Renowned Basketball Shooting Coach Says He Could Improve Andre Drummond's Game

By: Mike Sullivan
@mikesullivan

Dave Guinane, nationally known as "The Shot Doctor," is a basketball shooting coach from Utica who has given over 40,000 lessons since 1993. He currently has over 50 collegiate players on scholarships and has worked with players from every level: high school, college, and professional.

Local NBA prospects Da'Shonte Riley, Eli Holman, Shane Lawal and Nick Washburn are currently training with Guinane at the historic St. Cecilia's Gym in Detroit. Over the years, Dave has developed a great relationship with the owner of St. Cecilia's Gym, Sam Washington, who provides him with the access to use his gym to train athletes. Guinane has played at St. Cecilia's since the late 1960s and has seen a lot of legendary players at the gym such as George Gervin, Dave Bing, and Spencer Haywood.

Guinane is the owner and president of The Basketball Workshop LLC, which operates out of the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse in Shelby Township, MI. He's a Pioneer in the industry of personal training and is considered to be one the country's premier shooting coaches.

The most unique part about Guinane's program is that he guarantees his players will see a 50-100% improvement in their game. I was curious to find out what exactly this means. He said that the 50-100% improvement is in their total game (shooting, free throws, dribbling, post moves for big guys, etc.)

For example, Andre Drummond can dunk, rebound and basically defend. But if he could develop a post move, turnaround jumper and hit some free throws, he would have a 100% or more improvement. So, it depends on the individual player in terms of how much the improvement percentage will be.

I asked Dave what makes his program so successful. He said, "We focus on the little details like shooting technique and proper footwork."

The idea of a "shooting coach" was a practice that Dave invented 20 years ago, and he feels like it has really changed the basketball industry. Guinane compares his job to other similar professions in golf and baseball.

"Without the perfect swing, you don't get the perfect shot. Every golfer has a swing coach. There are pitching coaches and hitting coaches in baseball. We feel like every basketball player should have a shooting coach."

Dave expressed his interest in helping Pistons big man Andre Drummond with his free throws. Drummond shot just 41.8% from the free throw line last season. Guinane said there is no reason Drummond should be shooting that bad from the free throw line.

Guinane said that if he were to work with Drummond, "It would be a simple matter of fixing his mechanics to get his free throw percentage up to the 75-80 percent range."

He also believes that Drummond has a lot of potential and can be one of the best players in the NBA with improvement. Guinane even went as far as comparing Drummond to LeBron James in terms of athleticism. Guinane said he would love to work with Drummond on his ball handling and footwork to help him become more of a complete player.

Personally, I'd love to see Andre Drummond workout with Dave this summer and work to improve his free throw percentage. This wouldn't be the first time that Dave has worked with a Piston. He spent time training Josh Harrellson last season. Dave Guinane's has a great track record of helping players take their game to the next level due to his unique and personalized program. He's a local guy that's made a national impact on the game of basketball and will continue to do so for years to come.

For more information, you can visit www.DaveGuinane.com