Based on my experience, I am finding it more imperative to set the ball early on all my shots now. This has drastically improve the speed of my shots, as well as the arch. I saw such great improvements in my arch, that I can now say confidentally that I can really swish shots on a consistent basis! I’ll break down the science and explanation to you guys, now.
Remember the importance of keeping the same release on all of your shots? If you don’t, read my previous posts. As well, keeping the release a pushing motion, with the elbow locked and wrist relaxed is necessary. Varying the arch of the pushing release is also necessary, instead of using your wrist and fingers to control distance. You will know you are varying the arc of your release to control distance if 1. your arm changes inclination from time to time on your shots, and 2. your elbow is locked and the wrist and fingers are relaxed! Essentially, the goal is to completely minimize the use of the wrist and fingers to control the flight of the ball because this makes shooting difficult. It really does. Keeping the same release (force, too) helps minimize the variability of the release portion of the shot. And this is not just coming straight out of my crazy mouth, too. Follow Coach Tom Nordland‘s opinions and teachings on this too. He backs up EVERYTHING I have to tell you.
Sorry, back to the topic! So, as one goes further away from the basket, power needs to be added to the shot, or else you’ll end up with a player just airballing shots (remember, no power from the wrist and hands!), or trying to push harder. The lather does not again keep the release the same! That’s where power from the legs, or leg drive or UpForce, comes in. That will be the main source of power for shooting, as it is much more powerful and stable than the wrist and finger muscles!
How can you incorporate leg drive to power your shots? The answer is in the title: remember to set early! Setting the ball early allows time for your legs to bend, and then supplement power to your pushing release! If you don’t set early, you will not gather all of the power generated and release through your legs. An analogy to this is like preparing for a famine: if you don’t gather up as much food as you can before a famine starts, you might get hungry later and then starve to death. But if you gather as much food as you can possibly before the famine hits, you might make it through! Set early to take full advantage of the leg drive and to not miss any power coming from it. You don’t really even have to bend and jump hard. Just shoot as early as you can from the entire leg drive you’ve generated.
A few notes of warning, though:
1. Don’t purposely STOP the ball at the set point! This is going to make your shots completely inaccurate (making you miss to the left and right more often) because you’ve disabled inertia by intentionally stopping the ball’s continued movement. Again, I’ve discussed in earlier posts and videos that inertia is your friend for accuracy, as it keeps the ball easily aligned from your set point to the basket. Setting early will feel almost natural and intituitve, not robotic.
2. You don’t have to “remember” to set the ball early once you’ve understood the concept! Once you grasped the concept, just look at the basket and trust your body.
3. Yours shots will be much more higher. If you don’t capture enough of the leg drive, then your shots will not be as high.
4. You will enjoy a good dose of range on your shots! Enjoy it! The man on the top of this post will be mad that I revealed his unknown secret.
Michael
