The Science of the Three-Point Shot Comes Down to What Happens Before the Ball Leaves Your Hands

University of Kansas

Every basketball fan has an opinion about what makes a great shooter. The release point. The follow-through. The arc. But a study from the University of Kansas suggests that the most important part of a three-point shot happens before the ball ever leaves the shooter's hands.

What the cameras saw

Researchers at KU's Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory used a DARI markerless motion capture system to analyze the shooting mechanics of 24 male basketball players, each taking 10 three-point attempts from the top of the key. The shots were nonconsecutive, with 10 to 15 seconds of rest between attempts, all from the same spot to control for fatigue and consistency. Eleven shooters were classified as proficient; 13 were not.

The system tracked joint angles throughout the entire shooting motion, from the moment the player caught the ball through the release. The researchers could analyze elbow and shoulder flexion, foot alignment, peak angular velocities, and more, with results available within 30 to 60 seconds of testing.

The key finding: proficient shooters consistently demonstrated greater flexion, or bend, in their hips, knees, and ankles during the preparatory phase of the shooting motion. This allowed them to lower their center of mass and establish a wider, more stable base before initiating the upward shooting motion.

The prep phase, not the release, separates shooters

Dimitrije Cabarkapa, associate director of the Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory, explained the finding in practical terms. Without a wider stance and lower body position, a shooter cannot maintain a stable base and will be off balance. Everyone focuses on the moment of ball release, but the majority of factors that determine shooting success happen from the moment the player catches the ball and begins initiating the shot. Once the ball leaves your hands, you no longer control the outcome.

Even among players capable of achieving adequate release height, those who lacked sufficient lower-body flexion were less likely to generate the force and velocity needed to meet the demands of the longer shooting distance from beyond the three-point line. The three-point shot requires more power than a mid-range jumper, and that power comes from the legs, not the arms. A shooter who is too upright during the prep phase simply cannot generate enough force to consistently reach the basket with proper arc from 23 feet out.

The study was published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living and co-authored by Damjana Cabarkapa of Singidunum University and Andrew Fry, professor emeritus at KU.

From lab findings to a world record attempt

The research has a direct practical application already underway. Cornell Jenkins, a former college basketball player at Cal State Dominguez Hills and now a physicist who applies science to shooting performance, is collaborating with the Jayhawk lab to attempt a Guinness World Record for most consecutive made three-point shots.

Jenkins can regularly hit 30 to 40 consecutive threes. When he misses on attempt 41, the motion capture system can immediately analyze how his form differed from the successful shots, allowing real-time correction. The team also examines how fatigue impacts biomechanical and physiological performance, a critical factor in any sustained shooting attempt.

The initial phase of the project is complete, and Jenkins will return to KU for further analysis, including the addition of three-dimensional force plate data to the motion capture measurements. The combination of motion capture and force plate analysis provides a more complete picture of how a shooter's body generates and transfers energy throughout the shooting motion.

What coaches have always known, confirmed by data

Cabarkapa, who played college basketball at James Madison University, recalled his coach's four-word shooting checklist: catch, set, step, shoot. A player catches a pass, sets into the preparatory phase, steps into position, and then takes the shot. The study's results validate what experienced coaches have taught for generations: the set phase is where shooting success is determined.

The value of confirming this with biomechanical data lies in specificity. Coaches can tell a player to "get lower" or "bend your knees more," but the motion capture system can tell them exactly how much flexion is optimal, at which joints, and how their current mechanics compare to the profile of proficient shooters. That precision bridges the gap between coaching intuition and measurable performance targets.

Study boundaries

The study examined three-point shots from a single location (top of the key) under controlled conditions with no defensive pressure. Game situations involve movement, fatigue, defensive closeouts, and time pressure that could alter the biomechanical patterns observed in a laboratory setting. Whether the same preparatory mechanics predict success in game conditions is a question for future research.

The sample of 24 players is modest, and the study included only men. Whether the same biomechanical markers distinguish proficient from nonproficient shooters among women, who shoot from a closer three-point line in college and face different anthropometric constraints, has not been tested.

The markerless motion capture system, while enabling faster and less invasive data collection than traditional marker-based systems, has inherent accuracy limitations, particularly for small joint angles and rapid movements. And the classification of shooters as proficient or nonproficient was based on the test session itself, which may not perfectly reflect a player's overall shooting ability across many games and situations.

Still, for any player or coach looking to improve three-point accuracy, the message is straightforward: spend less time worrying about the release and more time getting the preparatory phase right. The shot starts from the ground up.