In order to win games you must learn the art of putting the ball through the basket. In basketball today every player must be a scorer. A basketball team of five scorers keeps the defense alert. The defense must watch all five men instead of concentrating on one or two high-scoring players. The many defensive tactics used today can play havoc with a team of one or two scorers. Very seldom are there five players of equal scoring ability, but every player must be a scoring threat. Basketball and Shooting - Good marksmanship can be taught but it takes practice. And more practice! And more practice! Do not expect perfection in a game if you have not tried for it during practice! Good shooters in high school today hit as high as 40% of their shots. This achievement has been brought about by the development of the one-hand shot and the jump shot. Not too many years ago it was considered good shooting if a player made one out of three shots.....

Have you ever noticed that some ballers seem to shine compared to other ballers? There are some special, dominate Hoopers that just seem to separate themselves from the rest of the Pack. Are You one of them? Do fans come to watch YOU Play? Or do they come to see one of your teammates? I just received an email from one of my special ballers that bought by Go Basketball PRO System and he had a very basic Question? Rali, what are the most Essential Skills All Star Ballers Master? And here is the answer...

The body is kept straight. Follow-through of underhand foul shot. Eyes are focused on the front rim of the basket. The body now straightens out, with the heels of the feet barely off the floor, and the arms follow through with the palms facing the basket. Use a medium arc for the shot without depending on the backboard. Once you learn the correct method, practice it until it becomes mechanical. Some of the common errors that occur in making the shot are: 1.Over-emphasizing the knee bend, which results in carrying the ball almost to the floor. 2.Leaning forward with the throw which causes the shooter to lose balance. 3.Lifting and throwing the ball, instead of depending on wrist action and fingertip control. The underhand toss is essentially a wrist shot.

To the Basketball World: This is the second of two articles examining six generally believed instructions that are being used to teach basketball shooting. These include the first three -- squaring up, elbow under the ball, and wrist flipping -- which were covered in Article #1. Now let's look at three more "myths" of shooting and how they are taught and what else might be effective.

(4) "SHOOTING AT THE TOP OF THE JUMP" - Shooting at the top of the jump is another of those instructions that isn't helping shooting. It's an effective weapon ... if you can do it. But it's very difficult because all you have is upper body to power the shot. Also, it gets more difficult the further back you are, as the target gets smaller and smaller. Few athletes can shoot well this way all the time.

Did you see JR Smith's Alley Oop-Dunk against the Wizards last week? The 6'6'' Denver Nugget went so high, his head was almost at the rim level! What about his dunk on Dikembe Mutombo or Jason Maxiell? By now these are youtube-classics.Since his appearance in the 2005 NBA Slam Dunk Contest everybody knows JR got hops. Then he finished third behind Amare Stoudemire and the winner Josh Smith. JR Smith aka The Prodigy impressed the crowd with a sick "behind-the-back" dunk, that no one has ever done in the history of the dunk contest. In case you ask yourself: JR Smith has a 44-inch vertical leap! You may think now: Well, that's great for him, but what can I do to dunk a basketball? How can I increase my vertical leap?

To the Basketball World: Please, let's examine the generally believed instructions for shooting a basketball. There are at least six common instructions used by most coaches, and I'll address them in two articles. Three of the rules are that (1) you must "SQUARE UP" to shoot, (2) you should have the "ELBOW DIRECTLY UNDER THE BALL," and (3) "WRIST FLIPPING" is the way to release the ball.

MAY I SUGGEST NONE OF THOSE THINGS ARE TRUE? I've been researching and studying shooting for over 18 years and I keep running into these old "myths" of shooting. They've been taught to kids for decades and still shooting is in the dumpster at all levels of the game. Have you ever thought that maybe they are part of the reason for the decline in shooting?

As a young player I could score in a variety of ways. I was a great shooter, driver and finisher when I was given or created the opportunity for myself. I was a shooting guard in a point guard body and I knew that if I wanted to play major college basketball I would need to truly become a point guard. This transition was not an easy one. As a shooting guard, I had it easy. The other team would score and I would run down to the other end and try to get the ball. I didn't call the plays or even have to look and see what they were. That changed the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school. I was learning to play point guard and I learned something about myself. I hated to be pressured 85 feet from the basket....

I love to start my articles with a story and this one is no different. I used to go to every University of Utah practice that I could possibly go to. Besides learning all sorts of new words from Rick Majerus, I got to sit in and really watch how one of the best coaches in the business practiced. He worked those kids very hard. When I signed with the University of Utah I knew exactly what I was in for because I had attended so many practices already.

One day at practice, Coach Majerus was doing a drill that was created to show how a player would stop a fast break on defense. It was important enough for him to spend a half hour on it and is a very important skill that players can develop. Players got in line at mid-court, out of bounds, and on both sides. Another group of guards were standing at the foul line extended. A coach would create a rebound and throw the outlet pass to a guard and it was the defenses job to stop the ball. I don't know how many of you have tried to stop someone that is coming at you full speed while dribbling. It is near impossible.