Set Goals And Track Your Shooting
The first time that I tracked my shooting was during summer camp when I was in middle school. The camp had a 5000 Shot Club, and I could become a member and get a T-shirt if I made 5000 shots over the rest of the summer. I was determined to make the Shot Club and get my free T-shirt, so I got to work. When the summer ended, I was a member of the 5000 Shot Club and I got my T-shirt (which unfortunately wasn’t that cool), but the great thing was, my shooting improved.
After that, I spent more time shooting and tracking, and it continued to pay off.
During my first season playing basketball in High School, I averaged 3 points per game. The next year I averaged 17 points per game and was one of the leading scores in the Greater Spokane League. What changed? I set a goal to become a better shooter, worked on my shot and tracked the whole process.
Start by setting shooting goals for the summer and beyond, and then put them in writing. It doesn’t hurt to add when you want to achieve the goals, why you want to achieve them, action steps to reach them, possible obstacles that may arrive when working toward them and how you will overcome these obstacles, but the most important thing to do is write your goals down and then begin taking steps to reach them.
When I was coaching I had a Summer Shooting Challenge to encourage players to work on their shooting over the summer. I made a simple form where players could write down goals (including a page with blank spaces for each day of the summer). A basic habit tracker.
Use A Habit Tracker
A habit tracker is a place for you to write down what you are doing each day to meet your goals. It can help you reach your goals because the act of tracking is motivating, and you get to see that you are working toward your goals. It’s also rewarding to mark your habit tracker and feel the satisfaction of the daily progress.
According to the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, research shows that people who track their progress on goals that they have set, are more likely to improve than those who don’t. When you see that you are moving toward a goal, you get even more motivated to keep working toward that goal. Each day of marking off your calendar feeds your desire to get better. You get visual proof of your hard work.
When practicing shooting it just takes a few minutes each day to get shots in. And once you start, a few minutes often become more. As you’re shooting, take a variety of shots from different areas on the court. Shoot lay-ins and make post moves and drives using both hands. Work on jumpers. Work around the outside and extend your range. Work toward your shooting goals and track your effort.
Where To Track Your Shooting
You can track your shooting many different ways; on a calendar, in a journal, with a list on your phone or any number of ways that you can think of. You can check out the Summer Shooting Challenge form that I put together for summer shooting practice, or if you’re a detail-oriented person you can make a more complex chart that divides out how many of each type of shot that you are going to take each day. To some people this might seem too complicated and might deter you from reaching your goal, so in the end, it’s better to consistently track one habit than to sporadically track a bunch. Do what feel best for you.
And if you miss a day, that’s okay. No one is perfect. But if you really want to achieve your goals, then it’s important to get back on schedule, even if it means that some days you only have the chance to put up a few shots, the important thing is that you get out and shoot. Because with every shot you take you are moving in the right direction.
Set a shooting practice goal for the summer, your season or the entire year, track your shots in a way that works best for you and see what happens.
“There is no limit to the goals you can attain, the success you can achieve
—your possibilities are as endless as your dreams.”
-D. Crowe
