It’s not an exaggeration to say that Kyle Korver is having the greatest shooting season in NBA history. Other players have joined the 50/40/90 club (50 percent shooting from the field, 40 percent from three, 90 percent from the free-throw line), but he’s on pace to become the first player ever to put up a 50/50/90 line. His True Shooting percentage (a metric that takes free throws into account as well as field goals) is an insane 74.3. Numbers in the 70s are only sniffed by big men who finish around the basket, and Korver is taking 5.3 threes per game, many of which are contested.
So it’s no surprise, then, that Korver has an incredibly detailed process when it comes to approaching a shot that’s as accurate as anyone’s has ever been. From USA Today‘s Jeff Zillgitt:This season is as close as Korver has felt to taking the same shot every time. “This is the best I’ve ever shot, for sure,” he said. “There’s a lot of reasons for it. As you get older, you should just become a better shooter. You’ve shot more shots.”
Korver has a 20-point checklist that helps him determine how sound his shot is. “It’s things I’ve identified that are keys to my shot,” Korver said.- Wide stance.
- Exaggerated legs.
- Drop through heels.
- Engage core.
- Slight bend at waist.
- Up strong.
- Elbow straight.
- One hand.
- Fingers spread.
- Slight pause.
- Elbow up.
- Land forward.
- See the top of the rim.
- Ball on fingertips.
- Strong shot.
- Shoulders forward and relaxed.
- Ball and arm risen straight.
- Hold the follow through.
- Keep the release point high.
- On turns, square shoulders.
The entire feature is worth reading — there’s lots of great background about Korver’s process, his history, and his fit with this seemingly unbeatable Atlanta Hawks team. But the 20-point checklist is a neat thing to see laid out in writing as a standard for shooting.