As players enter the offseason, it's important to reflect on the season that passed. What went well? What didn't?

After reflecting on what was, you should start to think about what's to come. What are your goals for next year? And what do you need to do to achieve them?

Almost every player wants to score more and play more. That's a good thing.

Coaches want players who can score the ball. Those players who can score tend to be the ones who can play.

One of the best ways to earn more playing time (or get recruited) is to become an elite shooter. If you can shoot, your coach will find a way to get you on the floor.

That alone should be motivation to get to work!

Here's a couple other thoughts to keep in mind as you enter the off-season.

First, shooting is something you can improve by yourself.

If you have a ball and a basket, you can become a better shooter. That should empower you as it's within your control!

Second, shooting is largely a matter of repetition.

If you shoot more, you will become a better shooter. This is true even if you don't have perfect form. Repetition matters. With that in mind, the earlier you start working on your shooting, the better.

Third, if you do need to tweak your mechanics, now's the time.

Most players don't have the patience to alter their shot.

That's largely because it's hard. You may get worse before you get better. But if you keep the bigger picture in mind, it will be worth it. And if you start now, you have more than enough time to ingrain your new habits.

With that said, let's get to work!

Here are some tips to help you become an elite shooter...

9 Tips To Become An Elite Shooter

1 - Take Your Spurs Shooting Vitamins

The San Antonio Spurs talk a lot about daily vitamins.

Daily vitamins are unique daily drills their players do to reinforce the skills and habits that each specific player needs.

Part of this would be shooting. So you could call these your shooting vitamins.

Your shooting vitamins might be primarily form shooting drills.

For instance, maybe you use your guide hand thumb on your shot. You might do a couple minutes of drills at the start of each shooting session that prevent you from using that thumb.

To do this, you first need to know which vitamins to take. There are a couple ways you can do this.

You can film yourself. If you do this, film from various angles. Analyze your shot for potential issues. If you're not sure what you're looking at, show your coach.

Have your coach take a look at your shot live or on film and give you feedback. Then use that to guide your shooting vitamins.

Then start each shooting session with drills that address those issues.

With that said. . .

2 - Don't Overdo Form Shooting

Yes, you should take your shooting vitamins. But that should only be a short part of your shooting workouts.

Too many players overdo form shooting right at the basket. This comes from a good place. They think this is going to hone their form.

If you're exceeding more than 5 to 10 minutes of form shooting, you're probably doing too much.

Here's the problem - the way you shoot during form shooting is not how you shoot in games.

Think about it. If you're three feet from the rim in a game, are you shooting a normal shot? Probably not. You're probably using a finishing move you've worked on.

Also, is the form you use from three feet the same as the form you use from eighteen feet? No. . . from three feet you don't really need to bend your knees at all. Your shot is all upper body. That's not the case when you move back.

That's why too much form shooting may minimize your improvement.

Now form shooting does have a place in habit formation. It's a great way to develop your shooting technique or focus on a specific flaw. That's where your shooting vitamins come in.

But you want to keep the form shooting part of your workout short. Five to ten minutes should suffice.

Then get to the meat of your workout where you use other shooting drills.

Next, you should...

3 - Have A Plan

As a coach, it's a big pet peeve to see players come in and just mindlessly shoot around.

Is that better than not shooting at all? Sure. But is it maximizing your time? I don't think so.

The best shooters have a plan. JJ Reddick's routine every Sunday for 13 years revolved around making exactly 342 shots.

The point is not the exact number of makes. The point is that he had a routine that he stuck to. He came in with a purpose.

There are dozens if not hundreds of shooting workouts available online. In fact, you can get 7 really good shooting workouts here. Finding the workout is not the issue. Having one is.

Be intentional about your work.

And...

4 - Make Your Plan Fit Your Game

Speaking of pet peeves, you don't have to search social media too hard to see players working on shots they would never shoot in a game.

You probably know what I'm talking about. The double between the legs to a step back, side-step fadeaway 3. While this might look cool to some, it's largely a waste of time (apologies to Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving).

Why spend your time working on shots you'll never shoot in a game? Some trainers would argue those drills help by overloading players, making the simpler game shots they'll get easier.

