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Revision as of 23:35, 7 February 2007
- Main article: Basketball moves
In basketball, a jump shot is an attempt to score a basket by jumping, usually straight up, and, mid-flight, propelling the ball in an arc into the basket. It is done so by the player bringing his or her elbow up until it is aligned with the hoop, then sent towards the hoop in a high arc. It is considered the easiest shot to make from a distance. The purpose of the jump is to make it more difficult for the defender to block.
In American colloquial slang, a jump shot can be called a "jumper" or a "j".
The jump shot originated in the United States with players in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the NBA's early days, most players attempted field goals with both feet planted on the ground, a technique now known as a "set shot". Paul Arizin, a Philadelphia Warriors player in the early 1950s, was the first to perfect the jump shot. Over time, many players starting copying his jump shot, and it has become the most prevalent technique for shooting from the field.
Today, the jump shot has many varieties, such as the "turnaround jumper" (facing away from the basket and then spinning towards it and shooting), the "fadeaway" (jumping away from the basket to create space) or the "leaning jumper" (jumping towards the basket to move away from a trailing defender).
Because a defender often has to jump to block a jump shot, an offensive player can try to get his defender in the air at the wrong time by using a pump fake.
Reference
- Paul Arizin bio. NBA.com. Accessed February 7, 2007.