Shot Doc’s in town

One of the NBA’s top shooting coaches is in town and John Townsend might just be the difference maker in the way Talk ‘N’ Text and Meralco take shots in the PBA. Townsend arrived from the US last Sunday on Meralco assistant coach Joseph Uichico’s invitation. He’ll stay two weeks working with the Texters and Bolts on shooting technique.

Townsend was a full-time shooting coach with the Portland Trail Blazers for three years then moved to the Toronto Raptors. Of the NBA’s 30 teams, at least six maintain shooting coaches among whom are the Dallas Mavericks’ Gary Boren, the New York Knicks’ Dave Hopla, the Indiana Pacers’ Billy Keller and the San Antonio Spurs’ Chip Engelland.

Townsend’s list of students is impressive. Dwight Howard stands out like a sore thumb because if there’s anyone in the league who needs work on his stroke, it’s the 6-11 newly-recruited Houston Rocket. Others who’ve worked with Townsend include Kevin Durant, Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, LaMarcus Aldridge, James Jones, Martell Webster, Steve Blake and Tony Delk.

Townsend uses a training device called the STR8 SHOOTER which is strapped on a player’s wrist and hand. There are two straps in the instrument connected by a hinge. In Slamonline, Townsend said the device was created “to eliminate ulnar and radial deviation in your shooting wrist.” He continued, “Any kind of wrist movement to the outside or inside, left or right of your arm (is eliminated), by having a straight wrist, it will allow your shooting wrist to ‘hammer’ back in the shooting motion, like the hammer of a gun – if a shooter can achieve this hammering motion, more than likely his wrist is straight.” Townsend said the strongest part of the wrist is the outside and “keeping your shooting wrist straight will help in shooting the basketball straight (as) most players in general have their wrist slightly bent towards the outside.”

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Townsend has been a shooting coach for over 22 years and had a stint with Gonzaga University, which produced John Stockton, Adam Morrison, Dan Dickau and ex-PBA import Richie Frahm, before shifting to the NBA in 2002. While some shooting coaches stress the importance of BEEF (balance, eyes on the rim, elbow, follow-through) in finessing a stroke, Townsend said he’d rather focus on hand position and a straight wrist.

“The straight wrist will take care of a lot of your shooting woes, especially if you combine that with a hammer in your wrist during your shooting motion,” he said. “In my 22 years of experience, I have found that these two points will clean up almost every shot.”

Townsend said he has worked with over 100 NBA players, including two No. 1 overall picks, four All-Stars, a Rookie of the Year and a three-point champion. He has traveled to Ireland, England, Spain, Jordan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates to conduct shooting clinics.

“The first thing I’m going to look at when watching any player shoot a basketball is the basketball itself,” he said on Slamonline. “Does the ball go in? If so, case closed. No need for me. If the ball does not go in the basket, where does it go? Does the shot miss left? Does the shot miss right? Long? Short? Of those four different ways to miss, a shooter wants to do all he can to eliminate missing left and right. After watching the way the ball is missing the basket, I will next look at the shooter’s hand especially the hand position. When working with any shooter, I teach them about the center of the basketball. The center of every basketball is the air nozzle. That is where the shooter’s middle finger needs to be placed when shooting. Then, I look at the shooter’s wrist. What kind of position is the shooting wrist placed?”

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Chris Herring, writing in the Wall Street Journal, said “demand for shooting coaches has grown as giants who once played near the basket take more shots from afar…shooting ability is becoming more valuable as NBA defenses grow stingier thanks to more sophisticated film study.”

Since San Antonio hired Engelland in 2005, the Spurs have improved in shooting threes and free throws. In 2011-12, the Spurs were No. 1 in three-point shooting at .393 but this past season, dropped to .376, tying New York for fourth place behind Golden State’s .403, Miami’s .396 and Oklahoma City’s .377. In free throw shooting, the Spurs vaulted from No. 19 at .748 in 2011-12 to No. 3 this past season at .791 behind only Oklahoma City’s .828 and Dallas’ .793. Overall, San Antonio was tied with Oklahoma City at No. 2 in total field goal percentage with .481 behind only Miami’s .496.

Herring said “many of the sport’s top athletes are paying thousands for private off-season shooting workouts, raising the profile of shooting instructors.” Engelland, a PBA veteran with the Northern Cement guest team, has worked individually with players like Steve Kerr, Grant Hill, Shane Battier and Corey Maggette. He was hired as a shooting coach with the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets before moving to San Antonio. During the recent NBA Finals, Engelland’s teaching ability was the talk of San Antonio with the emergence of Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard as long-range bombers. Engelland has also been credited with Tony Parker’s improvement as a shooter.