Basketball shooting productivity is the concept of how often a player gets a shot that they should get, and the shot results in team points. In the game of basketball being a good shooter is important, but it’s generally not enough. Players need to be able to get open enough to shoot. They need to receive passes in a position to take a shot. They need to be able get their shot off fast enough to not get blocked. If any of things things fail to happen you end up with either no shot, a bad shot, or a blocked shot all of which are not productive. Let’s talk about how to get more productive shots as a team and as a player.
Here’s a graphic i got from DrDish basketball in a message the other day. I’m working right now with my own daughter on the last point, but the whole poster is relevant for this topic. Let’s dig in.
Run the Floor Hard
There are so many advantages to running the floor hard. I’m not going to list them all, but here’s the basics. Running the floor forces your opponent to do the same. If they don’t, then it’ll be an open shot for you or someone else on your team. Often running the floor trailing after a teammates steal results in an offensive rebound after a missed contested layup. If you are running the floor following a defensive rebound or in any transition situation (even following an opponent made shot) you’re making the other team work. You’re spreading the defense out and making them guard more space with the same amount of people. The same 5 defenders have to guard the whole court instead of just half if you run! So run it hard, spread ’em out, make ’em work, and enjoy the bonus opportunities that will naturally follow.
Find Open Space
Whether you are running the court hard or you you are in your half court offense, make sure you find open space. I’ll add to that to be careful not to hide yourself from the the ball as you move to open space. Look for a gap of space on the court and go fill it! Make yourself available.
Cut Hard Off the Ball
When you are off the ball, make sure your cuts are hard. Often players cut, but they cut at half speed, just sort of going through the motions. You want easier shots. Cut hard and quick. Make your defender have to change directions quickly and worry about where you might be if they help off of you. If they help off and you are cutting hard, you will create a lot space / cover a lot of ground so recovery will be difficult.
Be Patient When Using Screens
When a screen is set for you, set up your defender. If you run them into a quality screen and read how the defense plays it correctly it will often set you up for an easy shot. If you don’t set up the defender properly, they’ll just squeeze past the screen and any resulting shots will be far more contested and less productive
Set Solid Screens
Getting teammates open is one of the best ways to get yourself a good shot. If you set solid screens you will almost force a switch by your opponent. This switch should result in a mismatch (or they would have started off that way) and that will lead to good shots. Also, setting a good screen forces the opponent to be out of position most of the time.
Use Shot and Pass Fakes
Using fakes does more than just fake the opponent. It buys you time. And time means a lot for your basketball shooting productivity. Shot fakes sometimes make opponents fly past so you can get take an easy set shot. Pass fakes make an opponent lean (or overplay) just a little one way and give you room to quickly step the opposite direction to get an better look. Fakes are under utilized and are often under coached. Make sure you practice fakes and taking shots off of fakes. Very things feel better than a solid fake that takes your defender and then draining a shot following it.
Work on Your Shot Release Time
A quick release is so valuable for a shooter. The faster a player can get through their shooting motion the less time a defender has to get into position to do something about it. My daughter is a strong shooter. If she has “all day” to shoot she’s going to make it most of the time. Recently she’s moved up a talent level and now she’s playing against players who are more athletic then her previous opponents. They’re more athletic than her in most cases.
They’re faster, they react quicker, and they are more explosive. All of this means that defenders can be the same distance away as before, but they can still challenge her shot. Why? Well, they got faster, but her shot didn’t. So she either has to find a way to get more open (see all the rest of the items in the article) or she’s got to shave some time off her shot release. If you can shoot it 33% faster, and just as accurately, then you are all of a sudden “open” when the defender would have been too close before. A quick release will lead to either you being open more often (because your definition of open literally changed) or it will force defenses to guard you closer – which leads to great things for you and your team. More on that in another article.
In an article i did the other day i provided a short workout players can do individually to become better players as beginners. One of the things in the workout related to ball free form shooting. Just going through your shooting form repeatedly, forward and reverse. If you’re trying to speed up your shot it’s worth some time to go over your form regularly without the ball. This will allow you to solidify your motion, which means less sloppiness when you begin to speed it up.
Conclusion
Boiled down basketball shooting productivity means getting more good shots. The list of tips in the image provided by DrDish are great and I hope you find the extended information about each provided here useful. Keep working!
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