Best Teaching Of Basketball Shooting - Great Drills, Techniques And Word Usage

Dick Baumgartner's Basketball Shooting Camp

Where Great Shooters Are Made Not Born.

Camp Information:

Basketball Instructional & Training DVDs & Videotapes: 3 point shooting; Best free throw; Low post moves & shots; Dribbling; Individual boy's workout; Individual girl's workout; Shooting off pass; Pull-up jump shooting; Moves and shots

Teaching methods & qualifications for teaching basketball shooting

The purpose of this section on teaching basketball shooting
This section on teaching has been written to help players, coaches, and parents to better understand the teaching methods and background of our basketball shooting camp. If you read all the way through this section you will realize what we believe it takes to teach basketball shooting well.

In our teaching we show, explain, and drill. Our station and individual one-on-one instruction is special and the very best. Don`t be fooled by any gimmicks, these methods with a lot of repetition is what gets great results.

Coach Baumgartner has worked with over 50,000 player`s shots. He also has lectured and drilled players for the last 34 years at his basketball camps. He coached teams for 20 years before the shooting camps. With this experience his shooting drills, techniques, and word usage are the best. His techniques work well with players ( boys or girls ) of different ages and skills.

One of the general teaching rules to follow is always keep your teaching very simple. It is good for the instructor to have a good understanding of all parts of basketball shooting and other offensive fundamentals, but they must be presented in a very simple way. Shooting techniques, drills, and word usage when constructed correctly, will to a high degree automatically put a player into the correct shooting mechanics.

Information on what it takes to teach basketball shooting well
To teach over-all shooting well, the instructor must truly understand the breakdown of outside shooting, free throw shooting, and pulling-up and shooting. With this understanding he or she then will be able to construct team and individual drills that will make it simple for players to learn the mechanics of shooting well and easily.

Balance
Another important rule when teaching basketball shooting is to keep the player balanced while he or she is learning some particular part of shooting. Players will learn easier and faster if balanced while learning basketball fundamentals. Always keep the player balanced when teaching shooting and other offensive fundamentals.

To balance a player well and easily, an instructor must thoroughly understand proper footwork, and correct head-body position.

Players who attend the Dick Baumgartner Shooting Camp leave knowing how important balance is in executing a shot. Our instructors at camp are continually stressing techniques which balance a player. Players definitely leave our shooting camps knowing what to do to stay balanced when shooting a basketball.

Teaching in a simple way
With an understanding of all parts of shooting (grip, shooting pocket, arm alignment, etc.), plus an understanding of balance, and basic principles of motion a shooting instructor can then do a great job of teaching shooting.

Again, an instructor should use this knowledge to develop very simple techniques, simple drills, and simple word usage so a player can learn easily and quickly. The last thing an instructor should do is "tie up" a player with too many details. An instructor should know and understand the details of shooting. but teach in a very simple way. A player who thinks a lot about mechanical parts of the shot while shooting will not shoot the basketball well.

Principles of motion
It is also good for a shooting instructor to understand the principles of motion. An example of a principle of motion would be rotary momemtum. This is caused by the beginning foot position of the shooter. If the feet are positioned in a certain way when a player leaves the floor his body will rotate or twist in the air. Of course this rotating makes it more difficult to control different parts of the shot well which lead to inconsistency in shooting.

Rotary momemtum is understood by divers and is used properly when executing dives.

Incorrect foot and body position
The following is an example where some shooting instructors have not followed the principles of motion. They have taught that the shooting foot should be forward with the body turned toward the basket. This sets up incorrect footwork with the feet turned. When this footwork and body procedure is practiced a lot, the habit is then carried over into shooting on-the-move. With this footwork procedure the body will turn in the air when the player pushes up and leaves the floor. This twisting or rotating in the air leads to inconsistent shooting when on-the-move.

One well known shooting instructor who used this shooting foot out-body turned procedure had to compensate with a different footwork placement when he shot on-the-move. To stop the twisting of the body, he did a 1-2 stop with the shooting foot behind when he left the floor. Using a method where a player has to use correction procedures for certain shots is not advisable.

