To change bad shooting habits into positive skills a player must completely understand the PRO SHOT’s five components to change. Too often we get players that reject our instruction because they believe their shot needs little work and instruction. Many times a player will attend a Pro Shot session and doesn’t believe in our concept of shooting or can’t change his shot because he hates change or momentarily failing. Please read the following and understand that all players that trains in our system must fully always be aware of these five principles if they wish to change their shooting for the better.

For many of my students, failure is the hardest aspect to comprehend when learning new shooting techniques. No individual ever wants to fail in anything they do. I have yet to meet a player that proclaims, “I want to be a poor shooter.” I have also never met anyone who remarks, “I really don’t care if the ball goes in.” Please realize that no one ever succeeds at first. There will at first be more failures than successes when learning a new skill. With shooting there will always at first be more misses than swishes. When you understand that there is no such thing as instant success, you should relax more as you no longer will be preoccupied by the outcome of the shot. Failure will always occur when trying something new. In a way we were all much smarter when we were only two years old than we are today. When we were first trying to walk we would fall down (which in a way is the ultimate failure). We didn’t lie down and feel sorry for ourselves, however. We would get right back up and try it again. When we were that age, failure never entered into our mindset. It’s only after people tell us what we can and can’t do, that we actually start thinking about failing. As we get older and think about failure as being uncomfortable, we are hit with a double whammy. We often make our life decisions based upon pleasure and pain. Because many of the players that I train often have the same shot for a decade, change can become difficult for them to comprehend. Many times players talk themselves into believing discomfort (even though it is only for a moment) is a terrible condition. Players in elementary school understand discomfort much better than high school athletes. Younger players are much more receptive to change and also believing in the teacher. High school players, on the other hand, make their decisions based on how it feels and how they believe the shot appears. I have told players in their late teens that they were going to fail for five-ten minutes and in return they will have a lifetime of success. Unfortunately, there are a few players that cannot accept this challenge. A high school senior once proclaimed to me, “I can’t fail ever.” This player was a superb 6’8” athlete with long arms, but never did learn to properly shoot, which eliminated his chances of being a top notch collegiate player. When learning a new shot, you must look at it similar to a strange science experiment You need to realize that you will fail, but this will only become short-term failing. You must constantly remind yourself the positives concerning change will always outweigh the negatives. I can generally see which players will ultimately fail and those that will succeed on the hardwood by how they deal with failure at that moment. Often I see players get so emotionally upset by a series of short misses that I swear they are ready to have a nervous breakdown on the court. I’ve also had some parents whose hopes ride on every shot that their child attempts. When their child misses a few shots, the parent starts moaning and becomes more tense which forces the child to also become anxious. It’s gone so far that I’ve had a few players actually tell their fathers, “Shut up and sit down.”

You can’t motivate the athlete that doesn’t want to be motivated. Athletes are motivated from within. It doesn’t matter if you see huge potential in an athlete. They must see huge potential in themselves. Ultimately, it’s not what the parent wants, or what the coach wants, it’s what the athlete wants. In other words, if you want to be a great basketball player, you will always be more motivated than the player who is satisfied with just being on the team. The same thing applies if your parents or coach wants you to be a shooter, but you don’t consider it’s important or already believe you’re a terrific shooter. You can be led to a shooting coach, but that doesn’t mean you will become a great shooter. You have to keep an open mind, never be afraid to fail, have discipline and practice the correct way everyday. Only then will you break into the realm of being a consistent shooter. If the player doesn’t believe shooting is important for overall success, chances are excellent that he will never become an accurate shooter. It comes down to which players possess, “SHOOTING MATURITY.” I have coached players as young as ten years old that understood the significance of shooting and comprehended that if they wished to become a top notch player, they had to become an efficient shooter. I have also “attempted” to coach high school juniors and seniors that were not interested in becoming a quality shooter and therefore tuned out my instruction completely. With time a player can develop this “Shooting Maturity.” For some players it can take weeks, others months or even years before they understand the importance of being an effective shooter.

You can be as great of a shooter as you want, but it also takes a strong trust in your shooting coach and yourself. The most inspirational book beside the Bible is “The Little Engine That Could.” This story depicts a little train engine that must overcome insurmountable odds to climb a steep hill. Through the entire ordeal, the engine keeps feeding positive messages beginning with, “I think I can” which becomes “I know I can” and finally concludes with “I did.” If basketball players programmed their mind with these same positive messages, they would definitely see more positive results. When you stop believing, you will fail. If you want to become a great shooter, you must also believe in the teacher. If you are skeptical, chances are you will never change your shot and in return you will never become an accurate shooter. It is important that you continue working hard and believing in yourself no matter how much you have failed in the past. To become a great shooter, you must also believe you will hit every shot and you will make the big shot. When you stop believing, you stop achieving. The moment negativity and doubt enters your mind, you and your shot are in serious trouble.

A basketball player should never rest on his past accomplishments. A great player looks at himself as a sculpture that will never be fully completed. This individual is always improving and his skills are always escalating. Anything great must be a continual work in progress. When you become satisfied with your overall skill level, you will disappear quickly from the basketball radar map. Great players always work diligently to improve their weaknesses. They are never satisfied no matter how good they become. As indicated earlier, Karl Malone was a terrible free throw shooter in his first NBA season, but in time he would break free throw shooting records. After leaving the University of North Carolina, Michael Jordan’s largest weaknesses were defense and shooting. He would make those his strongest traits. Magic Johnson was considered only an average shooter when he entered the NBA. With time, he led the league in free throw percentage.

Through my years of shooting instruction, I have discovered that it generally takes two years of discipline, change, failure, and practice to become a great game shooter. This is a very long commitment for most players. I once told a player that it takes two years to develop great skills to which he responded, “But I want to be Reggie Miller right now.” Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. There is not a coach on Earth that can teach a novice to become Reggie Miller overnight. Many players expect success to occur instantly. These impatient athletes rarely want to wait and expect perfect shooting will happen overnight. Many times they will see the extraordinary shooting of Ray Allen or a Dirk Nowitski and figure they can do the same. As mentioned earlier, it is important to remind young athletes excellence in anything takes time. In other words, “Shooting is a journey and not a sprint.” You will have many moments in basketball featuring huge ups and massive downs. The same thing can also be said concerning your jump shot. Understand if you lack patience and discipline, you will usually lack an overall accurate shot.