How to deal with your shot being broken during a game?

This just happened to me and it was frustrating as hell. Normally I'd say I'm about 40-50% from deep on OPEN shots (which we all know you get at the gym quite often). But just played a pickup game where I couldn't hit shit and it got bad to where I airballed two shots and guys were just straight up laughing at me when I went to shoot the ball.

This affected my overall game. Lacked confidence in my dribble, didn't have the intensity needed to defend well, etc.

How do you guys handle it when your shot goes cold and it feels like nothing you shoot will go down?

[QUOTE=russwest0]This just happened to me and it was frustrating as hell. Normally I'd say I'm about 40-50% from deep on OPEN shots (which we all know you get at the gym quite often). But just played a pickup game where I couldn't hit shit and it got bad to where I airballed two shots and guys were just straight up laughing at me when I went to shoot the ball.

This affected my overall game. Lacked confidence in my dribble, didn't have the intensity needed to defend well, etc.

How do you guys handle it when your shot goes cold and it feels like nothing you shoot will go down?[/QUOTE]


It happens sometimes even to the best of shooters. If it does, don't force the shot until you feel confident again. Pass to the hot hand. Hustle more to make up for the lack of scoring, play harder defense, crash the boards. Scoring is not the only way to contribute in a game, you can be valuable in other ways too.

Set screens, cut to the hoop more, rebound, etc. Mostly do fundamental shit or hustle plays. I play really infrequently now so there is really never a game where I don't feel rusty which has helped me to just enjoy the flow of the game when I'm playing poorly.

What I do is drive to the hole and try to get easy layups, just seeing the ball on in will boost your confidence.

Also try to get people involved, rebound and most important is play D

I sit out for a few and relax to reset my mindset.

Defend, rebound assist and get to the rack

[QUOTE=TheReal Kendall]What I do is drive to the hole and try to get easy layups, just seeing the ball on in will boost your confidence.

Also try to get people involved, rebound and most important is play D[/QUOTE]


This

I am good at slashing the basket, and take high percentages shots.

In a real game with free throws, aggressively getting to the line can also help, especially since you'd be looking to get shots closer to the basket anyway...

I find that making a free throw is the perfect antidote to shooting problems: just seeing the ball go in after shooting it with your usual form reassures you that you still know how it works.

In a pickup game, get others involved, and look for cuts, curls, offensive rebounds and depending on your abilities, the post, for opportunities to score. But don't stop shooting altogether if you're wide open. And when you do shoot, don't overthink it, just throw it up assuming it'll go in... don't wait and see whether a defender will come either, shoot instantly with the usual rhythm (Ray Allen is the perfect example here, he'll always shoot the same way even when he's in a funk). Thinking about your release or other technical details is counterproductive and will typically lower your percentage... because you're usually a good shooter, you should just trust your instincts and leave the technical refinements to practice. Your results are much more dependent on confidence than you think.

get to the line. find a rhythm

pass it to westbrook