This is the basis of everything that I teach.
When I’m stuck on an idea, this is what I come back to. When I’m meeting a player for the first time, this is the first idea I teach. When I’m doing a clinic, this is the most important thing I need the players to understand.
Our bodies are creating energy, which we give to the basketball to get it moving, and hopefully toward, then through the hoop. Our bodies move to create the energy, but not all energy that we create is GOOD energy.
I talk about Positive and Negative power. Positive Power is energy that is created by our bodies that is flowing either straight AT the rim, or straight up in the air. Those kinds of energy help us make shots. We want the ball going straight at the hoop and going straight up in the air. If we can do that, all we have to do is correctly estimate the distance and we will make the shot.
Negative Power is any energy that our body is creating that is flowing any direct except AT the hoop or Straight up in the air. Think about it. Why would you want to create energy that is going to AWAY from the hoop, even if it is only 1 or 2 degrees off line? If your body is creating energy away from the hoop, that is the energy that we are giving to the ball.
Now, you aren’t ever going to ELIMINATE all negative energy in your shot. The reality is, we are human beings and this is a difficult movement in the middle of a complex game, surrounded by equally talented people trying to stop us. So negative energy is going to happen at times, but our goal is simple.
We want to build habits that generate as much positive energy (energy going towards the hoop or straight up in the air) and eliminate as much negative energy (energy that goes any direction other than at the hoop or straight up) as possible.
But you’ll probably be asking “if negative energy happens all the time, and we don’t miss ever shot, is it really that big of a deal?”
Think of it this way…. What percentage do great free throw shooters from the line? 90%. Why so high? There is very little negative energy being created. They are stationary, no defender leaning on them, they have time to get and maintain great balance, and they are shooting at a comfortable tempo with simple mechanics that only create positive power.
Then the game resumes and our percentage plummets. We have to sprint all kinds of directions, and pretty much every direction is negative. There is a defender chasing us and because we don’t have as much time, we are more off balance than we would like and more negative energy creeps into our shot. And with every variable, we add more negative energy, and we miss more shots.
This is the reality of shooting a basketball. It is hard. But that doesn’t mean that we give in and just do whatever is comfortable. Quite the opposite. We engrain better habits and learn to fight to get as many positive things working for us as possible.
So when you aren’t sure what a part of your body should be doing when you shoot, remember the simple (but challenging) idea of positive power, and try to generate as much of your energy as you can towards the target, not away from it.
