Staggered feet

Staggered feet refer to the stance of a player where one foot is in front of the other foot.

Building upon a strong foundation is essential to your shooting success. Keeping that in mind, it’s strongly recommended to use a staggered stance as your base, placing your shooting-side foot slightly forward of your off-side foot in a toe-to-arch relationship. Your feet should be spaced approximately shoulder width apart with a slight turn into the stance. This will ensure a balanced foundation on which to develop your shot.

You want to avoid the classic “squaring up” of the feet, which positions both feet along the same plane. Orienting your feet in this manner would suggest that you would be shooting from your mid-line (or right down the middle of your body). However, since the popularization of the one-handed shot, we now shift our alignment towards the shooting side.

The “staggered stance” allows the shooting-shoulder to rotate slightly forward for the shot, allowing for a more fluid and efficient shooting motion. Squared up feet will result in squared up shoulders, which will cause body rotation during the shooting motion. That extra motion to your shooting mechanics will make your shot less efficient and less repeatable because you are adding a variable of extra movement. You may also experience a reduction in power transfer from your legs up the chain of movement, which will limit your shooting range.