Shooting specialist's method for improved shooting

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The jump shot in basketball is maybe the most precious skill to have in the modern-day sport. But what if throughout the history of the sport we've been thinking about it the wrong way?

"Is it conceivably that there could be a categorically better way to shoot if it were based almost entirely in principles of science?" said Galo.

Roger Galo is an offensive efficiency and shooting specialist and has been exploring that for the past 12 years.

"I've incorporated the rest of the body to help you be a better shooter," said Galo.

Galo was a standout scorer at Juniata College, where he was one of the top scorers in the country. He thinks now he would do things differently on the court, using what he's created as the Galo Method.

Galo was inspired by an old New York Times article on free throw shooting in the last 50 years. It led him to reassess everything he learned about the game. He visited with kinesiologists to learn how affective the shooting motion, and through his research felt it was not the best shooting motion. He even put his theories to the test wearing a boxing glove to shoot at times.

"I abandoned everything that I had apparently mastered as a textbook shooter," says Galo. "In lieu of this propriety shooting system, the Galo Method that I developed through science, principles of kinesiology, physics, anatomy, geometry."

Galo has worked with athletes of all levels from high school, college to the professional level, through what he calls a guided discovery to remake their shooting motion.

He believes it all comes down to a proper balance on what he calls the prelaunch and postlaunch, overspending hours in a gym.

"This is not rep centric at all," said Galo.

He spends sometimes just a week with an athlete working through their mechanics. Louisville graduate student guard Mykasa Robinson is one player he worked with. She was a career 53% shooting from the foul line but is at 85% through 17 games for the Cardinals.

While Galo has not worked with Brook Lopez, balance is what he sees in the Bucks center. Lopez is shooting a career-high 40.1% from 3-point range in 44 games this season.

"Brook Lopez has some very quiet controlled, movements that work well for him, he's not perfectly balanced but he's more balanced than most shooters," said Galo. "Brook shoots almost from the center of his being."

Regardless of player, Galo thinks his system makes better shooters from the foul line and behind the arc.

"This system is a system that will certainly enable someone to achieve much higher numbers than the 40s (shooting percentage), that's exciting, that's really exciting," said Galo.

The plan is for a book to come out on the system next in 2024.