Catch-and-Shoot

Set your feet before the ball is passed: shoulder-width apart, toes pointing at the rim, knees slightly flexed, weight on the balls of your feet.

already loaded when the pass leaves.

Show your hands early: both hands up above your shoulders, shooting hand facing the passer and the rim, so the ball lands where you shoot from.

a target the passer can hit.

Find the rim before the catch and keep your eyes on it through the shot.

Sink a little lower just before the ball arrives so your legs are ready to drive up on the catch.

knees dip as the ball comes in.

Do your footwork as you catch, not after. Catching first and then stepping or hopping costs time and can be a travel.

Hop option: make a small hop toward the ball, catch it in the air with your body and shooting hand facing the front of the rim, and land on both feet at the same time, square. It lets you shoot in one count, so it is the quicker choice when you are open.

catch and land together.

1-2 option: catch, land on your inside foot (the one nearer the basket) and then bring the outside foot down level, toes to the rim. A right-hander already facing the basket lands left then right. It is a two-count shot, but the step can help your range and the back foot helps you brake.

inside foot, then square.

Choose the 1-2 when you are closely guarded and the pass comes away from the defender to your outside hand: land on the inside foot, pivot toward the defender and keep the ball high in triple threat.

On a bad pass, move your feet and jump behind the ball instead of reaching for it, so you still land square.

Pick one footwork as your default and practise both. No study we found shows one is more accurate; the hop is quicker, the 1-2 gives more range and a pivot toward the defender.

After a hop where both feet land together from the air, either foot can be your pivot (NBA, FIBA, NCAA and high school rules agree).

After a 1-2, the first foot down is your pivot, so landing inside foot first makes it your inside foot. You may lift it to shoot or pass, but the ball must be gone before it comes back down. To drive instead, the ball must leave your hand before the pivot foot lifts.

Never hop after a standing catch. If both feet are on the floor when you catch, jumping and landing again before you release the ball is a travel. If one foot is already down when the ball arrives, NCAA and high school rules make that foot your pivot, and hopping off it onto both feet leaves you no pivot at all.

Catch the ball high, near your set point on the shooting side between ear and shoulder, so you don't have to bring it down first.

ball stays up.

Get your rhythm from your legs, not the ball: knees lower just before the catch and extend on the catch in one quick down-and-up motion.

one count, legs to hands.

Jump straight up, or slightly forward on longer shots. Don't drift sideways or fade back.

Release just before the top of your jump on outside shots (at the top on short ones), extend your elbow fully and hold the follow-through until the ball reaches the rim.

Be quick, not rushed. Speed comes from being ready early and keeping the ball high, not from cutting your motion short. Keep the rhythm even. Against a closeout expect to release a little quicker and higher; practise that against a hand.

Land softly near where you took off: bend your knees and hips and keep your knees over your toes.