Foul Shot Video

Drill #1- (Upper Body) Arm Curl

How to:  When standing in the standing position, holding the dumbbell with your palms up, the dumbbell is lifted until the elbow is completely flexed and then returned to the starting position.  When choosing the appropriate weight for the curls you need to be able to control each movement.  If you choose a lower weight, complete more reps in each set.  If you choose a higher weight, complete less reps in each set.

Drill #2- (Core) Abdominal Curl-up

Core exercises are important in order to maintain a strong body, specifically the body's pelvis and torso area. This area is a base of strength that stretches out to the abdomen, lower back and hips.

How to:  From the supine position, lying on the floor, forearms crossed and lying across the chest.  Flex knees at approximately 90 degrees along with the hips flexed as well.  Flex your trunk up to the curl-up position and continue repeatedly until exhaustion or have a numerical value for each set.

Drill #3- (Lower Body) Standing Lunges

Lunges are very important for the lower extremities of your body and can be used for many types of activities especially are important for activities including jumping.  As you can see in the movement phase of the foul shot the jumping and power to get the ball to the basket was solely the power of the leg muscles.

How to:  Slowly step forward with one leg allowing both knees to flex so that the thigh of the forward leg is parallel to the floor and the knee of the rear leg touches the floor, or close to the floor. Then, slowly push off with forward leg to return to the starting position. If this movement is too difficult to perform due to weakness, do not perform the full movement.  By doing these lunges slowly, you can increase the intensity. 

Stance

General Instructions:  Spread your legs/feet shoulder width apart. Split your stance where your dominant foot is slightly in front of your nondominant foot. Your feet want to be approximately 5-10 inches away from the foul line. Bend your knees, keeping them soft and drop your butt where most of your weight is driving through the heels of your feet.  The ball will be given to you when your feet/legs are in the ready position.  Hold the ball while remaining relaxed.  Basically fundamental positioning.

Shoulder Girdle:  Slightly adducted (retracted) using your rhomboids and middle/lower fibers of trapezius muscles to maintain the shoulders back/proper posture, and straight back.  Also might be have depression using your trapezius and pectoralis minor.
Shoulder Joint:  No movement.  Your shoulder joint in this phase are more relaxed and waiting for the next phase of the movement.
Elbow/ Radioulnar Joint:  Concentrically contract triceps brachii and anconeus to allow for relaxed flexion of bilateral elbow joints.  Neutral grip of your bilateral radioulnar joint will cause activation of your brachioradialis.
Hip Joint/Pelvic Girdle:  No movement.
Knee Joint:  Slight flexion of your knee will cause little eccentric contraction of your quadireps muscles.

Routine and Set

General Instructions:  Foul shots are important in basketball because it is a time where there is no defender and it takes extreme concentration.  Everyone has their own game routine for their preparation before making the shot. A simple technique to warm you put prior to shooting is the following- Dribble ball in front of you three times. While dribbling move/shake your legs to get warmed up.

Shoulder Girdle:  While dribbling the basketball your dominant abduct(protraction) using your serratus anterior and pectoralis minor as you push the ball towards the ground and adduction (reaction) using your rhomboids and middle and lower fibers of your trapezius as your shoulder/arm recoil to recieve the ball from the bounce.
Shoulder Joint: Concentric and eccentric contractions will allow for horizontal abduction and adduction of the shoulder joint to dribble the basketball.  These contractions will be caused as by the pushing and recieving of the ball.
Elbow/ Radioulnar:  Concentric contraction of biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis to flex the elbow as you recieve the ball from the bounce and concentric contraction of the triceps brachii and anconeus muscles.
Hip Joint/ Pelvic Girdle:  Slight flexion of the pelvic girdle allows that shoulder width stance, sitting back in the heels of your feet position.
Knee Joint:  When dribbling your knees will be warming up as well therefore you will have multiple flexion and extension of the knee joints to warm up those muscles for the actual shot.  When flexing your knee on the lowering phase you will be using your rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, and vastus lateralis.  When extended you will need the same muscles however it'll be a concentric contraction.

Preparation

General Instructions:  After the third dribble maintain that initial stance position, drop down where your knees are flexed and your weight is going through the heels of your feet. Think of your lower body as if you were attempting to do a squat. Bring the ball up to be ready for the shot. The hand placement on the ball with your dominant hand behind the front of the ball and the non-dominant hand on the side with light grip to guide you through the follow through. Your dominant elbow will be flexed approximately 90 degrees with will also flex your shoulder. The non-dominant arm will be relaxed to allow that hand to guide.

Shoulder Girdle:  When returning to stance position your shoulder girdle will maintain that posture/straight back adduction using your rhomboids and middle/lower fibers of your trapezius. As you bring the ball up in front of your head, you will have bilateral upward rotation using your middle/lower trapezius  and serratus anterior muscles of your shoulder girdles.  These will be concentric contractions.
Shoulder Joint:  When returning to your set position your bilateral shoulder joints will be flexed to about 90 degrees.  The muscles you will be using to flex your shoulder joint at approximately 90 degrees are the pectoralis major upper fibers and deltoid anterior fibers.
Elbow/ Radioulnar Joints:  Flexion of your elbow will activate biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachradialis.  Since you will be holding the ball towards the basket this will be radiounlar pronation which will be activating your pronator teres and pronator quadratus of your dominant hand.  The non dominate hand (shown as the Left in the picture) will be in the neutral position and this will be using the brachioradialis.
Hip Joint/ Pelvic Girdle:  Flexion of your hip to get that mid squat position will cause eccentric contraction of your gluteus maximus, semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris.
Knee  Joint:  Flexion of the knee causes eccentric contraction of the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, and vastus lateralis which all comprised your quadriceps.