I have my doubts about that, but that's beside the point here. If you want to get better at the guitar, you play the guitar. If you want to get better at drawing, you draw.

Basketball is no different.

If you want to get better at the shots you take in games, practice the shots you take in games.

For most of you, that will be catch and shoot 3's and shots off straight line drives. A few of you may also incorporate more off the dribble shots.

Whatever it is you do in games, make that the bulk of your plan.

That's not to say you can't try and add things to your game. You can. But that should be the dessert of your workout, not the main course.

As a kid, I remember doing the Steve Alford shooting workout. The majority of the workout was based around catch and shoot. But there was one drill called "Creative Shooting" where you could work on shots you might not be ready to take in games yet.

That structure made sense to me. You have the chance to work on those next level shots. But the focus is on the shots you get in games.

Additionally...

5 - Balance Quality and Quantity

I recently had a player tell me he went to the gym and shot 1400 shots on The Gun. I was impressed by his dedication. I was skeptical if it was the best way to work on his shot.

The offseason is a great time to balance quality and quantity.

Quality means taking game shots at game speed.

These are shots that often involve a cardio aspect.

For instance, these might be shots where you start at half court, sprint in to the wing and shoot a 3. Or you might start under the rim, sprint to the wing and fade to the corner for a 3. If those are shots you shoot in games, they should be part of your plan.

If you are shooting 4-5 days a week, 2-3 of those could be quality days. On those days, you are taking game shots at game speed.

These workouts will involve less shots. Maybe on those days you take 150-250 shots, but you're doing so under game-like conditions.

Those workouts should last no more than an hour. If you are working at game speed, that's more than enough time.

The other 1-2 days could be quantity days. These might be days where you shoot 400-600 shots.

If you have access to a Gun or Dr. Dish, even better. On these days, you won't be taxing your aerobic system, so you can shoot more shots in the same amount of time.

Both types of workouts have their place. Utilize both to become the best shooter you can be.

6 - Track Your Shots

Of all the tips we'll cover, this one may be the most important.

There is a famous saying that says "What gets measured, improves." This is so true!

Think of other areas of life. People who want to manage their money better keep a budget. People who want to get stronger record their sets and reps. People who want to lose weight use a scale to track their progress.

Shooting is no different. The best shooters track their shots.

It's super simple, but it's not easy. It takes work. But that's kind of the point - if it was easy, anyone could do it.

This is how you can get a huge advantage over your competition.

Every offseason, I challenge our players to make 10,000 shots. They have to record their makes every Sunday on a google form.

Between 10-20% of our players actually do it. While I wish this number was higher, this is not terribly surprising. You must have discipline to track.

One of our players tracked every single shot last offseason...

He made over 27,000 shots, which is an incredible amount.

This year, he's averaging 19 ppg as a sophomore and shooting 45% on 3's. That's not a coincidence.

It's easier to just go in and shoot. Or, you might actually have a plan but still not record. Both of those are suboptimal paths to development.

When you track, you see your improvement.

You can see that over time, your accuracy on certain shots has improved. Or, if it hasn't, you can analyze why.

Regardless, you are getting valuable information.

It's also a confidence builder. When you see your percentages increasing and you see the amount of shots you've made, you can't help but become more confident.

You know how important the mental side of shooting is. So give yourself that boost!

Some like to track on a phone. Others prefer a notebook. That doesn't matter. What does matter is that you do it.

7 - Use Multiple Types of Footwork - Hop and 1-2 Step

If you search the 1-2 step versus the hop, you will get hundreds of videos and articles advocating for one type of footwork or the other.

The truth is it's not an either-or proposition. It's a both-and situation. The best shooters can shoot using multiple types of footwork.

For you to truly be an elite shooter, you have to be able to get your shot off quickly in different situations. No two shots (except free throws) are the same.

Thus, it's important to be able to execute more than one type of footwork. Some shots will be easier with the hop. These might be shots where you catch and shoot with your shoulders facing the rim.

Other shots will be easier with a 1-2 step. For many, this will be shots off screens where you are squaring your body. The 1-2 step allows you to pivot into the shot on your first step.

Another area where the 1-2 step is preferable is shots off the dribble. Using a 1-2 step is usually quicker than a hop or jump stop.

You might even find that the footwork used is player specific.

