I am 100% certain the players are shooting much, much better in practice. Great, even. So I don't think the coaches need to teach them how to shoot. They already know how to shoot. What they obviously need is the ability to shoot the ball in games without thinking so much about it -- like Rae does.
This team's shooting woes are 100% mental. They appear to need someone to have the hot hand early to get everyone else loose and relaxed and not overly worried about whether anyone is ever going to start making shots.
I've seen many a team like that over the years, and the teams that win championships are the ones with scorers who never fall into that mental trap. Our players could benefit from extensive, very serious shot visualization meditation before games, seeing themselves in their minds' eyes making shot after shot after shot after shot.
That's my theory!
Totally agree. See yourself making the shot, see yourself winning the game. It’s about confidence and determination, and I know Kellie is doing her best to instill both in her players.
When I was younger, I loved shooting baskets, I could shoot all over the floor. I’m older now, and I could still go out and do that. If I had someone talking about where my wrists, elbows, or fingers should be, I think that would have caused overthinking to say the least. When I read on here that someone can teach a basically non shooter to shoot, I don’t believe it. When our last Coach kept talking to her players about not taking a “bad shot”, she ruined their shooting. When an outside shooter got the ball she thought is this a good shot, will Coach get after me because I took this shot, that thought process caused hesitancy, and by then the confidence was gone and the defender was there.
Watch the concentration on the basket by the best shooters. When someone just throws the ball in the general direction of the basket, that’s ridiculous. To finish your shots, keep your eyes where you want the ball to go. For outside shots, stare at the basket, add some arc to the ball, and jump. Treat free throws like an actual shot, in other words, add arc and don’t stand flat footed, give a little jump. I used to practice how high I could shoot the ball and it still go in the basket, that was fun. Gotta love to shoot to be a good shooter, not just taught.
Anyway, as most of us know, our team hasn’t had a chance to practice how to run our Offense, since Rae went out in the first game. We need plays to get people open, and practice to get the ball to Tamari, and fast break practice as well. We need players to know where they should be on the floor. This practice on Offense when Rae is not there should help everyone’s confidence.
So, shoot with confidence, and GO LADY VOLS!!!