Me personally I look at the rim. But I can see why they look at the ball. So they know if it's going in the rim. Based on how smooth the release is, they could probably tell when it's going in or not from their experiences in practices.
it's a game changer for me trust me...I can't really explain what it does specifically but it did make me a better shooter!! Before I just look at the rim from start to finish, but when I tried shooting the ball then looking at the ball right after I released it, my shot really became smooth and more accurate, keep in mind I never noticed Steph and other elite shooters do this, but after figuring it out, I thought it really helps a lot in shooting, I think it'll work great for almost everyone!! But of course we can also name some elite shooters who don't do it
One mistery nobody has solved for me is the following: Nowadays, teams wear any jersey during games, but until around the 2000s, there used to be a home and visitor jersey. Home was always white. Except for the Lakers. Nobody has been able to explain me why the Lakers wore Gold instead of White at home. I'd be glad to get the answer from you Cosgrove
My coach in high school would get mad at me every time I looked at the ball when I shot. Idk sometimes i just like to watch the rotation or see the arc or just admire my shot that I worked hard for over the years.
Great shooters keep themselves sharp by checking their release-point and rotation regularly. Also drawing an imaginary line with your eyes from the rim to up to the path of the ball helps too.
I played QB too and I looked at the football after I threw it. I golfed too and I look at the ball after I hit it. I bass fish too, and I look at my rubber worm in the air after I cast it. I pitched and I looked at the baseball after I threw it.
It's not like it's a big deal, but if you can ask "Why watch the ball?", it makes as much sense to ask "Why watch the rim?" I mean the rim isn't going anywhere. If you look at the ball you get some initial feedback on how good the shot was; is it an airball, is it off center, was there not enough spin, etc. Not to mention Steph is a guy who is famous for the "look away 3", meaning often times he CAN tell whether the ball is going in the basket just based on how perfect the release, the arc and the rotation look/feel. Looking at the ball is objectively more useful to him than just staring at the rim for a couple of seconds.
My brother and I used to have our own one-on-one basketball league during the summer. We had twenty-two different NBA teams we played as, and played whole seasons/playoffs representing our teams. For example, I was always the Knicks/Suns/Raptors, and he was always the Thunder/Lakers/etc. We were pretty serious about it. The last two years we did it, I completely dominated him and the very last year we did it, I won as the championship as the New York Knicks. I knew I was going to win just by how much better I was than him that season, and I figured I would need to take a moment to myself like Dirk did. But, nope. I ended up jumping up and down in our driveway like Kobe and kissed the driveway before screaming "Anything is possible" like Kevin Garnett. Moral of the story is, when basketball is your life, like it was ours so many years ago, even when it's just one-on-one and pretend fun, emotions pour out unexpectedly. If you have kids that like basketball, introduce this one-on-one imaginary league like my brother and I had, doing that for years created such a strong bond and we still talk about it to this day.
excellent video, as always, but imo would like to see some more COSGROVE-esque content iykwim. this vid’s contents are definitely kinda more so for the “less-knowledgeable” nba fans that have never learned about these things yet but for the average cosgrove fan idk
feel like most above avg nba/basketball fans should know about the nick young meme origin & the ball vs rim, and a lot of the avg cosgrove subs know about the dirk moment
Its good to keep track of the ball once you release it, at that point whats the point of staring at just the rim. You want to see where it will land or if it goes left/right so you can go to or call where the ball is. Its a habit i see most shooters pick up early on, I do it mainly for rebounding purposes and it just became a habit. Some say they just like to watch the ball fly in the net
I was trained to look at the rim, but I’m gonna try looking at the ball flight just to see the difference, I never even thought about that as a variable tbh
1- You watch the ball to see how your form, release point, how the flick of the wrist, spin, etc. affected the shot, gathering information on what made that particular shot good or bad and what potential adjustments you might want to make on your next one. 2- You could predict where the ball is gonna bounce if it's gonna be a miss, giving yourself or your teammates a chance to get an offensive rebound if you can communicate that effectively in the moment. Elite players do this by feel and instinct, but if you're a young player trying to develop a shot you might want to notice these things consciously and analyze it to get better.
I'm 12 but always look at the ball after a jumper. I usually can tell if it's going in or out. If I tell it's in I will back away slowly but If i know it's out I will most likely attack the rim
Looking at the ball while shooting is the equivalent of turning the Nintendo controller while playing Mario Kart. It's an instinctive thing where people try and will the ball to go in with their mind.
Looking at the ball is not as controversial as some think. It has application in interpreting data. Once uniformity is achieved, the next step is looking at the end result, to you it's the rim. Klay and Steph look at it to study the flight of the ball. How their shot mechanics produce repeatable outcomes.
I look at the ball, I usually know if it's good or not at release that way... seems weird to me to look at the rim, i'll take a quick aim at the rim but at release I look at the ball and know quickly how to adjust by looking at ball flight for the next one.. if it's too strong or soft.
FACTS!!! agree it's really hard to explain, I used to be a ring watcher until I discovered watching the ball right after the release actually makes your shot more accurate and smoother, and I didn't even know Klay, Steph and other elite shooters do this....and then when I discovered they actually do the same thing, I was so amazed and convinced that it really helps your shooting
6:30 I was once a smooth shooter and played point guard and I do the ball stare 😂 I think we do that so we subconsciously can see how to improve in the future. Or maybe we are just admiring our craft. 😏
You need to watch the arc and trajectory of the ball to tell if it's going in. I'm doing it myself so I can say I can relate to them. It's effective though, especially high arching shots
