“The sweetness of low price
never equals the bitterness of poor quality.”
– Thomas B. Lehon –
The jump shot is the most common way of shooting and therefore it is of utmost importance to dedicate ourselves to teaching it so that players learn to perform it well at the earliest age, i.e. when they start playing mini handball and handball.
Players who are not skilled in performing jump shots cannot enjoy playing handball and be successful because it is technical element that is crucial for scoring a goal.
For this reason, we need to know that our responsibility is to enable Tin to learn good movement biomechanics and help him correct possible mistakes that may eventually be a limiting factor in his success in playing.
In this post, we will show how we teach the jump shot using indirect methods in childhood, how we automate it using situational methods and how we correct automated incorrect movement biomechanics at the age of 17.
BETTER FOOT
If Tin is right-handed, he performs a jump shot with his better foot by taking a jump from his left foot by raising his right knee in a coordinated manner. Back players should raise their knees high and to the side not to injure the defender and so that their body is tilted forward to the extent that they feel safe from falling onto the ground in case of contact with the defender.
The most common mistakes in the learning process are:
- pushing the ball when shooting
- the player does not shoot from the highest point (shoots too late or too early)
- raising the heel behind the back (encourages jumping in front, instead of high)
- insufficient knee lift
- jumping in front
LEARNING
The main tool for teaching with the indirect method is the so-called screen. It can be any obstacle that the player needs to shoot over, and the best is an elastic band. When shooting from the floor, we determine the height according to Tin’s anthropometry, while for jump shots we also need to take into account his motor skills.
The goal is to set the screen so that Tin “barely” scores a goal over it.
In childhood, the goal is to score low, and we set the screen so that it is difficult for him. As Tin scores a goal more easily if he has not jumped high enough or not raised his arm enough, he will shoot into the upper part of the goal. A good height is one that puts him in a situation where he is able to score a goal low now and then, and we do this because young children are less precise and find learning with the first method frustrating.
With a precise and sufficient number of repetitions of this teaching method, Tin will not automate any of the listed errors.
SITUATIONAL LEARNING AND REPETITIONS (methodical path)
Once Tin learns the basics of jump shots, the goal is to learn and repeat the biomechanics of movement in situational conditions, i.e. in an environment in which Tin is simultaneously outplaying defenders.
It is important to allow him a large amount of shooting, so the situations we create are simple, but similar to those in handball and adapted to the age of the players. They are the simplest for younger children, and more complex for older players.
A child learns and repeats the jump shot at the age of 10 in the simplest situations, at 11 or 12 he repeats it playing 2 on 1, and at 15 or 17 he plays 4:3 or 4:4.
The number of passes allowed decreases with the development of abilities. In a 2:1 game at the age of 11, two passes are allowed, and at 12 only one. In a 3:2 game, at the age of 13, 2 passes are allowed, and at 17 only one. In a 4:3 game (the pivot does not shoot over the screen), 3 passes are allowed, and in a 4:4 game, the game is free.
How we teach jump shots at ages 9-11 is here
