Indiana Basketball: Romeo Langford, ping pong paddle, and improvements on his shot

Adjustment One

Langford’s shot can change from possession to possession based on the kind of shot he is taking, as the next two examples show you just how inconsistent the young guard can be in different situations.

That looks like a clunky, painful shot.

That shot looks a lot more smooth and effortless.

So why does such a disparity exist between these to instances? There’s a few reasons.

Take a look at this video of Kobe Bryant, a player with a two-motion, over-the-head release like Romeo Langford.

Kobe releases the ball from the same spot above the head, but his shot looks nice and smooth. Why?

First, Kobe is what we call an arm shooter, meaning his arm snapping forward powers the ball more than the flick of his wrist. Romeo is a wrist shooter, which is just the opposite. Kobe’s arm is at a 45 degree angle, while his wrist is hardly bent at all. Romeo’s arm and wrist are about 90 degrees each. There is nothing wrong with either one of these methods; it is all about comfort, and there are great shooters who fall in both categories.

However, a wrist shooter should not place the ball as far over their head as Langford does. It creates a lot of extra motion that needs to be simplified. Look at the set point of Klay Thompson, another wrist shooter:

Additionally, it is apparent from the videos of Romeo Langford shooting at Celtics’ practice that they are working on moving his set point more in front of his face:

It may take a while for him to adjust and succeed with this new method, but it should be worth it in the long run.