You might have one player that prefers to hop off of cuts from the basket to the perimeter and another that prefers a 1-2 step.

The bottom line is being good at both gives you options. In games, that's what you want.

So, when you practice, make sure your workouts incorporate both types of footwork. Speaking of options . . .

8 - Increase Your Shooting Range

In today's game, almost everyone shoots 3's. If you aren't there yet, continue working to become a good 3-point shooter.

If you are already making 3's with consistency, move back. There are some coaches who will disagree with this. If your coach is one of them, you should do what they ask.

However, being able to shoot with extended range will open up your game.

First, with more range comes more shooting opportunities. Many defenses use the three-point line as a landmark for how they guard. If you can regularly make shots from a couple of steps beyond the 3-point line, you will get more open shots.

Second, the threat of your range will open up other scoring opportunities. On offense, the name of the game is space. The less space the defense has to defend, the easier for them.

By expanding your range, you will make your defender guard you further from the basket. This will create bigger openings on the court for cuts and driving opportunities.

Think of Steph Curry. Because his defender always thinks he has to be right on him, Steph is regularly able to drive to the rim for layups. This despite not being an elite jumper for the NBA level.

Expanding your range takes work. As mentioned in part 1, the shooting motion you use from three feet is different from the shooting motion you use from 15 feet. Likewise, the form you use from 15 feet will be different than the form you use from 23 feet.

Thus, you have to practice shooting deep shots. YouTube has multiple videos of Dame Lillard shooting 35-40 foot shots in drills. That's why he's able to do it in games.

He has learned how to efficiently generate force from long distances. You will, too, if you make it part of your routine.

9 - Bring a Friend For Contested Shots and 1v1 Play

In the first part of this series, we said one great thing about shooting is you can improve by yourself.

While that's true, consider finding a workout partner.

There are a couple of benefits to that. First, it's great for your motivation. Having someone to work with is great for accountability. You and your partner can help keep each other focused.

It's also great for competition. You can compete against each other in your shooting drills.

Another benefit is you can do drills with a partner that make your shots more game-like and even use 1v1 drills.

It would be great if every shot you took was a wide-open, uncontested shot. But we know better.

Working with a partner allows you to simulate defense. This can be done in many ways.

The most common way is having your partner contest your shots by running out from the rim. This is an important thing to practice. It is common in games for the defense to close out on shooters and contest.

Practicing that shot helps you block out the distraction of the contest come gametime.

However, that's not the only type of contest you'll see. Two others should be practiced as well.

First, have your partner contest from the side.

This is common when shooting off screens. For shooters who haven't practiced against that contest, it can be distracting. All contests are not the same. The side contest is different than the straight-on contest and should be practiced.

You should also practice against the rearview contest.

This is when the defender is behind you and is trying to get back into the play and block or alter your shot. To do this, put yourself closer to the hoop than the defender. Have them come from behind to try and bother your shot.

Practicing with a partner is a must if you want to make your shots more game-like. You will learn to tune out the distraction of your defender and focus solely on making the shot.

Conclusion

There is not one perfect shooting workout. So don't waste your time trying to find something that's perfect.

Instead, focus on incorporating good habits into your offseason shooting work. The 9 we've covered are a great start.

If you follow those steps, you can't help but improve. Ray Allen, one of the greatest shooters in the history of the game, once said "Great shooters are not born, they are made."

Time to get to work!

Also, if you're ready to improve your shooting ASAP, here are some great resources to help you become an elite shooter...

Breakthrough Basketball Shooting Camps

Breakthrough Shooting System and Workouts

What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...

Comments Most Likes First   Oldest First   Newest First steve says: 2/14/2024 at 1:01:17 PM Totally agree with the above especially the comments about form shooting. On thing I think is missing is that shooters need to have some practice with a cooperative defender (i.e. shoot with a defender closing out or or even with someone standing in front of the shooter). Good article. Like   1 reply   login   register Joseph Haefner says: 2/23/2024 at 11:18:23 AM This is a great point, Steve. We just added the third part of the article which includes this as well! Like     login   register

Leave a Comment Name : Email (not published) : Three times two is equal to?  (Prevents Spam) Answer :  Load New Question Comments : Leave this Blank :