Damian Lillard became the icon of deep range shooting during the 2019-2020 season when he earned the nickname "Logo Lillard".

Reading Damian and his trainer's description of their training I learned that he not only worked on power before precision as we already discussed in Epiphany #3, but also that he changed his definition for a made shot - setting the expectation to only count perfect swishes!

He would make 300 to 500 swishes per day from really deep range, with the strategy of being able to shoot wide open shots beyond where a defender would be willing to guard him.

My study of deep range shooting started during COVID in March to December of 2020, Developing what would become the Confidence Formula program with the Range Amplifier as one of the 12 modules for that framework.

Pulling on the thread of what Lillard had done, I delved deep into the details of how different trainers were working on precision - specifically the fingertip release point.

I had always been trained as a player, and taught players for all of my coaching career - that the index finger was the best single release point - with the theory being what you point at is where your hand and eye coordination is best coordinated.

What I learned from reading about several NBA trainers, started with Damian Lillard. Reading about the incredible performance he had, and following that trail I found that it works better if you release the ball off of two fingers - the middle and index finger.

Railroad Tracks

The analogy I like to use is "railroad tracks" - we want the ball to roll straight off your hand, and coming off of two fingers is a lot more likely to be straight.

As I studied that more, I also came to the conclusion that anatomically the center point between those two fingers is perfectly aligned with your forearm. This means that whatever your arm is doing, those two fingers are most likely to follow that trajectory.

Epiphany #5 is: The 2 Finger Follow-Through!

Stacking the two finger follow-through on top of starting the ball at the chin, and finishing with elbow to eyebrow - the two finger follow-through became an obvious, necessary piece to complete the whole picture.

To be a Sniper you want a long barreled weapon, something that gives guidance and precision to your projectile for as long and straight of a path as possible.

If you compare a sniper rifle with a short-barreled pistol, the accuracy over long range is incredibly different. Even if you had a fantastic start to your shot, and a great elbow to eyebrow form, if the ball came off of any of your fingers - it could send it wildly off target!

If you can consistently use a 2 finger follow-through, and mentally challenge yourself to increase your expectation for what defines a made shot, you can stack power with precision, and achieve incredible results in both range and accuracy.

And that is how the Sniper System was born!

Next I will explain how I now think about remodeling as the best analogy for improving shooting...

See you on the court,
Coach BJ

​P.S. Ready to get started? Sign up here: https://www.playpracticebasketball.com/sniper