How To MAKE MORE Three Pointers (The ULTIMATE Shooting Transformation Guide)

Do you struggle with consistency as a shooter or do you struggle to make shots at all? Whether that's in practice or in games, Especially as you move back past beyond the three point line, Maybe you're just trying to expand your range in general, get more comfortable shooting from farther back and you're lost, you don't know what to do, or you're confused on what you need to do to take yourself to that next level of the shooter. I want to start off by saying that shooting is by far the most important skill in basketball and if you can't shoot the ball comfortably consistently, that should be your number one focus. This is one of the biggest struggles for so many players that I talk to. And in this video I'm going to give you the step by step process to go from where you are, whether you're a bad shooter, a decent shooter, to getting where you want to get to, which is a great shooter. I'm going to give you the step by step blueprint to do that. Before we get into that, I have a weird question for you. Have you ever seen this picture before? It actually has a ton to do with becoming a great three point shooter. So remember this, we're going to talk about this later. Now I'm going to walk you through exactly how to become a better three point shooter. And stay tuned to the end of the video because I'm going to explain exactly how you can become a consistent in game shooter and take your perimeter scoring ability to the next level. Let's get into it. So first let's talk about a couple form keys that I think are really important. And the first thing is what your hands are doing. This can vary a little bit for every player, but here's a huge mistake that I see in a really big misconception that I want to dispel. Now people say you want to have your hand in the middle of the ball and that's true. But a lot of times the way that you hold the ball is a little bit off to the side. So when players try and hold the ball directly in the middle, looking from the top down, they're actually holding it on the side when they actually go up into their shot. And that's why you have a lot of players who will shoot with weird spins because their hand isn't placed in the center of the basketball. So a lot of times you want to have your hand actually off a little bit to the side of the ball when you're holding it here. But in reality when you go up with it, it Actually will be in the middle of the ball. So that also means that your guide hand doesn't need to be directly on that side. You can shift it a little bit towards the back, and then as you go up, you'll actually have the ball with that shooting hand in the center and then that guide hand actually on the side. So try getting your hands a little bit wider on the ball. A lot of times it's going to make it feel a lot more comfortable for you. The other area that players struggle with is their release. So I want to give you guys a couple guidelines to look at, and this can really help you to have a more consistent release and make more shots. So the first thing we need to is find the air hole on the ball. So every ball is going to have an air hole. And again, this is personal preference. But for me, I like to split that air hole with my first finger, my middle finger. That's how I know that my hand is directly in the center of the basketball. Again, I've got this guide hand off a little bit too, almost towards the back of the ball, when in reality it is on the side. But if I know that I have my hands there splitting that air hole, I know that this is the center of the ball. So now my goal is that my last two fingers to come off that ball are going to be those two fingers. Because now I know that I'm shooting it straight, coming through the middle of the basketball. So I want you to do this. Just practice with the ball, find that air hole and shoot the ball to straight up in the air. And work on focusing on having those last two fingers coming off of the ball last right there. And I really like to get that pointer finger down almost in a ascending order like that, because then I know that these two fingers are probably directing that ball, if that's where my follow through at the end with those fingers down. So try that out, see what feels best for you, and then rep it until it starts to feel comfortable. Now let's talk about another huge key, which is energy transfer. And this is a big reason why a lot of players struggle to shoot from farther back. When I shoot the ball, all that I'm doing is transferring energy from the ground through my body into the wall so I can get it to the basket. Okay. But if there's a break in that energy transfer, then we're not going to be able to do that. And it's really going to be difficult for you to shoot from farther back and do it consistently at a high level. So all that you want to think here is ball going first, meaning that when I'm down into my shot, the first thing that's going to move is the ball. Because now I know I can transfer that energy up through my body, and it's going to get to the ball. But if I were to go body up first and then the ball, now I have no energy to actually put into the basketball, it's gonna be really hard for me to shoot it from farther away. So the first thing we're gonna do just to emphasize this point, is what I call ball raises. You're gonna get down into that shooting stance like you're