Does your jump shot have RHYTHM?

Do you have rhythm? I could never dance but I always rhythm with my jump shot. And just how important is your rhythm? Well, when I finally understood what it meant, I went from an average jump shooter to a player who could hit from almost anywhere. So it is VERY important.

The definition of rhythm is "any measured flow or movement, symmetry", which in short means timing. And when it comes to shooting a basketball, having your legs be in sync with your arms, you can get every ounce of power that your body is capable of.

Now listen, I assume that the audience reading this is smart and is beyond the basics and the "how to's" of a jump shot. So you should understand just how important it is that if your going to master the "jump" part of the jump shot, you have to release the ball at the very top of your jump. Even if your vertical leap is not 40 inches, you can still get an advantage with your 10 inch vertical.

The worst thing that a player can do, and that I did for a long time, is release the ball at any point where you are coming down. I thought that I was releasing it at the top for a long time but eventually came to realize I wasn't and that I needed to find out how to do it.

How I did it

Well it took a long time, but after about a month of spending the first 10-20 minutes of my workout doing this one drill, I was able to REALLY improve my shooting.

The drill was simple. Standing five feet in front of the hoop, I simply bent my knees in shooting form and learned to move my legs in synchronization with my hands.

Hard to visualize? Think of it like this: your legs will bend downward and as you move them to spring towards the hoop, your hands should be moving at the same point.
For this drill you are NOT jumping, so when your legs get to the top of the extension, your hand should be snapping and releasing the basketball.

It sounds so SIMPLE, so basic, that most players will scoff and think that it is the most pointless drill ever devised. Here's why it's not. When I first added this to my shooting warm-ups I didn't see much results. When your body is so used to doing things a certain way it takes a lonnnnng time for it to change, and you have to FORCE it there. But like I said, after a month I noticed that during pick up games and real games that my legs were giving me more and more power to shoot from the three point line and anywhere else. And after two months I could start full out jumping on my shot. From there it was just a matter of working on my foot work and my shot went through the roof.

For us human beings, our legs are SUPER strong in comparison to the rest of our bodies. Let them do the work for shooting the basketball and stop trying to use your arms to power it all the way there.

And please, for god's sake, try adding this drill to your warm up, and stick with it. You never know how it might help you.

Good Luck!

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