Some of these differences have reasons. For one, Klay is taller than Steph. This means that since they both have 1 motion shots starting just in front of the pelvis, Klay's stroke has a longer distance from the start to the release. What you have to realize about shooting is that the ball is not accelerating only at the release. From the moment you raise the ball above your knees, the ball is picking up speed, and Klay's extra couple inches means 3 things. 1- there's more time on the stroke for the guide hand to interfere with the ball's trajectory. 2. The ball has a little longer to pick up speed (which converts to either arc or distance). 3. The release point is farther from his elbow and shoulders (because he has longer arms) meaning that the final inches of his stroke are weaker, but faster (similar to a transmission in a higher gear, the radius of the gear raises speed, but reduces torque). Put these three things together and we know that "optimal" for Klay means 3 things. 1. Interfering with the stroke with a thumb adds un-needed power and entropy to a longer stroke... so a thumb flick doesn't benefit him like it would a Kyrie or a Steph. 2. Klay's stroke gives the ball a longer exposure to acceleration, so the diminished torque from a slow long-armed shot and the diminished power from only shooting with one arm are less costly for him, so one armed shooting with a guide hand is enough power for him. 3. The straight up and down elbow extends the radius of his stroke giving him less torque but more reach... so straight up and down has more upside to offer him than someone like Steph. Aside from all this, Steph is much more often than Klay shooting inches away from screens, getting double-teamed on the run, etc... whereas Klay gets most of his shots from team motion and are catch-and-shoot. This means that a thumb for Steph not only gets the shot up faster and actively pushes the ball into place instead of guiding it, but he's also able to absorb more sideways error with his wider base and his shooting form is ALSO able to absorb more sideways error caused by shooting on the move... He also picks up to shoot often off the dribble... so he incorporates the movement of the dribble into his shot and converts it into ever-so-slightly more power... and of course the dribble can come from either direction, so that's just another way in which a wide base, a less upright stroke, and a thumb-flick are more necessary for him. Both of these shots are well optimized to many factors including what is needed for each player in their role to get a shot off, the nature of the shots they get, the release point of their shots, and how much balance error their respective shots need to correct.
Klay has the purest form in the NBA in my opinion. It’s what you said the “blueprint form” while Curry has one of the most streamline forms, in the sense that it looks so free flowing.
Curry worked on this style of shooting during high school I believe. He had a more traditional style of shooting till his dad told him he wouldn’t survive the nba with that type of shooting. When he started working on the unorthodox shooting style, he missed a lot of his shots but he got better at it and now it’s one of the most powerful moves in the nba. This allows steph, with his shorter stature, to completely outplay way taller opponents when he combines it with his handles.
he didn't have a more traditional style of shooting. he pushed from his chest. it developed from a two hand push shot as a kid, which is y his left hand is still so involved in the release of his shot today. his adjustment was to bring the ball from a higher point ie: over his eye instead of from the chest area which make his shot easy to block and harder for him to adjust.
Muscle memory is the key, this two probably shot a million jump shot in their life. look at reggie miller shot his form is ugly but still considered one of the best clucth shooter of all time.
Muscle memory is not everything. Because I can tell you that even the worse 3 point shooters practice a lot. An interesting fact is also that Curry had to break his jumpshot to the ground growing up because he was still shooting from his waist.
the 'elbow flare' as you call it is simply alignment of their shooting elbow with the rim - both start turned (not square) but Klay is more square then steph so it looks like his elbow is in. Neither is really square nor is either elbow "in", both are aligned, it's just that steph (and every other great shooter) starts with their shooting foot/hip/shoulder closer to the rim than their off hand side.
Great video. After watching I tried using curry's mechanics and klays. I noticed that most of curry's mechanics really made a difference with my shot like the thumb flick and the elbow flare. Thanks so much bro.🏀👌🏻
Whether or not he was born with the greatest hand eye coordination, Steph still deserves credit for his amazing shooting. Along with practicing seemingly impractical shots, he goes through a variety of neurocognitive exercises that help improve his craft
I think that the height has something to do with shooting form, steph obviously the smaller guy needs more force to shoot the ball, hence borrowing force from the left thumb.
Great work! I think I would characterize Klay has having a slightly more square approach though as you point out his feet are clearly turned and his shooting arm is in front of this off hand. Because he is less turned then his shooting arm/elbow have to adjust to come more underneath for alignment. While Curry starts with a slightly more elbow flare (not extreme) he aligns his hip, elbow, and release with a stronger full body turn. The thumbflick is there but I'm wondering how influential it is to the shot because the release is the last touch point. This is clear in that the flick happens well before the final release. I would never advocate teaching that thumbflick to a youth shooter, however. I also wouldn't advocate teaching the lower release, but again it's hard to deny the results he can achieve with it! Curry's hands are also much smaller than Thompson's which maybe why he acquired the thumbflick when learning to shoot (though Irving's hand size is closer to Thompson's - so who knows). I have read elsewhere that in HS Curry had to modify his shot quite a bit to get it higher than it was too. Definitely both an art and science to shooting!
