Youth Basketball Shooting Drills

There is nothing more satisfying than watching a basketball leave your fingertips with the perfect backspin and arch on its way toward the hoop until you hear the sweet sound of the swish. Like anything else it takes practice to become a good shooter, and though some people have more natural shooting ability than others, shooting drills can help any player improve their shot and become more of a scoring threat. However, no matter how much you practice, if you are simply going through countless repetitions of shooting the ball using poor form you won't be getting much accomplished.

Below are some tips for proper basketball shooting techniques as well as some fun drills for your youth basketball team's practice. You can also find more free basketball skills & drills videos and tutorials online at websites like Weplay.com

Basketball Shooting Fundamentals

* Keep your elbow aligned with your shoulder rather than allowing it to drift off to the right. If you stop and simulate that position right now you'll recognize that the correct alignment will leave your hand and fingertips correctly centered on the ball.

* Square your body up to the hoop. Of course there are times when you cannot be perfectly positioned due to the ebb and flow of the game, but we call those "off balance shots" right? They are impressive when they go in because of the high difficulty level, but they are low percentage opportunities. You need to have your shoulders squared up to the basket and your elbow tucked in.

* Follow through correctly. When you watch good shooters, you will always see them follow through completely with a snapping rather than a pushing motion. You release the ball with a flip of the wrist with your arm fully extended, and this results in the proper backspin. Watch bad shooters and you will see that they invariably do not extend their arms fully or release the ball with that perfect flip of the wrist.

Basketball Shooting Drills

* Wall Drill
This drill is designed to condition your players to focus on form any time they think about shooting the basketball. Your players line up facing a wall in the gym, and you instruct them to aim for a spot on the wall and try to hit it while using proper shooting form. As the ball bounces back they work on catching the "pass" in rhythm, gathering it in, and squaring up and releasing another shot using the correct shooting technique. This is something that players should be encouraged to do on their own as well.

* Bank Drill
When you are close to the basket the backboard can be your best friend. This drill creates touch off the board and allows players to work on improving their off-hand shooting ability. Have players start off about three feet from the basket and utilize perfect form making a bank shot with their shooting hand. Have them shoot ten or fifteen shots and then go to the other side of the basket and do the same with their off-hand. Then they take a couple of steps back and continue repeating the drill from longer distances.

By Trevor Sumner who works for Weplay.com, a youth basketball community dedicated to providing parents, coaches and athletes the tools and information to celebrate the love of the game. Weplay.com has one of the most comprehensive, free basketball drill libraries in its active basketball community.