If you’re a guard and you’ve been in tune at all with the 2012 NBA playoffs you should have noticed a lot of things…

- Rajon Rondo’s all-around game

- Kevin Durants clutch play

- The physicality of today’s game

and

- The use of the floater by nearly every guard

You name ‘em: Rondo, Wade, Parker, Westbrook, Rose, it doesn’t matter who it is, the best of the best have the ability to shoot the floater.

The surprising thing is that I see very few high school and college kids using the shot.  How come?  I don’t know…

My belief is that learning to shoot the floater (and be successful at it) takes some practice.  You can’t just walk out into a game and shoot it because it’s open and expect to make it (not conistently at least).  You’ve got to practice it just like you’d practice free throws, 3-pointers, pull-ups, or any other shot or skill.

Regardless of whether you’re already using the floater or not, you need to consider it.

The floater fills a void in nearly every guards game.  Most guards have an outside shot (typically a 3), and then they have the ability to finish around the rim.  Very few guards have learned to master the pull-up (shots typically between 12-18ft off of the dribble); and even fewer have learned to fill the gap between a pull-up and finishing at the rim (0-12ft).  That is where the floater comes into play.

Without having the shot you have a hole in your game, a weakness, that means you’re no longer a scoring threat when you’re in that range between shots.

If I haven’t convinced you of the effectiveness of the floater, make sure to check out the video below and see some comments from D-Rose, Doc Rivers, and Chris Paul.

If you’re looking to add floaters into your practice routine, my advice is to start with 50 and go from there.  If you’re shooting more than 200 shots, I would make sure at least 25% of my shots were floaters from a variety of spots and angles.  Learn to get a feel and develop the touch to be able to score consistently.