catching the ball. And all we're gonna do is focus on keeping our body at the same level, but that ball is gonna raise. You think about bringing it up like thumb to your forehead. Body is staying at the same level, but that ball is going up just so we can really start to feel that ball moving first. And the next thing we're going to do to emphasize this is called the 1, 2 through drill. So all that I'm going to do is imagine, like, I'm getting a pass, and I'm almost reaching out for it. So if that pass is coming to me, I'm going to get it and bring it to my body here. That's my one position here, just straight out like that. Hands on the ball, just like we talked about. Hand placement right where I want it. And then from there, I'm going to get to my two, which is just right down to my shooting pocket. And then my through is going to be ball and then up, right? So we're adding in that ball raise. I'm in my two position going up first, and then my body goes. But now we're just adding that one and two before that. So I'm here in my one, I'm dropping down to my two, and then it's up, through, like that here, up with that. That's a great way for us to emphasize being able to have that good energy transfer by having that ball move first. So another area that's critically important as a shooter is your feet and being in control of your feet. And something that can really help you to feel more under control and allow you to transfer energy better off of the catch is being able to get to a quick hop into your shot. So all that means is, if I have that pass coming to me, I'm able to hop off my outside foot, land on two feet, and then go up into my shot. What that's going to Allow me to do is, is get that little bit of that stretch shorting cycle and get a little bit of energy return up into my shot as opposed to stepping one, two, not necessarily wrong, but this is a really good way to be on balance, under control and able to again use that energy coming into our shot, which is really going to help, especially when you're farther back. So again, all of that is that pass is coming and I'm off that outside foot, up into two, let's say I'm in place, can be the same thing off of one of my feet, landing on two up into my shot, I'm going up towards my left, same thing up off one, landing on two up into my shot. So we can first get comfortable with this. In the mid range you can just throw the ball to yourself. You have a passer, they can throw it to you. But getting really comfortable with that footwork going up into that shot. Once we do that, we can back up three point line with it off that outside foot, landing on two up into that shot. So let's talk about important actions that you need to master if you want to be a great shooter. The first one is being able to shoot coming off of a relocation. Usually on a driving kick, you're either relocating maybe down towards the corner or up towards the wing, or from the wing to the top of the key, but you're essentially moving and being able to move laterally. Catch that ball like we're just looking at hopping off that outside, landing on two. Super common action that you need to be able to shoot off if you want to be a great shooter. The next type of action is that extra pass or that one more pass where maybe you're in the corner and the ball gets kicked out to the wing and they swing it down to you for one more pass. So being able to catch, make that turn from the side and go into that shot, we're being able to step into it from that side pass. The next action is a pin down. So being able to go from inside the three point line, sprinting out, maybe it's coming off of a down screen, sprinting out behind three point line, being able to turn, catch that ball, go into that shot and then the next one is coming off of transition. So being able to run in transition, catch that ball and it gets kicked ahead or drive kicked out to you, being able to knock down that shot as well, those are all actions that are super common. If you can get good at doing that, you're going to be a good shooter from behind the three point line. Now, once we have those foundational pieces down with our form and we understand what our feet should look like and how to best maximize our energy transfer and all that sort of stuff, the thing that you really have to understand is that it takes reps. We have this amazing ability to do what's called self organization, which basically just means that we can adjust and correct ourselves when we do something over and over again. But you only give yourself this opportunity to self organize. If you get enough reps and you fail enough that you give yourself a chance to have to make corrections. Let's say you keep on missing to the left. If you continue to shoot over and over and get those reps of, eventually you figure out how to not miss the left. And now when you're in a game and you miss a shot to the left, you know how to fix that. But the only way you get to a point where you can build that sort of ability to be resilient and be a problem solver as a shooter is if you get up a ton of reps where you're having to overcome that over and over again until it becomes ingrained in you. You build that confidence that you can figure it out no matter what happens to you in the context of the game. This ability to self organize is truly how you become a master of a skill. Or if you want to be confident as a shooter, you have to do this and