/her confidence leads one to expect. Clearly, then, when we say, "Don't shoot when in doubt," we have something different in mind than we do when we say, "Don't take a low-percentage shot except in desperate circumstances."

There are reasons why a player might lack confidence when confronted with a shooting opportunity having a good statistical probability of success. He/she may be off balance. He/she may have had his/her confidence shaken by a string of misses, or he/she may be overly tense, or tired, or may have a lapse in concentration. 

As Coaches like to say, "One often contributes to the other." Every player experiences off nights when nothing works. An equally familiar phenomenon is that a player's returning to peak form in the second half after a miserable first half. This ability to make a mental recovery is like the ability some players have of recovering in mid-air after an off-balance take-off.

A lot of things in sports depend on motivation. In the career of each basketball player, the motivation for achievements plays a large role. Each player possesses the ability to be anxious about bad shooting results and vice versa to rejoice in the achievements.

The worst shooters in the world think about making it when they shoot. While it is important to be positive when shooting, a player needs to focus on the process and not the outcome. Coaches often tell their players, “Be positive and think of making it.” In reality, this is the worst thing they can think about.

Are you afraid to shoot a basketball – just shoot it!

At first, will be very hard psychologically. You will be upset when it does not turn out. But each successful attempt will bring you into extraordinary delight and will motivate you to work on yourself further! 

Many of us witnessed more than once how the athlete started fighting against the fear and very quickly “began to enjoy” and started doing actively what earlier for some reason to do was afraid.

Coaches often preach “team goals”, but often fail to ever discuss “individual goals.” While basketball is a team game, each player needs to have personal goals that will inspire and motivate him. There are two types of goals a player must constantly employ to remain focused:

SHORT-TERM GOALS and LONG-TERM GOALS

Short-term goals can last from a couple of days to as long as an entire basketball season. These are goals for immediate needs. Short-term goals can be for statistics (points per game, rebounds per game, free throw percentage) or can be taking a negative action and forming it into a positive one. An example of this would be if you have a terrible shooting release and you give yourself a short-term goal of training for one week to correct it.

A long-term goal is intended for players seeking an enduring commitment to basketball. These goals can last from a year to an entire college and professional career. Long-term goals can focus on certain shooting aspects. A perfect example of this would be a player setting two years aside to become a great shooter. Long-term goals also include the level of play you wish to one day achieve at (high school varsity, college, and or professional).

• I can get better. I haven’t reached my ceiling yet on how well I can shoot the basketball. Steph Curry
• I want to practice to the point where it's almost uncomfortable how fast you shoot, so that in the game things kind of slow down. Steph Curry
• I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan
• I don't know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if somebody - somewhere - was practicing more than me. Larry Bird
• What makes me a selfish player? Because I shoot the ball? I'm supposed to shoot the ball. That's how you score points. Those points go on the scoreboard for the whole team. Reggie Miller
• When people say God blessed me with a beautiful jump shot, it really pisses me off. I tell those people, 'Don't undermine the work I've put in every day.' Not some days. Every day. -Ray Allen
• It comes down to consistency-if you want to be a great shooter, you have to shoot the same way every time. Ray Allen
• Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God's way to say nobody's perfect. Shaquille O'Neal