Pro Shot is a shooting aid that is supposed to help keep finger spacing consistent for better results while shooting and ball handling. The band itself is made of neoprene so unlike a similar shooting aid, the Pro Shot can be worn in-game and it’s actually comfortable to use.
I’ll be straight up with you–and I’ve said this before–you don’t need anything to make you a better shooter. Proper coaching and training is all that you truly ‘need’. However, this thing does actually help keep you consistent which is exactly what it was intended to do.
If you have improper shooting mechanics, or you just happen to be a poor shooter, the Pro Shot will not provide you with that magic touch you’ve been searching for. Again, proper coaching and training will take care of that. If you’ve already been trained to shoot, or you have the proper shooting mechanics in place – proper form, release, and follow through – then the Pro Shot will help keep you consistent due to muscle memory. You can have all the mechanics down, but if your finger spacing isn’t correct then your release will be compromised. Wearing the band ensures that finger spacing is correct at all times thus increasing your chances of having an optimal shot every time.
Something that it also can help you with is ball handling. Keeping the fingers properly spaced ensures you’re dribbling the ball at the tips of the fingers and that your hand is always spread so you’re always in control of the rock.
They do take a little getting used to, but once you start playing the feeling of wearing something foreign goes away rather quickly.
My only complaint about them is that once you start playing you start sweating. At times the band would be a little too wet with sweat and I’d lose the ball when setting up to shoot quickly. I suppose this could also be considered a good thing as it forced me to keep the ball off my palm and more on the tips of my fingers…something my shooting coach always used to remind me about. If there were a way to counter or control moisture a little better it would be more than welcomed.
I like them and I usually don’t like anything that claims to help make you a better shooter – only because I know that hard work is all you really need to achieve that goal. They’re only $9.99, so if you wanted to try them out it won’t leave a huge dent in your wallet.
If you’re interested, you can grab the ProShot HERE.
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Have you tried the ShotLoc? It looks like the desired result is similar with promoting muscle memory and proper shooting release by spacing the fingers. My sons use the ShotLoc and have liked it but with your review of the ProShot we may give it a try too.
ShotLoc is a little too bulky for me, and you can’t wear them in a game legally, but they get the same results. Just depends on which product you’d rather use.
I ordered one just to try it out. So far I feel like it has helped me better my finger spacing for my jumper. For the price it’s not a bad tool to have especially if you just want to clean up your shot.
the thing that i don’t really get is that finger spacing is only one part, and far from the most important one, of your jump shot, it’s a lot more important to know how to get your legs into your shot, how to keep your elbow in so you have the shot straight and under control, when to lock your wrist, how to find a release point that is comfortable for you and that doesn’t compromise the power of your shot, how to make the shot fluid so you don’t lose the force from your legs and aren’t using your arms to throw the ball at the basket, the importance of your eyes, of totally relaxing your shoulders so you have a tension-free release, of getting your alignment right so your shooting arm is pointing towards the basket…
and most importantly, following through properly so you know what you’re doing wrong when your shot is veering to the left or right…
of course having your fingers spaced is important so that the ball doesn’t roll around and you have the ball perfectly balanced and coming straight off your fingers, but that doesn’t seem like a major problem that poor shooters usually have, the problem that i notice most often with people on courts who shoot badly (and this is pretty much everybody who hasn’t been coached or sought to perfect their shot, which is pretty much everybody), is that they have no idea what a jumpshot is really supposed to feel like, a lot of people think it’s all muscle and strength instead of finesse and coordination…i mean, that’s why it’s good to have guys like steph curry around now, hopefully he makes people see that shooting the ball involves everything from the toes upwards, not a whole lot of muscle to heave the ball at the basket (which is what westbrook and rose tend to do sometimes)
and then there are people who don’t even have a jumpshot to begin with, but use a ‘push’ shot their whole lives (a set shot that is launched at the basket by pushing the legs off the ground at the same time as the ball)…
so i kinda feel like this is a pretty expensive tool to correct a rather minute element of shooting the basketball….seems cheap, and i actually have one that somebody gave me, but the form problems that i have when my legs get tired or when i’m lazy, those have to be corrected with painful training, thousands of repetitions and mindfulness
sorry for the long post, i’m somebody who’s obsessed with shooting and perfecting the jumpshot, also somebody who has spent a long time changing my mechanics, because i grew up watching jordan and kobe and thought that that’s what a jumpshot is supposed to look like (which resulted in me always fading and jumping as high as i can to ‘hang’ in the air before releasing the ball)…too bad i wasn’t watching the likes of steve kerr and mark price more closely, or even watching my all-time idol, allen iverson, and studying his shooting form more closely rather than trying to copy his crossover all the time…
i think if folks really wanna figure out how to fix their jumper, this tool might help, but really watching lots of great shooters (and we are blessed to have the likes of durant, curry, harden, lillard, performing on the biggest stage for us to watch and scrutinize nightly) and checking out the likes of pro shot and shot mechanics will help a lot
oh yeah, and the guide hand, if there was a tool that forced young players to take their guide hand off the ball at exactly the right moment in the release, that would be a lot more useful than this, i think…
You’re misunderstanding what this is for, much like your misunderstanding on proper form & technique looked like at one time. If you dont like it and dont wish to use it then cool. but as a trained shooter, its a useful tool. Not needed, just useful. Thats all the review stated and I’ll stick by it. Its useful. Not need. Useful. Not needed.
i get you, my man, my problem is that a lot of kids (like the kids around my way who are all lining up to buy a shotloc online) think that it will magically improve their shot, but it’s not going to help them if they don’t fix their fundamental mechanics first…if you read my post properly you wouldn’t be so quick to assume that i am knocking your review, in effect i come to the same conclusions about hard work and coaching…i have no doubt that it is useful, like i said i have the product myself, though the usefulness is very specific and very restricted
I didn’t think you were knocking the review. I was just saying that while you don’t find it useful, it can be to those that may want a bit more contrariety in this area. ShotLoc is a piece of junk though. Keeps the fingers space, but prohibits natural movement/ flow.
the thing looks like brass knuckles or something, haha
can’t we all just get along?? jk.
i agree with both of y’all. kinda like saying wearing Air Jordans won’t help you become a better baller. you guys have probably seen this already but it’s Kyle Korver’s checklist for his jumper.
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/02/kyle-korver-has-an-exhaustive-20-point-checklist-to-determine-how-good-his-shot-it/
you practice all this enough, it becomes muscle memory. Pro-Shot helps with “Fingers spread.” check!
Night wing, can you do a product performance review on the Powerhandz Basketball Anti Grip Gloves? It looks like a very, very interesting upcoming product.
Can you email me a link? Never heard of them before. Just use the contact page.
What size did you use?