you have to get reps even when it means that you're going to miss a lot of shots. Missing shots isn't bad because it gives you an opportunity to fix it so that when you get to games, you're able to do that as well. So many players told me that they feel inconsistent with their shot. They're great one day and they make everything, and the next day they're awful and can't make anything at all. And the simple answer to them when it comes to how to build consistency is shoot more. You have to do it more, you have to work on it more. That's how you're going to build that level of consistency again. You're going to be able to figure out why you're missing. Okay, what kind of misses is it? Are they long misses? Are they flat? Are they left, right? And eventually, if you just focus on figuring it out and doing it more, you learn how to not miss that way, you learn how to correct yourself. And then you're going to get into a game and instead of having a whole game where every shot you shoot misses left or Misses flat. You're able to adjust after a couple reps because you've done it so many times over and over and over again. That's how you build a level of consistency. So if you feel like you're not as good a shooter as you want to be, or you struggle with consistency, the answer is get more reps, get more reps, get more reps. This compounded effect takes time and the more you do it, the better you're going to be. And that's how you build true confidence as a shooter to make shots in games. Now let's talk about how you can become not just a great shooter in workouts or in practice, but a great shooter in games. The first thing is variable practice. So not shooting the same shot over and over and over again all the time. Meaning your shooting workout doesn't look like okay, five spots in the mid range. I make 20 at first spot, 20 the next spot, next, next, next. And I do the same thing with three and that's my entire workout. That doesn't look game like at all because in a game you're rarely shooting the same shot twice in a row. Even if I'm going to shoot from the corner every time, can I mix up the type of shot that it is? Maybe the first time it's a pin down getting up to the corner and the next time I'm relocating to the corner and the next time I'm back pedaling and the next time I'm standstill. Now I'm able to make those reps variable and that's going to translate to better in game success. The second key is to add challenge to your shooting. So if you feel like things are easy, finding ways to make it more difficult. And I did a video talking about this, I'll link that above. Make sure you check that out after this video where I go more in depth into that. But finding ways to make yourself struggle more in shooting, that's how you become better at something when you have something to overcome. Like I said earlier, having to self organize and figure something out. The more you can force yourself to do that by adding challenge to your shooting workouts, the better you're going to be. And then the third thing is working on this against defense. So for those of you who have people who you can work out with different sorts of small sided games, for example, a game where you're relocating and then someone throws a pass and someone's closing out to you and to hit that shot with a closeout coming, if you don't have that just whenever you're playing pickup or two on two, three on three, forcing yourself to shoot the ball as much as you can. So you're working on being able to shoot with a closeout coming, being able to shoot off of different movements, being able to shoot after you just played defense for 30 seconds. That's a really important part of making sure that you translate what you're working on to the actual game, is working on it in the context of a real game with defense. Now we're going to go through a quick workout that you can do to solidify in these foundational pieces so you can become a better shooter. Let's hop into it. First thing we're going to do is ball raises. So like we talked about earlier, we're getting down into that shooting position. Only thing that's moving is the ball. So I'm raising the ball, working on being able to move that ball first before my body goes. So I'm just repeating back and forth. This is also a good opportunity for you to work on that hand placement and get comfortable with us. And finding that air hole, splitting it, getting that hand more towards the back of that ball almost down. And I'm up into those ball raises. Now we're going to go with our 1, 2 through drill. Again. Finding that hand placement where I want my hands on that ball, finding that air hole and splitting it. Then I'm getting to that one position straight out in front of me, dropping down to that two. Notice how my feet are almost. Almost hopping a little bit. We're kind of replacing my feet. You hear that noise right there? You want to make sure that you're doing that. So I get a little bit of that bounce back that we talked about with that, with the hops. I'm out here dropping my 2 up into my through. My goal is to shoot that ball straight up in the air and have it land just right on that line, so I know that I'm shooting it straight. So again, if you see it from the side here, finding where I want my hands placed, one down to my two up into that through. Now we do the same thing, but we're going to start off close to the basket and actually shoot the ball. Now. Finding