Does Lifting Weights Affect Basketball Shooting Accuracy?

     What Does This Article Cover?

• • There is a myth that weightlifting affects a basketball player’s jump shot.

• • Research debunks this myth with one slight consideration.

• • Strength training programs show improvements in shooting accuracy through improved mechanics, coordination, stability, jumping ability, and endurance.

• • Research does show a decrease in shooting accuracy for 30 minutes after an upper body workout. This effect disappears after 30 minutes.

• • General recommendations are provided to optimize strength training relative to basketball shooting.

• • Precision Performance and Therapy rehabilitates and creates individualized rehab and sports performance programs in Meridian, Idaho.

Understanding the Myth

The common misconception that I hear from basketball parents and players when it comes to strength programs for basketball players is that lifting weights, especially lifting upper body, messes up or affects the players basketball shooting accuracy. In theory, it would make sense. If you lift weights, you can be tired and that will affect shooting. If you lift weights, you will get bulky and that will affect shooting. If you lift weights, it will make you stiff and that will affect shooting. These concerns often prevent athletes from fully committing themselves to essential strength training routines that are crucial for overall performance improvement.

Here is What the Research Says

Current research shows an overall positive relationship between strength training and basketball shooting accuracy. Targeted strength training improves shooting performance through improved muscular stability, coordination, and improved endurance. Studies show that players who performed strength training programs utilizing weights, battle ropes, and plyometrics improved their shooting accuracy as a result of the strength program. Players endurance also improved as a result of the strength programs which led to improvements in not just stationary shooting, but also dynamic shooting when on the move.

Now while strength training resulted in improved shooting accuracy over the course of a training program, I can’t walk away without giving the “lifting weights changes my shot” thinking individuals one little win (a very little win, but still a little win). There is some evidence that there is small temporary reduction in two-point and three-point shooting accuracy for 30 min following an upper-body lifting session. This reduction was no longer present 30 min after the training session, and this has been reinforced with other research that has shown no drop in shooting accuracy 6 hours after whole body training sessions.

To top it all off, the available research also shows that weightlifting does not alter important shooting mechanics such as joint angles or ball flight trajectory.  

Here is Why Strength Training Improves Basketball Shooting Accuracy

To truly understand why strength training improves shooting accuracy, you would really have to understand the mechanics of shooting. And when I say the mechanics of shooting, I am talking from a strength and human performance perspective and not just an arm position, wrist position, release at high point of jump type of view. In this article, I won’t get into the specifics of it, but here are some of the general areas that strength training can influence shooting accuracy.

• Sport specific strength training improves sport specific strength. Improved strength can influence shooting velocity and force. When shooting velocity and shooting force increase there is an associated decrease in accuracy. Increases in force and velocity can occur because of a lack of strength of an athlete or because of an increase in distance for the shot (ex. two-point vs three-point shot). When shooting distances increase, there is a need for increase in shooting force and to make up for this increase in the necessary force, there can often be a lowering of the release angle of the shot (a flatter shot). A lowering of the release angle outside of the ideal leads to a decreased room for error and decreased success in making a shot. Improving strength can lead to improved shooting velocity and force.

• Sport specific strength training improves coordination. Accurately shooting a basketball consistently requires a consistent coordinated pattern of movement from the ground up through the body. Strength programs lead to improving the skill of coordinating movement in the muscles, limbs, joints, and brain.

• Sport specific strength training improves stability and body control. Whether it is coming off a screen or dealing with a defender, most of the shots in basketball will require an additional element of stability and body control to improve accuracy. For a defender to cause a miss, all they have to do is disrupt a shooter just a little. If they can disrupt a shot by just a little, then the accuracy decreases significantly. The better stability and body control, with and without external influences a shooter can maintain, the more accurate they will be.

• Sport specific strength training improves jumping ability. An important area for a shooter is a higher and more consistent release point. A higher release point can have a positive influence on release angle (and thus influencing release force). A higher release point can make a shooter harder for a defender to disrupt. Strength programs, especially ones that incorporate plyometrics and similar exercises can lead to improvements in release points because of improvements in jumping ability.

• Sport specific strength training improves endurance. Basketball shooting accuracy declines when fatigued with accuracy decreasing as fatigue levels elevate. Strength programs improve endurance and increase a players capacity to perform activity prior to significant levels of fatigue occur.

Recommendations for Basketball Players

1. Optimize the Timing of Workouts: Perform shooting workouts before strength training or schedule upper-body workouts at least 30 minutes before practices, games, or shooting sessions to allow for the temporary muscle fatigue to return to normal.
2. Prioritize Technique: Make sure shooting sessions focus on proper shooting mechanics and form through consistent and dedicated practice.
3. Implement Sport Specific Exercises: Incorporate sport specific strength training exercises designed to enhance basketball specific activities and potentially improve the shooting, especially long-range shooting. 

Train Confidently at Precision Performance and Therapy

At Precision Performance and Therapy in Meridian, Idaho, we encourage basketball athletes to confidently integrate weightlifting into their training regimens. Our evidence-based programs are designed to enhance your overall athletic performance without compromising and even potentially enhancing your shooting accuracy.

Don’t let myths hold you back from achieving peak performance. Discover how sports performance training in Meridian, Idaho at Precision Performance and Therapy can help you balance strength training and shooting proficiency for maximum results.

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Contact us today and start training smarter with sports performance training in Meridian, Idaho!

Don’t let myths hold you back from achieving peak performance. Discover how sports performance training in Meridian, Idaho at Precision Performance and Therapy can help you balance strength training and shooting proficiency for maximum results.