Damian Lillard has explained how he practices his long-range shooting, revealing that he requires himself to make five consecutive deep shots without the ball touching the rim.
The veteran NBA guard said he typically performs the drill toward the end of his workouts, when fatigue makes it more difficult to maintain proper shooting technique.
“Usually I do these shots at the end of my workouts ’cause, like, I’m a little tired, and it challenges me to kind of shoot, I guess, more disciplined, sharper shots if you’re going to shoot them from this deep. And you got to be able to still shoot the ball high so I shoot them at the end.”
Lillard also explained that he practices shooting from different positions and receiving passes from both sides, rather than relying on momentum to generate power.
“And usually I shoot them from, like, a standstill position, without momentum. I shoot them where they passing the ball to me from my left, passing from my right.”
The drill involves moving across five positions along the perimeter and making each attempt before repeating the sequence in the opposite direction.
“And we also do it to where, like, I have to make five in a row. So I’ll go, you know, wing, slot, top, slot, wing across with the ball being passed one way, and then I’ll go back the other way, you know, making them in a row.”
However, Lillard does not count every successful shot. If the ball hits the rim before going in, he considers the attempt unsuccessful and continues working toward five clean makes.
“So if it rattles in, I don’t count it. I only count the clean makes. So it just kind of gets you to the point where, like, you able to shoot this shot consistently and expect it to go in.”
