Basketball Shooting: The Most Fun Part Of Basketball

CHAPTER 4: SHOOTING

Shooting is probably the most fun part of basketball. The most renowned basketball players in history are efficient and consistent shot makers, whether inside the paint or out of it. Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James…all of them can shoot the lights out of the stadiums they play in.

Although shooting the ball is simple, making it go through the ring isn’t that simple. There are a myriad of ways to put the basketball in the ring and there are a myriad number of obstacles as well. To be a playground legend, we need to make a lot of shots.

There are 3 general ways to shoot the ball: from inside the paint, outside the paint and from the free throw line.

Inside The Paint

The paint, or the boxed area that extends up to the free throw line, is like Fort Knox: It’s heavily guarded. It’s because shots made in the area have significantly higher chances of going in. The biggest players in each opposing team have the best chances of being able to score inside because of their size advantage. Smaller ones can score inside too but they need to be very creative and athletic to consistently do it against much larger defenders. The various ways we can score inside the paint include jump shots, lay ups, hook shots, tip-ins or dunks.

Jump shots inside the paint are the big men’s forte because it takes a big man to shoot over a big defender. Great players who have mastered this art include Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and Hakeem Olajuwon. When these players get inside the paint, their size and skill enables them to utilize this shot to score.

The best way to take a jump shot is by squaring both the shoulders and feet ...

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...enough to play again. Unfortunately, he injured his other knee shortly after his comeback in 2013.

CHAPTER 8: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Playground legends are head and shoulders above the competition in their respective worlds. They do things that cause chatter among people. Becoming playground legends ourselves is not an impossible task. We are not going up against the best players in the world. We are only going up against the best players in our own worlds: the local park, the neighborhood basketball court and school tournaments. The smaller the pond, the greater our chances for success.

That does not mean however, it’s going to be easy. We need to train smartly and consistently. To that extent, getting a good grip on basketball fundamentals and building up skills through drills is our ticket to becoming legends in our own personal playgrounds.