Chapter 16 - How to Shoot for Dummies. (1/2)

Shun woke up the next day and continued with his routine with a chipper attitude and a goofy grin on his face.

When he left his home for school, he found that there were trucks outside the house next door unloading their cargo.

Shun: 'It seems that the neighbors would be moving in today.'

With that thought, he walked away to his school, while taking in the morning rush of the Tokyo city.

Shun: 'Teiko Middle School also won yesterday. Well, that was no surprise, they are a strong school, and the team this year is strongest they had in their whole basketball history.'

Shun was happy that his school had won, but he had a few issues he was troubled about, he was concerned about what he should work on in the period before the Nationals.

The Nationals for Middle School happened in the time between the Interhigh and Winter Cup for the Highschools.

He would have plenty of time to train for the next Nationals, but he had to be extremely careful what he wanted to practice now.

He had learned many streetball moves, and he had a good grasp on the traditional form of the basketball, but he was still unable to merge them into one style that fit him.

He could work on that, but he didn't know if he could make it in time.

His defensive skills were the worst of his skills, but he didn't want to spend the short on defense, he wanted something that would give quick returns.

Shun: 'Quality of pass couldn't be improved overnight, so that is out too. I don't have the height to be improving my rebounding. All that is left is shooting and ball-handling.'

By the time Shun reached his school, he had decided what he wanted to do in the time before the Nationals he was going to practice his shooting.

To Shun, learning a move was as easy seeing it, but shooting forms of different people were different, and the person with the best shooting form near him was Mibuchi Reo.

Shun arrived at the gym after his day at school, and after greetings, he made a bee-line to the coach.

Shun already knew how Mibuchi shot, but that didn't mean that was the best way for him. He wanted to know what were the mechanics behind a shooting form.

Shun: ”Coach, please help me improve my shooting.”

The coach was surprised for a while because this was the first time Shun was asking him for advice. The coach recovered quickly and patiently explained,

Coach: ”Do you remember the basics of shooting.”

Shun: ”Yes, Sir. The basics are Balance, Elbow, Eye, and Follow-through, also known as B-E-E-F.”

Coach: ”Correct, I have seen your form, and it has the basics down, now let's start with something more advance.”

Most Middle school coaches would stop at B-E-E-F, but Tokiwadai's coach saw the potential in Shun, so he decided to take it a step further.

Coach: ”The first step to shooting is Shot Preparation. Being a great shooter starts before you receive the basketball. This step is often overlooked by most players and coaches but can be the difference between having enough time to take a good shot or getting your shot blocked by a defender closing in. You don't shoot fast you get ready to shoot fast.”

Coach: ”Start with your knees and h.i.p.s slightly bent. If you catch the basketball with straight legs, it will take extra time to bend your legs before raising for your shot. That will be too slow.”

Coach demonstrated what he just said, and Shun saw that bending knees did take time, and more importantly, Shun was doing the same till now.

Coach: ”Show your hands to your teammate, which is where you want him to pass the ball.”

Shun never knew that there were steps before you even got the ball in your hands, but what the coach said made sense. He had already