Thank you for being patient in this but it has helped me to think things through in detail. Some of this may be helpful in articulating to others what we mean when we say a term like jump shot. Language only works when meanings are functioning in common usage.
In theology we often differentiate between things, such as, Catholic and catholic, Law and law, Word and word identifying them by the initial Capital or small letter. It helps to provide clarity between the special and the general or formal and informal. This can be a great help in the discussion of a jump shot. I was speaking of the specific "Jump Shot" while DD was using the term in its general sense, jump shot. DD and I were using terms in different ways and I was not clear in my use of other terms, as well.
When I say overhead I am speaking of the position from where the shot is initiated. The higher the initiation point, the higher the release point. Ex. Stef's release point is a good 15" above her head because she initiates over her head at her forehead and extends from there. The shot is executed pivoting around the elbow and extending from there to a very high release point. You see the same thing with Maya. That is a properly executed "Jump Shot," capital J. The muscles used in executing that shot are the triceps and extensor digiti plus legs. The use of the legs in a "Jump Shot," actually, provides little launch energy to the shot since it is released at the apex when all of that energy has been expended lifting the body which has now decelerated to zero vertical energy into the shot. Horizontal energy can vary depending if the shooter is moving forward, backward, or is static in a horizontal plane relating along the line to the rim.
In Saniya's shot, yes, she hops as she shoots using her legs but her shot is a push and extension from the chin area. Using that hop to define a "Jump Shot" is meaningless since by that definition a lay up would, also, be a jump shot. No one would refer to a lay up as a jump shot. Among the other basketball related sites I go to a "Jump Shot" (my capitalization for clarity) is defined as a shot from the apex of a jump with the ball shot from overhead. Clearly, what is implied is that a "Jump Shot" is intended to execute the shot from the very highest point possible and therefore minimally blockable position. Saniya's shot simply is not executed in such a manner and should not be called a capitalized "Jump Shot." Furthermore, that shot uses different muscles and some of the same muscles in a very different manner to push the shot rather than flipping it as it rolls off the end of a lever. Think of putting a shot put vs slinging the ball off of a Jai alai cesta. The fewer the moving parts the easier it is to build a repeatable shot. This is exactly as in the foul shooting form discussion of the past years.
None of that in any way means Saniya is not a good shot. I believe she is an excellent shot. It does have practical implications, however, for where she can likely spot up to shoot the shot and how quickly she must execute it. Heck, I was the one who started the post game thread because I thought her contribution was huge to righting the UCONN ship on Monday. She is a real keeper and it looks now like we will need her to step up sooner than later.
Why is any of this important? It is important because using proper form the "Jump Shot" becomes the basis for numerous shots that cannot be taken easily from Saniya's 3pt form. These shots include the step back, the fade away, and the pull up and even the foul shot with or without jumping is the same. All are based on the classic "Jump Shot." This is not to say Saniya cannot execute those shots as she, clearly, does using the traditional "Jump Shot" form when in closer range.
End note: Even a full, traditional "set shot" ends with a release point higher than the head? If not the ball cannot, generally, be launched on a trajectory high enough to go above the rim. It is not the release point that defines what is meant by overhead. That term defines the initiation point, the position of the ball at the forehead from where the shot is executed.
Terms as used by me:
Initiation point - original position of the ball prior to moving directly towards release in the stroke
Release point - point at which the ball departs from the shooters hand and all control ends
Jump Shot - term used to identify a shot released from the apex of a jump and released as high above the body as possible initiating at or above the forehead
Set shot - a shot released while feet are flat on the with one or two hands and initiated from the chest to the chin
