Ethan Khoza breaks down why most shooting practice fails: you train execution alone, but games demand perception and decision-making too. His drill uses a passive defender to force you to read space and choose your shot before you take it.
Chapters
According to the science, this is the most effective way to work on shooting a skill is not just the action. It involves perceiving and then making a decision before you actually make that action. In this drill here, we're working on shooting threes off the dribble. That defender has to start with their hands on their hips, about an arm's length or two arm's lengths away. And they aren't allowed to take their hands off their hips until that offensive player picks the ball up to go into their shot. First, the offensive player has to perceive, so how much space do I have? Where's the defender at? How long is the defender's arms? How quickly can I get the shot off? Then they have to actually make the decision on whether or not they can shoot the ball now, or if they need to create additional space. And then that third part of the actual shot making comes into play. You go through this process every time you shoot the ball in a game, and that's why training this way, where we have all three steps, the most effective way to see your shooting work translated to games.
