At one of my basketball skills training sessions last week we were focusing on the player’s jump shot.  As she ran through shooting drills to get warmed up, I noticed that all of her shots were falling short.  Being short on your jump shot could mean any number of things, from not using your legs, to issues with the follow through.  However, in the case of this player, those two aspects were spot on.  Her release was borderline perfect and she was absolutely using her legs and elevating nicely on her jumper.  So what could it have been?  As she went through the drill again, I noticed something else was off…it was her shoulders.

As a player, you really do not realize how important the position of your shoulders are in your jump shot.  In the case of this player, her shoulders were back on every shot and that caused all of her shots to be short.  Generally speaking your shoulders need to be forward, but not so far forward that you fall over, just enough so that they sit over the center of your feet.  This position, I like to call it an “athletic stance,” is imperative for not only shooting the basketball but for any other athletic activity that you take on.  The “athletic stance” allows you to be balanced and being balanced is one of the keys to shooting a good jump shot. 

In this picture below (although not the player that I was training at the time) we have used a chair to show him the exact position he should be in at the start of his jumper.  Notice that his knees and hips are slightly bent thereby drawing his shoulders forward.  Having the player begin to sit down shows them the balanced position they need to be in.  From there, it is a matter of incorporating some simple form shooting drills into the player’s workout.  The repetition of these form shooting drills will ensure that the player develops a consistent and correct approach to shooting their jump shot

So next time your jumper is falling short and you are sure that it is not your legs or follow through, try leaning your shoulders slightly forward to create the balance that is necessary to be a great jump shooter.