John Wall And His Follow Through

After writing this piece on John Wall on Friday, I spent a lot of time on Synergy Sports studying video and trying to figure out some of Wall's problems offensively. One major problem, of course, is that he's currently shooting an abysmal 22 percent on jumpers from 16-23 feet. All quick point guards need to have that shot in their arsenal to keep the defense honest and open up driving lanes to the basket, and Wall is very far away from having it.

Any time you're shooting that poorly from that distance, there are many problems with your shooting motion. However, I noticed one element in particular that Wall can easily clean up that should improve his percentage: his follow through.

Coaches tell you from a young age that it's important to hold your follow through on your jump shots instead of pulling it back too quickly. It's a small thing that makes a huge difference in the trajectory of the ball. And yet, while watching Wall shoot, he really has issues holding that follow through all the time.

Take a look at these three shots. (Apologies for the demo version of ScreenFlow flashing over the screen. Hopefully, you can still see these shots).

On all three of these, Wall is holding his follow through, and the shot went in. Now, compare that motion to these missed shots.

On all three of these shots, Wall pulls his follow through back too quickly instead of holding it. It's no surprise that he missed all three of these shots.

This isn't an altogether uncommon thing. Tony Parker, for example, used to be awful at holding his follow through, but thanks to devoted work with a shooting coach, he now always does it. As Wall continues to work on improving his shot, he also needs to make sure he's always holding that follow through long enough for the shot to have the right rotation.

It's a small fix that I think will make a big difference in his shooting percentages.