Keys to SHOOTING STANCE
Ever heard to square up when shooting? You probably have. What I say to this is to not follow this dogmatic instruction.
This kind of instruction is so common today. However, don’t replace the meaning of common with effective. We are probably the only ones you will know (and a few others) that will actually go against this conventional wisdom of squaring up during every shots. Have an open-mind and consider the following:
It actually makes alignment more difficult. Squaring up doesn’t allow an accurate set point alignment to happen (unless you plan on aligning with your shoulder for you shots. In that case, good luck). For a one armed aiming sport like basketball and darts, aligning with your dominant (or shooting) eye makes things a lot easier because now you have a natural line leading right to the goal. All you have to do is follow it!
But, aligning with your shooting eye involves one thing: opening up your body! Turn your body so that your shooting hand, eye and ball are aligned with each other. That is how professional dart players do it, and we should follow this too!
In fact, nobody perfectly squares up on most shots! Even great shooters Stephen Curry, Steve Nash and Diana Taurasi may seem like they are squared up, but they are totally not. It’s ridiculous to preach this because it goes against what your body want s to do, which is to have your shooting arm and hand in front, and your non-shooting arm back. It’s a natural position for aiming, and we should allow it, not resist it.
Michael
