The following is a low level reproduction of my notes that will hopefully lead to a book someday.  Pictures are not available yet.
 

Conditions for Change

 
Three conditions should exist for the player to produce positive change.
 
1. The player must be willing to change
2. There needs to be a period when the player can accept taking a step backward.
3. There must be constant feedback between the teacher and player.
 
 
The Willing Student 
 
The biggest obstacle to change is accepting that change is necessary. We make our decisions based on how they affect us in terms of pain and pleasure. Does the perceived pleasure of a new, more effective shot outweigh the pain of change? In the case of shot change, the player must deal with an ego that has told the player that he doesn’t need to change. He also must be willing to take a step backwards as a shooter. This is hard when there is an ego to support.
 
In the lessons I give, I charge a fee. When someone is willing to pay a fee for change, they are showing a level of commitment. A coach or parent would hope the player approaches them about wanting change. Good luck, when trying to help a player that isn’t interested in change. I have had many students that were not as motivated to change as their parents wanted them to be. I needed to get results quickly or I would lose them.
 
By getting the player to see more pleasure in change, you can prepare him for instruction. Try talking about goals. How many free throws out of one hundred does he want to make? What kind of shooting percentage does he want? Does she want to be a starter, a star player, a three-point threat, or maybe a player at the next level. If you can push the right button, you will have a much more receptive student.
 
All this talk about pain with change seems, on the surface, to be over-emphasized. How can trying to improve at a game cause pain? I’m not a psychologist, but I do observe people, especially my own children. The younger the student, the less the ego, and the easier it is to accept change. My kids would listen to my every word as if it were law when they were under ten years old. Making positive changes came without resistance. As they got a little older, my suggestions were received with, "If you know so much about shooting, how come you’re not in the NBA?" My oldest boy is sixteen and understandably more interested in what his peers have to say than what I say. When working with this age group, I have to be sensitive to their needs. They don’t like to admit that they need change, and they don’t want their friends to notice a drop-off in their play while they are relearning a new shot. In the MTV generation, the way you shoot a basketball can be considered a personal trademark.
 
Timing Is Everything 
 
Change needs to take place when the student has the opportunity to take a step back without affecting his above mentioned needs. By stepping back, I mean that in order to teach the player new skills, the player will have to temporarily settle for lesser results. During the basketball season is the worst time to expect a player to be receptive. There is too much pressure to stay at their current level of play.
 
 
Time line showing best learning periods 
 
The best time to begin change is immediately after the season ends. This allows the most time for improvement without having to publicly display progress. If this situation is not possible, then a rule for the player should be that whenever you are practicing, use your new shot. During games you will use what comes naturally. In time, the new shot will take over in games.
 
Feedback Is Critical 
 
Books, videos, lecturers, team coaches, and camps have, in varying degrees, one thing in common: They cannot give enough feedback to a player trying to make a positive change in shooting. Books and videos reach the interested player or coach. They are excellent at showing how the shot should be performed. The player must try to copy the pictures or video and hope that what he is doing is actually what he wants. A team coach can learn the skills and teach them to the player. The problem here is that the player needs more feedback than the coach in a team setting can provide. Basketball camps have a tougher time because after the week is over there is no chance for follow-up feedback. It takes more than a week to achieve a habit change in basketball shooting.
 
You may have heard a player being referred to as "unconscious" while hitting shot after shot in a game. Great shooting has to be done from developed habits that don’t require mental preparation during the act. The game moves too fast. Habits formed for this level of use must be ingrained. This takes time, feedback, and success. A one-on-one situation allows the player to get a reaction from the teacher every time a shot is attempted. This is the fastest way to get results.
 

Understanding Habits

  
The Power of Positive Reinforcement 
 
Habits are developed when we receive feedback, either pleasure or pain, from an action that we choose to initiate. When you touch a hot burner, you learn to keep away from it in the future. Doing this with shooting is much more difficult because the pleasure of doing it right isn’t as strong as the pain of the burner.
 
In shooting, the mind receives positive reinforcement whenever the ball goes in the basket. This is why bad habits are formed when young players do whatever it takes to get a large ball into a very high basket. Getting the positive feedback from the made shot is the main objective. The worst thing that can happen to a fundamentally poor shooter is to make baskets. They may be satisfied at the time with the frequency, but as their expectations become higher, the poor habits will limit how much better they can get.
 
Starting Out Right 
 
The ideal way to teach basketball shooting is to take a person before they ever shoot a basket for the first time. Set them up with a ball size and basket height that fits their strength development. Teach the proper form, giving feedback only on correct form rather than basket results. Soon the ball going into the basket will take over, but the habits will be there already. The missed basket will act as an adjustment mechanism that gives the shooter a chance to correct a specific error. An example would be that if the right-handed shooter were to miss consistently to the left, he/she may be letting the right elbow swing outside the shooting line.
 
 
In Defense of Coaches 
 
Coaches have it the hardest. The best laid plans can be reduced to losses if the ball doesn’t go in the basket. Sometimes coaches’ jobs are evaluated by how often the ball goes in. It’s no wonder they look so nervous during a game. Coaches get to work with players that have been using poor fundamentals for years. The coach must teach a dozen players countless fundamentals and game situations. There is just too much to do in a short amount of time. Creating new shooting habits will not happen very often under these conditions. The players need to make an effort during the off-season to improve themselves.
 
 
 
 

The Feel Method

 
 
The "feel method" of learning refers to teaching the mind how to repeat a physical action. A relationship between the mental desired action and the physical feeling of the action must be formed. In other words, the shooter needs to learn how it feels to do the correct action. The shooting teacher must give constant feedback to the student to make this happen. When the player uses correct form, we should give positive feedback, especially if the shot misses. Sometimes we are interested in developing one particular part of the shot. If that is done correctly, let the shooter know it was correct. You could say, "That was perfect. How did it feel to you? Remember that feeling." Have them repeat the action until they can tell a good action from a poor action just by the feel of it. When the student uses the wrong action, say, "That was not correct. Your eyes followed the flight of the ball that time. Let’s try that again." After you have been able to change the habit then reinforce it with positive talk.
 
The Teacher Within 
 
By developing a feeling for the desired action, the player will learn how to coach a positive result from within during solo practice. If the player forgets the feeling of the correct action, then review is necessary with the coach. This is why lessons spread out over time, with practice in between, is essential. In the end, the shooter becomes a self-teacher and the habit is developed.
 
Avoiding Shooting Slumps 
 
Having a good habit does not mean that the desired action will always occur. Sometimes you will find yourself missing shots that you expect to make. Analyze your misses. Look for a pattern that leads back to a part of your shot that can cause the problem. Lets’ say you are missing by hitting the front rim. Your direction is good, so you narrow the problem down to low arch on your shot or simply fatigue in the legs. Try emphasizing the arch on your next shot and check the results. This can be done every time you miss a shot during a game. Quickly analyze the reasons for the miss, then make the correction mentally so that it appears in your next shot. This isn’t supposed to be exact science. It is, however, the best shot you have to make adjustments on the fly in a game situation and avoid a shooting slump.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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The Fundamentals of Shooting

  
As impressionable kids, my friends and I used to imitate the shooting styles of the NBA greats and not-so-greats. We would try to guess who the other was trying to copy. Looking back on it now, we only copied the players with unusual shots. The players with good fundamental shots didn’t stand out as interesting enough to emulate. As long as basketball is played, there will be a number of shooting styles that seem to work for others. Every shooter does the best they can with the physical tools, experiences, and desire that brought them to ...

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