Some Suggestions For Improving 3 Point Shooting at Any Level

Noticing that the UMaine Mens “United Nations” Black Bears basketball team is continuing having 3 point shooting woes as they went 1 for 12 for 8.3 percent in their Sunday loss to Marist College 94-69 and currently are shooting just around 23% for the season in their 10 D1 games.

Good 3 point shooting teams will shoot around 40-45% in high school or college.

Here are some coaching tips for players and coaches at any level of basketball that should improve 3 point shooting percentages.

1. Make sure the ball goes inside-out….pass to the post and when the double team comes look for the open 3 point shooter.
2. If the player who is open is not a good 3 point shooter then have him/her cut to the basket for an open layup.
3. Most good 3 point shooters who miss usually miss because they hurry their shot. In doing this they usually do not bend their knees enough to get enough legs into the shot.
4. I had a rule that that if my 3 point shooter could not land two feet forward from the 3 point line then they were not to take the shot. Instead they were to pump fake the 3 and then penetrate to the basket as the defender rushed to close him out on the shot.
5. Statistics bear it out that if good 3 point shooters can land forward on the floor the shooting percentages are usually around 45% and this usually happens when the ball goes inside out on an entry pass and back.

On dribble penetration and a kickout the percentage is usually 35% to 40%.

Anything else, running off screens, shooting off the dribble, etc. the percentages drop to 25% and lower because the players can’t land forward because the defender is to close to the shooter and the shooter rushes the shot, thus not getting enough legs into the shot..

Also, another technique that helps is to have the player waiting for the pass to have their hands where they want the ball from the pass and it should be with the shooting hand on top and the non shooting hand on the side, just like if they had a ball in their hands ready to shoot.

The player should also already have their feet in the shooting position when they have their hands in the shooting position where they want to receive the ball.

If a player does not do thesw two things then by the time they do the,m they have taken to much time and thus they have to rush their shot as the defender has more time to close out the shooter.

Having run shooting camps and given individual shooting lessons, players really improved their 3 point percentages usingn these techniques.