@8:31 "Congratulations on making it through to the end of a RU-vid video" … Its about time I finally get a little respect! Although I missed half of it cause I was in the bathroom.
Absolutely loved this. You ever consider doing breakdowns of some of the great historic shooters like Dell Curry or Larry Bird? Would be fun to see some comparisons of great shooters through the ages.
Great video - I've always felt like things like shooting is more a mental thing - like a memory. I used to work on the mechanics of my shot but I would also feel something happen internally. First, you work the discipline. Then you learn to become comfortable with the discipline. But when that internal thing happens you become the discipline and no matter what happens you can't be separated from it. This is a difficult place to get to. That's why the NBA is not flooded with great shooters. Moving past the baby steps of working on simple mechanics and discipline is a road less traveled.
I think their forms also have to do with the type of shots they put up. You see a lot of catch and shoot with Klay and a lot of off the dribble shots from curry. Curry’s jumpshot allows him to practically pull up from any position his body is in, thus why he makes crazy 3 pointers. Klay’s is a more picture perfect shot and he doesn’t necessarily need to be, but it helps significantly if he’s in a ready position and can get his stroke off without a rush
The elbow flare also creates the turning of Cury's body because he has to rotate his wrist and bring in his elbow which leads to him having to rotate his body which also furthermore causes thumb flick because he has to extend his off hand release to be at the adiquate distance from the basket.
Elbow flare is what leads to the thumb flick. You said that with elbow flare the shooting wrist has to rotate out instead of simply flexing to align the shot. Because of this, the off hand has to rotate in order to not interrupt the rotation of the ball that the shooting hand is creating whilst it turns to align the ball with the elbow basket etc.
Glen Rice & Ray Allen are my all time favourite shooters with really good pose. I also like Curry & Kerr who have similar forms. Reggie Miller probably is the greatest shooter with terrible form but most importantly the shooters must feel comfortable in shooting without using much strength or effort.
Vince Carter has a very interesting stroke to his shot. Considering everything from the feet up he might be a good person to analyse for the future. Plus he has huge hands which would be useful for big players.
thumb flick is caused by shooting at a rim that is too high with a ball that is too heavy from a young age and using the off hand for additional strength. As the shooter gets older they adjust their shot but this is a left over problem from an early mechanical deficiency. I would argue that this would be impossible to "teach" as a mechanic and if applied incorrectly can add side spin to the ball. Klay has better technique, but no one has probably ever practiced shooting more than Steph and that is the difference.
Kobe also uses left hand thumb, it really gives an extra power to it. I also have a simular shot to curry, i feel its lackness a lot when i injure my left thumb.
Greats of All Time have a trait that can’t easily be duplicated-they’re unorthodox enough to elevate the game out of traditional bounds! Hence the Williams sisters, MJ, Tiger, Babe, Federer, Bolt, Michael Johnson and others that will leave legendary footprints on sports!
There are many things that shooting coaches get wrong often, such as the claim that dipping is bad for your shot or that you must have your feet perfectly squared up to the basket. However, the no thumb flick rule makes sense and should still be taught to kids at a young age, as when they get older, most kids who start using their weak hand thumb on their shot will end up putting a weird spin on the ball thus ruining the path of the ball on their shot. Some shooters may have perfected the thumb flick, but it is not recommended and should be fixed ASAP if possible. The two reasons why Klay and Steph are such good shooters are because they are 1 motion shooters who shoot mid jump, rather than at the top of their jump, and because they both have extremely quick releases and have the ability to quickly square up to the basket and set themselves up for a shot.
shouldn't the main thing about shooting jumps shots is just shooting jump shots? ie practice, and practice more to get a consistent shot that you're comfortable with. steph and klay gives us a template where we could find our own comfortable mechanic in our shots
While I agree that there are many ways to achieve a reasonable jump shot, I think the quickest way for an amateur to improve his jump shot is to adopt Klay's approach and get your elbow under the ball. Once you get the ball going straight consistently, all you have to worry about is distance. I found that to get my elbow under the ball comfortably, I _had_ to turn my body. It really surprised me that Klay doesn't turn his body much.
G shit. Klay form is more relax compare to curry is more fluid motion, which is really hard cause you need to have a light, balance body. It amazing he is an Superstar like this cause being a light, balance body player is consider weak asf when it come to using your body to absorb strong hits. That why he is always being push around.
Its because currys shot is impossible to duplicate. Ignore thse people talking about currys body and how he shoots bricks. You seriously cant copy currys form. As you saw with the thumb flick he uses a specific amount of power to make shots he doesn't know what it is. Also sometimes curry is turned around and his feet are messed up yet he still makes his shots. It's completely impossible for a normal person to duplicate currys shot. Just copy Klays
Lin Lin Towns completely agree mate. Klay has the traditional shot, he pretty much perfected it. You wanna teach someone how to shoot, you show videos of Klay. And Steph is more unorthodox, even though his shots doesn’t look awkward at all: it’s so smooth.. no one can really replicate it, the man is just a genius And at the end both of their shots are so fluid, so effortless. Best backcourt in history
Practice and application are two closely-related but very different things. See it as a tadpole and a frog. There is a long tail on a tadpole that a frog doesn’t have. Thats the textbook examples and practices we all had to go through to become good at something. They serve only as guidelines and give us a general understanding on how something should be done. Eventually the tail will go away and we will have learned to do it on our own.
