Hook shot

For the cricket shot, see Batting (cricket). For the rappel item, see Grappling hook.

Kent Benson attempting a hook shot for the Indiana Hoosiers, 1977

Richard Mason Rocca making a hook shot for Eldo Napoli, 2006

A hook shot, in basketball, is a play in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of his arm in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over his head. Unlike the jump shot, it is shot with only one hand; the other arm is often used to create space between the shooter and the defensive player. The shot is quite difficult to block, but few players have mastered the shot more than a few feet from the basket.

In FIBA games, hook shots were a revered skill for centers before dunks became more popular; mostly because of the relative difficulty of blocking such shots.

Sky hook

The hook shot became a trademark of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the National Basketball Association's all-time leading scorer, who was proficient at the shot at a much greater distance from the basket than most players. The greater distance and resulting higher arc on the shot led to the name sky hook, which was coined during Abdul-Jabbar's tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks and came from the team's radio announcer, Eddie Doucette, who felt that "that hook was so high that it was coming out of the sky". Blocking the 7-foot, 2-inch center's sky hook was a rare feat, accomplished by few players.

Magic Johnson used a similar shooting technique during the 1987 NBA Finals, which he called his "baby hook" in reference to teammate Abdul-Jabbar.

Jump hook

Currently, due to the increasingly physical nature of low post basketball, the jump hook is a more popular hook shot (particularly by Shaquille O'Neal). The player jumps off using two feet instead of taking steps before jumping off using one foot. The jump hook provides for better balance as well as a quicker release, and the shot will be released from higher in the air.

See also

• Basketball moves

External links

• Sky Hook A Variant of Hook Shot
• Baby Hook A Variant of Hook Shot