Analyzing Justise Winslow’s broken jump shot, and how it can be fixed

What’s wrong with Miami Heat forward Justise Winslow’s jumper, and can it be fixed?

Inspired by this post by Scott Rafferty over at The Step Back, I went back and watched all 35 of Justise Winslow’s 3-pointers from this past season to get to the bottom of whether or not he could make a similar improvement to Kawhi Leonard in terms of perimeter shooting.

Winslow had been working with shooting coach Rob Fodor before undergoing shoulder surgery that sidelined him for the season after playing in just 18 games. However, the Miami Heat didn’t see an improvement in Winslow’s limited time. He made just 20 percent of his 3-pointers, compared to 27.6 percent in his rookie season.

Winslow had been dealing with wrist and shoulder injuries that may have thrown him off, but my research indicates that Winslow’s issue was not with his upper body, but with his lower body.

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Winslow positions the ball well enough, releasing from in front of his face with his forearm generally straight, his shoulders generally squared to the rim (though there are inconsistencies).

It’s his lower body that gets wacky. He moves his feet around too much before getting the ball–which might be a nervous tick–so he doesn’t establish balance going into the shot.

Just look at this shot against the Spurs in October. Winslow’s feet are all over the place. They are less than shoulder-width apart at the point he knows he’s about to get the kickout from Dion Waiters, then spread wayyyy too much apart as he receives the ball. He slides them back together as quickly as he can, but it’s a process that takes so long that Kyle Anderson is able to close out, and Winslow launches an unbalanced shot that clanks off the side of the rim.

Winslow had two months to work on his jumper before his surgery. However, as we see from this clip from his last game, he still has the same issue. Same old song and dance.

It’s like his lower body and upper body are moving separate of each other. He also has a tendency to push his right knee inward while keeping his left knee straight… which is probably either a bad habit or the result of over thinking.

In his second season, Winslow added a little jump at the beginning of his motion, a popular tool for players to establish balance at the start point of their shooting motion. But, that’s often where Winslow goes wrong. His tendency to kick his feet out throws off his base.

Now compare that to Leonard’s shooting motion, via Rafferty’s post:

Leonard maintains the same width of his base, his form has little-to-no wasted motion. His catch-to-shoot time is quicker than Winslow’s, and his motion is smoother.

For Winslow to become a better perimeter shooter, he needs to tighten up the start of his motion and establish consistency. If he can do that, his shot will look better–whether it’s catch-and-shoot or off-the-dribble–and his efficiency will follow. It’s not that he needs more time to get his shot off, either, as he’s just shooting just 20 percent on what NBA.com labels “wide-open” 3s.

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It’s unfair that Winslow has been compared to Leonard since he entered the league, but Leonard’s shooting motion is something he can aspire to.