Knicks fans’ concerns about Mikal Bridges’ shooting form are overblown, shooting coach says: “I think this is a positive move.”

Mikal Bridges didn’t shoot the ball well in the preseason, hitting just two of 19 attempts from deep. Those shooting issues carried over into his first game of the season, when he went 2 of 7 on threes.

Bridges noticeably changed his shooting form over the summer, leading many to fear his slump was more than just bad luck.

To find out how worried Knicks fans should be, Sporting News reached out to an NBA shooting coach with decades of experience who has worked for multiple teams and players across the league. In order to express his unfiltered opinion, the coach asked to remain anonymous. We call him Coach S.

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What happened to Mikal Bridges’ shot?

Bridges was a great shooter at Villanova, hitting 40.0 percent of his 3s in his career and 43.5 percent in his junior year before entering the draft. He had decent form that wouldn’t look unusual for any NBA player.

Bridges began tinkering with this shot before entering the NBA, which resulted in an unnatural movement as a rookie.

Bridges shot just 33.5 percent from distance this rookie year, which was the worst mark of his career. He continued to tinker with his shot and became a much better shooter, but his strange form reared its head again this season. It looks like he’s holding the ball much higher above his head before releasing it.

Here’s what our shooting coach had to say about Bridges’ changes.

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NBA shooting coach explains Mikal Bridges’ new shooting form

While Bridges’ inclusion may look strange, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“He seems to have simplified his shot and created a more efficient ball path,” Coach S told Sporting News. “He shortened the length of that path a little bit and got closer to what he looked like in college. It’s probably kind of a hybrid of what it was in years past and what he used in college.”

“I think this is a positive move and it will help him be a bit more consistent. He had some really good years and some good years.”

Many have stated that Bridges developed a glitch with his shot. Coach S disputes this statement.

“I have a different definition of hitch than most people. People admit it to something that just doesn’t look right. For me, a hitch is when the body stops involuntarily because it feels like it’s not in the right position to make a simple movement.”

Coach S pointed to the example of Charles Barkley’s golf swing as something he believes is a problem. Given that definition, he doesn’t think Bridges has one.

“I see a position that he is missing,” explained Coach S. “That makes shooting more complicated than it should be. The point is the position where the ball is around his forehead.”

I have so many questions about how we got here. pic.twitter.com/LMe8DzTgzs

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Coach S would try to lower Bridges’ target point slightly upon his release, but he speculated that there might be a reason why that wasn’t possible. Bridges could have some sort of impingement that makes it physically impossible for him to get into textbook positioning, or there’s another reason he’s not comfortable with that move.

Coach S would also work on Bridges’ hand positioning.

“We want the ball to move up and forward in one simple motion. The hand must be down, back and in a position where it can push the ball straight. If this position is missing, the movement becomes too complicated.”

“It might not be ideal in theory, but he’s fit to work and that’s all we need.”

Coach S believes a long-term approach is important with Bridges and he likes the changes he has made.

“He has done some work to make the application more efficient and I like the adjustments that have been made to provide more consistency.”

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Some have suggested that Bridges should return to his form from last year. Coach S thinks such a move is a bad idea.

“For me, I would never do that. I would constantly work on developing a more efficient movement pattern. Nobody is ever a finished product. Steph Curry probably feels like he can still improve as a shooter, he has things he’s working on.” So I would guess Mikal is still working on what he wanted to achieve with his shooting in the offseason to get even closer.

Bridges certainly hasn’t shot the ball well as a Knick so far. But it was an extremely small sample size, and Coach S believes it’s far too early to panic.