Over the years we’ve trained thousands of high
school athletes and witnessed great off-season skill development only to see riggers of the high school schedule, time demands, and team focused practices, kill a players confidence. Your confidence is your responsibility, you must work to get it and to keep it. Below are 5 simple steps to develop SUPREME CONFIDENCE in your shooting and how to sustain it.
TIP 1: Show Up Early
For 15 minutes before practice starts, shoot close range shots in your 80-90% shooting range. This will get your body loose and mind sharp and get you in the habit of seeing the ball go through the rim. POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS
- 150-200 makes if you’re shooting with a partner. 200-350 makes if you have a dedicated rebounder i.e. team Trainer or Assistant Coach
- Make sure you are mentally focused and relaxed. Take mental note of how long you can concentrate before losing focus
- 6 Days a week/15mins/700-1000 shots made before practice even starts
TIP 2: Stay Late
Game senario shooting pend 15mins focused on shots you get within the team’s offense. We are programming our nervous system for the exact situations that we are most likely to encounter in the game within our team system. BUILDING BRAIN CONNECTIONS (most people refer to this as muscle memory however muscles don’t remember anything)
- Pay attention to your footwork, body movement and speed. Master the movement before speeding up, but always work up to game speed. MASTER BEFORE FASTER
- Best done with a Partner or coach 75-150 makes.
- -6 Days a week/15 minutes/ 350-500 Shots Made
TIP 3: Create Pregame Shooting Routine
Make your pregame routine a combination of your early and late routine. 10-15 min close range 15 to 20 min game shooting.
- Focus on shots within offense
- Use this as a warm-up before the warm-up
- Create your best method for getting ready
- Before each game 250-400 Makes
TIP 4: Off Day
Dedicate 1day/week to have 1 to 1 1/2 hours individual partner or small shooting practice. This can be done by yourself or with teammates. Make it focused and make it fun. Get lots of reps by playing shooting games like, “Beat the Pro”, first player to a certain number from a variety of spots wins.
- This is intended to be a recovery work out and to get a light sweat. Go through the shots that you shoot mostly.
- Spend some time on shots that you may not have executed in the game. Ex: Missed 3 left hand layups, then practice left hand layups.
- Be a leader. If you’re a varsity player then grab a JV or freshman and help others gain confidence with you. Aim at making 200-300 makes of simple and game strategic shots.
TIP 5: – Visualization and Breathing techniques
Find a breathing/relaxation routine that works for you. There are lots of options to choose from in yoga and meditation techniques. Shooting can be a very emotional experience with lot of outside judgment and self-doubt; this will help us focus on being RELAXED.FOCUSED.POSITIVE.
- You can use this technique as a regular routine before and after each workout
- It can also be used whenever your feel yourself getting stressed, tired or loosing focus.
- One routine that we love that balances the oxygen between the left and right brain, helping creative thinkers organize and organized thinkers more creativity. Don’t believe TRY IT! Comment and let us know what you think. Spend 5 mins breathing out of alternating nostrils, inhaling in one nostril closing off with your finger and exhale and inhale from the other and repeat. This is a great stress reliever no matter the sport or occupation. See video.
May seem like a lot but it’s not. It’s only 30-40 minutes/day with one extended one hour day. Should be completed at school or in your own neighborhood. The key is consistency. Trainees who follow this guide will make roughly 18,000 – 30,000 makes in a 12 week season giving them an extra 4 hours of shooting each week. Want to play college basketball? Then create your own version of this routine and do it religiously year round and you will make 300,000-500,000 shots over a four year high school or college career. This is how you gain SUPREME CONFIDENCE, shout out to my former coach, mentor and friend Downtown Fred Brown, Dale Ellis and Ray Allen players who have helped me personally understand what it takes become a great shooter.
Remember all great shooters are confident in their ability to make the shots they take. If you practice these 5 tips you will notice an increase in your points and confidence.