Inside the mind of a 3-point shooter
With the NBA’s 3-point shootout this past weekend, it had me thinking: What does it take to be a good shooter?
I caught up with three of the best in our area: Mountain View’s Davis Holly, Bend’s J.J. Spitler, and Summit’s Sarah Heinly, to find out.
There’s a saying for three-point shooters: if you’re on, shoot until you miss.
If you’re off, shoot until you make it.
That’s one credo the best gunners in our area believe in.
“You’ve got to know, in your mind, that every shot’s going to go in,” Mountain View’s Davis Holly said.” Even if it’s not going in, you’ve gotta think that way. And that will help your confidence a lot, which is big in shooting.”
Summit’s Sarah Heinly said, “Just keep shooting, because shooters go through slumps. So if you just keep shooting, you’ll find your rhythm again.”
Holly, Heinly and Spitler know a thing, or three, about dialing from long distance.
The most triples they’ve each made in a game is eight.
And when everything clicks, it’s a wonderful feeling to be in the zone.
“It’s hard to describe,” Heinly said. “You just feel like you can’t miss. The hoop just gets so much bigger. The ball gets so much smaller. It’s just effortless.”
Holly explained, “I think when you’re in the zone, you already know the shots are falling and everything. You’ve probably hit four or five in a row. And I think if it’s a heat check, you’re trying to see if you’re in the zone.”
The heat check varies for each shooter, but the concept is simple: if you’ve made two or three in a row, you’re shooting, no matter how far out you are.
“Coach will always give me that look, like, did I really just shoot that kind of thing?” Bend’s J.J. Spitler said. “Yeah, I kind of shrug my shoulders and pretend I didn’t hear him.”
Holly added, “I’ve never had Coach Reid to tell me to stop shooting.”
Spitter said, “If I’ve hit a couple, then I’ll just keep jacking it. If I’m not on, then I won’t obviously pull from super deep.”
If you give any of these shooters open space, you can bet that shot is going in.
