Quiet Eye: Raise Your Shooting Percentage Immediately Without Taking A Single Jump Shot

When it’s time to shoot a jump shot, where do you look? “At the basket,” you’re probably saying to yourself. But is looking at the basket good enough?

The science says no, it isn’t.

We’re going to start this article with a quick science lesson, but don’t worry, we’ll get to the practical stuff in a second.

Here’s what you need to know: Because of how the brain and the eyes are designed, when you look in the direction of a target, your gaze “bounces” around a central focus point. These bouncing movements are called “saccades,” and they occur because the fovea (the part of your eye that sees in high definition) only accounts for 1-2% of your visual field. Meaning, in order to process a large target in high definition, your gaze has to “scan” the entire target for important details – a process that can only be accomplished by jumping around the entire target “scanning” small portions one at at time, then assembling those little detailed “screenshots” into a larger picture in your brain.

Okay. Science lesson complete. Now, how does this apply to shooting a basketball?

The larger the target of your focus, the more your eyes have to jump around to scan it into focus. If you catch the basketball and look “at the basket,” your eyes are going to bounce all around in an attempt to process what you’re looking at – they’ll scan the rim, yes, but also the net, the area above the rim, the top right corner of the backboard, the bottom left corner, the middle-left edge, etc., etc.

But we aren’t aiming at the top of the backboard or the net. We’re aiming at the rim. So, to waste precious brain-processing power on scanning anything other than the rim is – well, it’s exactly that – a waste.

And it’s been well established by science that this “scanning” process reduces the accuracy of your shooting. A 2019 study on elite professional shooters discovered that players who focus on the rim earlier and for a longer amount of time have a shooting percentage almost 5 points higher than competitors who look at the rim later for less time.

This might not sound like a lot, but remember, this study was performed on elite professionals. Everyone in the study was already a great shooter, and still, guys who could lock in on their target sooner and longer shot close to 5% better from three than guys who couldn’t. 

For reference, in the 2022-2023 season, Stephen Curry shot 42.7% from three and ranked 7th in the league in three-point percentage. Anfernee Simons shot 37.7% from three (a 5-point difference) and ranked 71st. Does 5% still seem like no big deal? Who would you trust to hit a big three in crunch time, Steph or Simons?

And who do you think there’s a bigger skill gap between? Steph and Simons, or Simons (a guy who started in every NBA game he played last year) and you?

What’s the solution to this waste of brain power? How can you raise your shooting percentage by 5, 10, or even 15% percentage points without taking a single extra jump shot after practice?

By mastering a technique called “Quiet Eye.” Very simply, work on training your brain to laser in on as small a target as possible – on a specific spot on the rim.

Like anything, this will take some practice. As we covered earlier, your brain is wired to focus on visual targets in a certain way. And for your entire basketball career, your vision has likely been bouncing around the entire hoop.

Next time you go out to shoot, though, be very intentional in picking a specific target on the rim every single rep. The easiest target you can choose is one of the loops connecting the net to the rim. Stephen Curry focuses on a small space right above the front of the rim.

You can also train your Quiet Eye off the court. Right now, look across the room you’re sitting in and see how quickly you can settle your eyes on a small target. It’s harder than you’d expect. I just did a few reps trying to zero in on the “N” in November written on my calendar across the room, and every time, it took longer than I expected to settle my eyes quickly.

But like any skill you use on the basketball court, the more you work on your Quiet Eye technique, the better you’ll get at it. And before you know it, you’ll be making more shots every game without adding any extra hours to your practice on the court.