Whether you are a 7 ft. plus center or short guard, no one shoots 100%, 100% of the time. However, there are exercises one can do to greatly increase the percent you are currently shooting. If you can adjust them, basketball hoops of varying sizes will greatly improve your ability to place the ball wherever you want.

Several universities have team members go through drills shooting at 8, 9 10 and 11 foot rims. An exercise will consist of players in 4 lines, each shooting at the rim in front of them, then running to the next line. Constantly shooting only at a regulation 10 foot basketball hoop does help accuracy, but the body gets used to aiming at exactly the same spot. Any errors in technique simply get replayed time and time again. Lowering or raising the rim forces the player to adjust their shot. When they return to the regulation height, many have found improved field goal percents.

Players often shoot without checking stance, placement of hands and balance. This is particularly found at the more advanced levels where players feel they already understand the fundamentals and no longer need to pay attention to the fine details of the shot. Unfortunately there are often errors in technique, foot and hand placement that slowly creep into a player’s style. If this isn’t caught early, they begin to need to shoot in this way, developing bad shooting habits that become difficult to break. A coach or trainer should provide a checklist of where feet, hands and arms should be during and after a shot. Before shooting, a player should verbally go through the checklist saying, “Legs; shoulder width apart, thumbs; touching like a ‘W’”, etc. Once they have done this several times, they should do this mentally, taking about 30 seconds before the shot to review every part of their body. Eventually, proper form will become automatic.

Another good way to develop aim is to take the player’s mind of making the shot, and more to placing the ball. If possible, paint or put paper targets on the backboard for players to hit. As players begin to increase their accuracy, make the targets smaller and smaller. The goal is that the player will be able to hit any part of the backboard with extreme accuracy no matter where they are on the court.

Lastly, the old saying of practice, practice, practice always rings true. Having players shoot 10, 20, 50 shots or more at the free throw line, three point line or other key spots will greatly help keep their skills up to par and enable percentage improvement.