When a shooting instructor goes against a principle of motion it rarely turns out well. This footwork and body alignment procedure described above also at times affects distance and angle of arm on release.

At the Dick Baumgartner Shooting Camps we are aware of principles of motion and use them correctly in constructing our drills and techniques.

Players too weak
There is a statement made by some shooting instructors which makes me believe that they do not truly understand the breakdown of shooting, balance, and principles of motion. The statement is that the player is "too weak" to execute this part of the shot or "too weak" to shoot from that distance.

Why can some 5th and 6th grade boys and girls get the ball to the basket from the 3 pt line and other 5th and 6th graders can`t? The answer is that the 5th and 6th graders getting the ball to the basket from the 3 pt. line will be executing the parts of the shooting more correctly. They will be more sound fundamentally in their shooting.

Creating power in shooting
A shooting instructor needs to know what a player needs to do to develop more power in a player`s shooting. If he or she knows this then it is easier to construct drills and use techniques which develops more range.

Power in shooting comes from:

Leg Power
Leverage Of Arm Power
Fingers And Wrist Power
Correct body position
Releasing The Ball At The Correct Time

When the above 5 things are used and executed correctly the 5th and 6th grade players will have enough power to get the ball to the basket from the 3 pt line. It is the shooting instructor`s job to develop drills and techniques where the player will automatically with practice get the ball to the basket. Remember the power from the legs, leverage of arms, correct body position, and power from fingers and wrist must be put into the releasing of the ball at the correct time. This needs to be done in a very simple way through very good drills, techniques, and word usage.

Releasing the basketball
Releasing the ball at the correct time is one of the most important parts of shooting. This is when a player gets into a "zone" in shooting. All the body parts are working correctly and the player is releasing the ball at the correct time on each shot. This can also be expressed as great timing all- the- way through the shot.

The analogy in golf would be striking the ball at the correct time. Again, this is when all the parts of the body are perfectly synchronized when the player makes contact with the golf ball.

At the Dick Baumgartner Shooting Camps we have very good drills and techniques to help a player release the ball at the correct time. When the correct fundamentals of shooting are used a player will automatically release the ball at the correct time. We can easily help a player get the ball to the basket from the 3 pt. line at our camps

Repetition for learning
Repetition as everyone knows is very important in teaching and learning something well. Of course, it is also very important that you are repeating something correctly when doing it over-and-over. The better your new habits are developed, the better you will react to strong competition and quickness of movement.

If something new hasn`t been practiced enough, the old habits will come back against strong competition and quickness of movement.

Remember, practice with a lot of repetition is essential in learning something well. Develop that muscle memory so you will react correctly against any situation that you face.

Teaching what the great players do
We teach at our shooting camps what the good and great players are doing. Coach Baumgartner continually checks out his techniques, drills, and word usage through individual lessons, camp drilling, one-on-one instruction at camp, and watching the very good college and pro players. Through these experiences he knows what is correct and incorrect and is able to give the players who attend his camps the very best shooting techniques, shooting drills and one-on-one shooting instruction.

Teaching other offensive fundamentals
We also do a very good job of teaching other offensive fundamentals. Our drills, techniques, and word usage in teaching dribbling,driving and finishing, etc. would be second to no one.

Choosing a basketball shooting camp
Choose a camp where you know a lot of players are attending each year. There will be a reason that players attend a particular camp year after year. They come to our basketball shooting camp each year because we have helped thousands of players with their shooting and over-all offensive game in the last 31 years. We are very proud of the fact that over 62,000 players have attended our basketball shooting camps in the last 31 years. We have been existence longer than any shooting camp in the U.S.

Pick a camp where you know the drilling and one-on-one instruction is very good. Also check number of games played because players like game action. We provide 3 games a day along with our drilling and one-on-one instruction. Plan on attending the best offensive camp in the country.