Copycats and Problem Solving

A lesson in drill design to improve shooting

I saw a video posted of an NBA player — I’m not sure who — doing a drill similar to those in the video below. Naturally, the responses were positive. The player was putting in work. He is ready for summer league. When I initially posted these, trainers mocked them, suggested I was clueless, or said I was trying to copy Kevin Durant.

I first used these drills around 2004. I initially used the three leaps/bounds drill. I worked with a player who struggled to decelerate. He stopped left-right with a big turn, but shot free throws with his feet nearly parallel. His dad had said he was shooting like a shooting DVD he had bought that advocated a big turn, but why did he turn only on jump shots and not free throws?

He decelerated on the second step of his left-right step-in. He failed to anticipate the stop. Consequently, he took a larger step and turned to meet his momentum, as Lee Taft has said. The turn was due to his poor deceleration, not the DVD. Our training switched from shooting practice to deceleration practice.

I tried the three leaps drill to solve the specific problem of decelerating to shoot. I came up with the idea in the moment; it was not a planned drill. Between the three leaps drill and restricting him to a right-left step-in for a few drills, most of his shooting problems worked themselves out.

We see shooting problems in the upper body, but the problems often stem from the lower body or the coordination of the lower and upper bodies. I rarely look at the elbow, follow-through, etc. I start with the feet. Focusing on the elbow, when the problem stems from the feet, will not solve the problem and often leads to frustration.

I have no idea if other coaches used these movement drills at the time, pre-social media. The NBA trainers I watched at that time used more standard shooting drills. I did not use these drills with every player. They solved a specific problem with a specific player and served as a tool to use with other players as needed thereafter.

I used these drills more frequently as a junior-college head coach with players who needed to change their techniques in order to attract interest from NCAA programs and earn scholarships. These drills perturbed their shooting styles and rhythm and influenced them toward more productive shooting styles without requiring traditional form shooting and extensive explicit instructions.

Some drills worked with some players and not others. Much was experimentation. I still had never seen anyone use these movements, although a colleague said they were similar to drills used by Steve Nash late in his career. Then, I heard Dirk Nowitzki’s trainer used some. Later, Kevin Durant and Breanna Stewart popularized drills using similar movements when videos of their pregame warmups circulated online.

I do not know their purpose for the drills other than the very vague, very general to improve shooting. I used these drills for very specific reasons with specific players. There are players who I have coached who would swear I never used these drills, and they would be correct. Different players need different things. I do not use the same drills or routines with every player. Drills solve a problem.

Now I occasionally use these drills as a team warmup. I started this practice when returning to youth teams, as we only practiced as a group. Some players needed to change or improve their shooting styles. I replaced our typical dynamic warmup or partner shooting with some of these drills at some practices. I focused on one or two players, and the rest followed along, as these drills would not hurt a player who shot well or did not need the specific drill.

I do not know how or why other coaches use the same or similar drills now. This is not to suggest anyone copied me or to fight for ownership. These are common movements and incorporating them into shooting requires a minimal amount of creativity. My concern is intent.

I imagine shooting coaches working with Nash, Durant, and Stewart have reasons for the drills, although I have never seen or heard them. Instead, others see them online and copy them with their players. If it is good enough for Durant, it is good enough for a youth player, as they say frequently on Twitter.

Copying a drill from the Internet is not wrong; using drills without a purpose is the problem. Does the player need the same thing as Durant? Does the coach know why Durant’s trainer uses the drill? Does the coach know what Durant’s trainer intends to accomplish with the drill? Is the general improve shooting a sufficient reason to copy someone’s drill without understanding its specific purpose?

I explained the reasons for using the drills, but trainers mocked the videos because they were with 16-year-old Estonians. Despite a clear explanation, and a further explanation in Evolution of 180 Shooter: A 21st Century Guide, as well as videos demonstrating players’ success, the drills appeared unorthodox, and therefore easy to mock. People do not care about explanations and evidence; they follow celebrities. Naturally, these trainers retweet when NBA players use the drill.

Most people do not think for themselves. They cannot look at a player, identify a flaw or a limitation, and diagnose a solution. Instead, many coaches and trainers simply really on the player’s effort and work ethic, on doing more. They repeat the same instructions and use the same feedback as everyone else. They associate the same outcome (miss short) with the same problem (knee bend) as everyone else. They are copycats, not coaches. They build their brands by taking credit for players’ successes and blaming a lack of work, practice, and repetitions, but never the practice design or the lack of specificity, for players’ failures.

Long ago, I wrote I enjoyed coaching because it was problem solving, which is different than most. Most people cannot solve problems; they avoid them or shift blame. They have one tool, and see every problem through the lens of the one tool. They mock new and creative drills because they do not understand them, until they become commonplace, and then they copy and repeat them. The worst of them then take credit for discovering or inventing these drills, concepts, and teaching points they once disavowed and mocked. I have stories.

Drills are not good or bad in and of themselves. They are context dependent. Many drills, however, become bad or neutral when they become too general and lose their purpose. A drill once used to replicate a specific team’s offensive sets is copied and copied until it is just a general drill to get more repetitions. A drill devised originally to improve a player’s footwork is copied and copied until it is just a warmup drill.

There are different reasons to use drills. Using a shooting drill as a warmup without a specific purpose for improvement is not bad, as long as the purpose is warming up. Other drills may be used for fun or to develop basic coordination or to create challenges to fuel motivation and confidence. Every drill does not have to be game-like, nor specific skill practice. However, coaches should know the purpose of the drill and the reasons for using the drill in a specific practice with a specific player or team. Otherwise, drills become general activities or exercise, and are unlikely to accomplish the desired goals.