There is a misconception in the basketball world that if kids want to fix their shot or learn how to properly shoot all that have to do is get to the courts and put up shots. Many coaches have given kids this generic advice. A small percentage of the statement is true when dealing with kids who are more naturally talented and naturally understand and can feel good body mechanics. They are the exception. The majority of this advice is misleading.

Having worked with a lot of kids in developing their shot along with what I observe day to day being on the courts most kids still struggle to shoot the ball and from my observation it is still the most underdeveloped skill in basketball for youth players which brings me to my point.

There are two major reasons why I want to challenge this advice:

1. I just don’t see kids on the basketball court working on their shooting for the majority of kids.
2. If they are putting up shots and they don’t know what a good shot should look and feel like then how will they improve their shooting?
3. From a Shooting Coach Specialist perspective this advice is just not practical , especially in modern times. To tell a kid to just go and put up shots, that would be assuming that most kids are naturally self motivated to just go do it and that is just not the case. Also if a kid does decide to go to the court and put up 500 reps a week but they are bad shots, that kid is not improving their shooting but rather reinforcing and permanently ingraining bad mechanics into their muscle memory.(They don’t know what they don’t know)

I recently saw an NBA coach online saying that a lot of NBA players come into the league with broken shots that they developed as kids. 

That data proves my point that most kids don’t fix their shots on their own. 

[Read Part 2 for a solution and sound advice]