[Casper05]

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Great thread. One thing I've always wondered about is this....

Warning: Some bragging in this post, but I'm trying to explain why I can't understand how people can't do what I can do so its kinda necessary.

I wrestled and played football in HS. Didn't get into basketball very late(probably about 16 years old), and I literally incorrectly shot the ball with 2 hands until I was 16 or so. Despite all of that, I picked up shooting really quickly for some reason. Now I'm not a great athlete in the run fast/jump high aspect, but I do have good coordination and balance and can usually pick up good form in sports fairly quickly.

Anyway, my question is what exactly is so hard about shooting for some people? Two years after learning to shoot, I made near 95% of 500 free throws during a free throw drive fund(I was 100% for my college career, but the sample size was small)....so to me, it really doesn't make sense to see a guy like Bruce Bowen, who is obviously a much better athlete than me, not be able to shoot free throws.

With big men, I would guess that the big hands and extreme height would hinder them. But what gives with the NBA level guards that just can't shoot? Is it lack of practice or is there some innate skill that is missing there? I have to think that the coaches are making sure they're shooting a ton during the offseason, yet I just don't see improvement.

[/ QUOTE ]Some if it, especially with big men as you mentioned, has to do with having larger hands. Some of it has to do with being taller thus having a more difficult angle. A lot of it though, in my opinion of course, is that most players how have bad shots have a habbit that either has never been noticed or that nobody has worried enough about to fix. I mean, these guys have always been the best on their respective teams, so HS and college coaches have ignored their smaller flaws to spend more time on other things. Little things like using the thumb of your off hand to help shoot the ball can make a huge difference...Every little piece that is incorrect about your shot makes it increasingly difficult to have a good shot each and every time.