Before you tune this one out due to the dangerous dive I am taking into physics, math, and basketball – give me a moment to explain the topic.  It might be one that can make the difference between a 30% FG percentage shooter and a 50% shooter.

Have you ever wondered why some very physically strong players shoot the ball and have no range to the shot – and if you add any distance, it almost seems as if they have to use all of their energy just to get the ball to the rim?  While at the same time a very small, skinny kid can accurately get the ball to the rim with ease from great distance?  Ever wondered what is happening?

We do – we wonder about it all the time.   In fact, we measure it and try to understand what is happening and then develop ways for others to teach how to shoot more efficiently.   The answer, as it turns out, is found in kinetic energy.   In simple physics, kinetic energy is very briefly described as the transfer of energy between moving objects.

In basketball terms, it becomes the transfer of energy from the legs, through the core, and into the shooter’s wrist.     This is no easy task and it requires a lot of coordination and very precise timing, but it clearly explains why a very skinny player can have great range with effortless motion while strong players have no range, accuracy, and a very effort-full shot.   The effortless shooter has learned how to time the transfer of energy from one large power source (legs), to a very specific point (wrists and hands) to make a shot go further, with more accuracy, and less energy.

We have learned and studied the various power sources used by great shooters vs. those used by just average or poor shooters, and we understand how to train shooters to transfer energy efficiently.   In the series of posts to come, we will be examining these power sources specifically and describing how we measure them so that all of our readers can get in tune with their inner “shooting energy.”

Before we all go start to meditate and sign up for yoga classes, just spend some time during the warm-ups of the next game you go to and watch every player shoot.  But instead of watching just whether the ball goes in, see if you can start to spot the good energy transfer shooters from the not so good.  Our next post will explain what is happening.