Basic Warm Up Progression with NBA Shooting Coach John Townsend

Our good friend and NBA Shooting Coach John Townsend demonstrates a great warm up shooting progression consisting of 4 drills to work on players' balance and shooting form. Check out the full breakdown in the video below!

Warm up progression

1. Unders: This drill has players starting with their hand under the basketball. When players start with their hand under the basketball it gives them the ability to lift the ball and shoot with one hand.
2. Tops: This drill has players starting with their hand on top of the basketball. Players will then lift the ball and shoot with one hand focusing on keeping a 90 degree angle and balancing the ball.
3. Stop-Top-90: Players will take one dribble with their strong hand, then stop and put their hand on top of the basketball, lift to a 90 degree angle, and shoot with one hand.
4. Stop-Top-90-Regular: This drill combines the same concepts of Stop-Top-90 but is now followed with a regular jump shot.

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It's important that players implement this progression doing the drills in order, focusing on their balance and shooting with one hand. If a player starts shooting poorly they should go back to the previous warm up drill to get their shot back on track!