How To Shoot a Basketball

How to shoot a basketball:

I have played basketball for almost eleven years and I have seen some crazy ways to shoot, but my father taught me how to shoot and now I'm going to tell you. 

The first step is to put the ball on your fingertips and lift up the same arm to a 90º angle, bent at the elbow, next to your head. You don't want to put it in front of your face because then you cannot see, which is a problem on the court. Your feet and shoulder should be squared to the goal.

Secondly, you need a guide hand. A guide hand is the opposite hand that does not have the ball. You use it only for support and protection, not power for shooting, this is where some people go wrong. You put this hand on the side of the basketball and guide it to the direction of the rim. 

The next step is to actually shoot the ball. You should bend your knees and jump. How high? Well it depends. If you are close to the goal the not too high, but the further away, the higher you jump. Once you reach your highest point, the guide hand stops going up while the hand with the ball keeps going. Your hand, the one with the ball, should be a little above your  head and when it is, you flick your wrist. 

When you finish your shot, your feet and shoulders should still be squared to the goal, wrist should be flicked, guide hand should be down, and your shooting arm should not be straight up, it should be a little in front of your face. 

It should look like this right before you shoot:

Looks like this when you shoot: 

And then take a look at yourself when you finish. Where's your feet? Shoulders? Is my wrist flicked? Did I use my guide hand for power or support? If you realize you did anything wrong, then shoot again and again until you are comfortable with it and it become muscle memory. Here's a tip for you, don't get frustrated with yourself, everyone misses shots.