where I want my hands there. And then that one drop into my two, up into my through, out in that one dropping ball goes up first through. And you can choose whether or not you want to jump on these with that one, two up into that through. So right here we're going with paint jumpers, but we're going to work on that ability to hop off that outside, landing on two on the catch. So everything is going to come in this rectangle from volleyball line to free throw line just about. So I'm just going to toss the ball up to myself and get to a little bit of a slide, almost like a relocation where I'm hopping off that outside, landing on two and then up into my shot. And you're just going to repeat that. You can throw the ball kind of far, you can throw it where you're only moving a little bit into that hop off that outside. But you're going to mix it up back and forth. Really getting comfortable with being able to replace those feet off that outside footstep. We're going to work on that same concept. We're going to back up a little bit and go in the mid range now so you can be wherever you want throughout the mid range. Here you're again just mixing up the direction that you're going. We're going to get into that hop, getting yourself on balance, having good energy transfer, being able to reuse that little bounce back that you get from that hop right up into that shot, Getting myself to that hop off that outside step. You're going to mix this up all throughout the mid range. So now we're going to go three pointers, working relocations essentially now still working on that foot. We're getting comfortable with it getting across. And again you're going to mix it up, starting wherever you want along three point lines. So now we're going to go with pin down and transition, alternate shooting. So what you're going to do for this is every other rep you're going to switch it. So the first rep will just be a pin down. So I'm throwing the ball out, turning, catching it, going up into my shot. On my next rep I'm going to treat it like a transition rep. So coming down, just coming right into that, going off of the catch again, mixing it up all throughout the three point line, all throughout the half course or switching sides, but every single rep changing up between pin down or transition catch and shoot. And now we're going to go this off the cat shooting freestyle. You're going to imagine, I really want you to visualize like you're in different game situations. Everything's going to come off of the catch, but you're just going to mix it up. So for example, I might shoot it like I'm getting a pin down here. Maybe I see pass, you know, ball gets past the wing, someone has to set a down screen for me. And I'm just out here visualizing myself getting that pass through my teammate, going up into my shot. Maybe for the next one I'm treating it like my teammate drove and I'm maybe a little bit inside the report line. So I'm backpedaling space out a little bit and they give me that pass off of that kick. So I'm backpedaling up into my shot. Maybe I can start here and treating it like we have a drive coming and I'm relocating. So now, okay, getting that pass from my teammate, getting up into it can treat it like coming down the court. Maybe the ball's on that side of the floor over there. And I'm sprinting into this transition three on that skip pass here. So I see myself getting that pass, shooting it. Have fun with this. Just visualize yourself hitting game winners, you know, just having fun, enjoying yourself and really put yourself into those game situations. And the last thing we're going to do is deep range shooting. So find that range that's really challenging for you. Maybe for some of you it's a step behind the high school line. Maybe for some of you it's like the volleyball line. Find a range that challenges you and you're just going to shoot shots from there. So what this is going to do is it's going to make the shots closer feel a lot easier. But again, we're challenging ourselves, which is going to start to force us to self organize and correct ourselves and figure it out, which is how we build and expand our capacity to perform. And again, it's going to make everything feel so much easier because that's how you level up your skills by challenging yourself. So find that range that challenges you and we're going to work on shots from that range. If you really commit to doing these things and improving in these different areas, you're going to become a great three point shooter. And again, like I said, it's literally just about being willing to spend the time doing it. So going back to the picture that I was talking about, you have to continue to put the reps in, put the work in. You never know when you're, when it's going to click and you're going to figure it out. You're always like, it always could be that next shot, that next workout. That's why the reps matter so much. You've got to keep going and it compounds and you get better and better over time. So once we have these foundational pieces, put the reps in and I promise you that you're going to become a great shooter. And if you guys want my full shooting program that goes through all this stuff and more, make sure you check out the Elite shooter system down below. Make sure you guys like subscribe and click a link in my description below to get my free Elite per score workout as well. I'll talk to you guys soon. Peace.