Thank you so much bec my form is exactly like steph curry and every makes fun of because of my shot even tho I’m constant.i thought it was bad to left hand flick bec I’m not strong enough to shoot with one hand only and the off just to guide I find it very uncomfortable for me to shoot like that
If you pause @3:31 you can clearly see that Kyries guide hand is off the ball. I saw the "thumb flick" a split second between 3:31 and 3:32 with his shooting middle finger being the last to come off the ball. Its like Kevin Durant doing a shimmy everytime he shoots a free throw. Get that guide hand up! Rigid! Fundamentals learn first! ( In my Yoda voice)
how about major similarities for the top 10/15 shooters? i think except for jj and klay no one shoots "textbook style (from the 70s)" because that's where it belongs and not on the court where you need biomechanically efficient shooting motions. different body types/heights etc. why durant and nowitzki are top shooters (kat, embiid, bosh are good shooters) even though they're as tall as drummond, whiteside, chandler, deandre jordan who can't hit a three to save their lives
There are more differences, Curry gets force from every little movement he makes while shooting. His lightning-quick release helps with that. That is one thing that allows him to get tons of power for a shot from way downtown. Curry's set shot form is below 90° in relation to his shoulder, and his forearm also bends in a degree smaller than 90. That allows him to get more power to shoot. If you take a close look in Steph's follow through, its not a straight line, it makes some sort of 'S' shape. That allows him to get a higher arc for his jumper.
If the video is you shooting you start from your hip. You need to bring your shot up massively from it's start point. Catching low isn't a problem but starting your movement from your hip means you have an extra 2 feet to get stripped.
This differences come from their player orientation. Klay is a catch up shooter. Curry is a dribble up shooter. He is small and he need quicker release. His body turns, cause he shoots from moving. I still think that MJ`s shot was the best form ever..But of course it is realy hard to shoot three pointers with it. Even with MJs wrist.
So basically with Stephen Curry mid air he adjust his wrist & shoulder vertical to the ball. What about his shoulder is it vertical to the rim as well or it doesn’t matter?
Steph did a whole summer working on his shot back when he was small because it was getting blocked alot because he didnt have a quick release now he can getting over anyone and has beautiful arc, Klays is just more prettier then steph's because klay is textbook and steph's is just fluid 1 motion
None because Steph relies on shot because he smaller and needs shoot over people and Steph creates his own shot while Klay is catch and shoot I would find it difficult to shoot with Klays shot If I had to shoot from far away with someone In my face
some shooter have long and crooked elbows. Did you ever heard of a person having rickets or knock knee. elbows do have rickets, bow elbow, knock elbows. Have any shooter place their arm flat on the the table and some elbows veer left right straight, deep high Just look at reggie miller, and shawn marion. Their elbows angle were so off
Scot shot I asked you this last video and you didn't respond, where did you find Steph's pregame shoot around in Houston from behind? The video link please.
i copied Steph's form for fun. But after a couple months of repetition, and changing my mechanics, I shoot the ball way better an my form is crisp js likes stephs
they both aim with their thighs as they jump. they don't catapult the shot like most NBA players...rather, their shot is merely a shotput with their distance determined by the upward motion of their thighs.. easy mechanics to master if properly executed.
Imitate Klay's form if you want to be a legendary catch and shoot type of player. Imitate Steph's if you want to be a legendary off the dribble shooter. Neither is better or worse, they just fit different play styles. This might sound weird to say given Curry is probably the best 3 point shooter ever, but I think Klay's is more consistent off the catch and shoot. But with his impeccable consistency comes the slight con of not being as versatile as Curry's since his is better at being able to adapt to a unique situation and still drain the 3. Not to say that Klay isn't a great shooter off the dribble or Curry is not a great off the catch shooter. They just slightly edge out each other in those different categories. And also obviously by "imitate" I don't mean copy exactly, I just mean incorporate certain elements of each player's respective form.
Both have a PhD in shooting they have put in yrs of school b4 u can shoot 3 good u must be a good free throw and mid range shooter why cuz it's the same shot no matter the spot meaning same form,jump height and release bad shooter change there shot great shooter make very small adjustment and always believe the next shot going in if they miss bad shooter will stop shooting if they miss like 4 out 5
theyre great shooters in general but we have so stop generalizing great shooting to just the 3 pointer. theyre the greatest 3point shooters in nba history, midrange shots are part of shooting as well
RaZdoT its different being guarded or just shooting in practice. obviously its easier to shoot closer shots but they would have more troublr getting off the perfect shot in midrange or traffic
