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Rather than worrying about breaking ankles like Allen Iverson or ripping down the rim with a vicious dunk a la Shaquille O’Neal, many young players these days want to splash jumpers from all over the court.
“The game used to start from the inside out,” said Grant, who suited up for the Flyers in the mid-1980s when Magic Johnson’s Lakers and Larry Bird’s Celtics were ruling the NBA.
“Now you see every kid no matter how big or small wanting to go from the outside in, which is great because as a basketball player especially when you’re developing you have to learn the fundamentals of the game, whether it’s dribbling, passing or shooting. And you have to be versatile. We’re in a day and age where the more skill sets you have, the more valuable you are as a basketball player.”
To get an idea of what Grant and his staff teach, I took in a recent shooting clinic on campus.
You can get a look at how they do things in the attached video, but here are some of the main points of emphasis:
- Be in position to catch and shoot before the ball arrives.
- Flick the wrist and follow through. Nothing is more important.
- Step into the shot with the leg opposite the dominant hand and square up to the basket.
- When shooting on the move, plant the inside foot, square to the basket and let it fly.
Lastly, Grant stresses repetition and competition.
The only way to get better is to practice, and a proven way to get players to practice more is to encourage them to set a personal goals to pursue every time they take the court.
That can be as simple as trying to make more shots today than yesterday.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
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