10/09/2026
The Joy of Success
Penelope nails it, then celebrates with a little dance! After successfully completing a couple of repetitions, she lets her personality shine. At WABA, we love seeing that combination of technical development, confidence and the joy of achievement.
As part of our eight-week BOOM Shooting™ program, we isolate specific movements and mechanics without the ball to help players develop a more efficient, powerful and repeatable shooting motion. Here’s what we’re working on in this exercise:
1. Precise plant-foot placement. Penelope runs into the shooting position and plants her foot at a specific spot on the pitch. This placement helps create the space and body alignment necessary to open her hips and prepare for an effective strike. One of our 52 WABA mantras is “If you can perfectly control your feet, you can perfectly control the ball.”
2. Hip opening and rotation. By coordinating her approach, plant-foot placement, and hip opening, she establishes the foundation for more effective rotational movement. Better-coordinated hip rotation can contribute to greater shooting velocity. We teach the concept of a 33.69-degree approach to maximize a balance between rotational and forward momentum force. A little physics is taught in each BOOM session.
3. Opposite-arm action. Watch the arm opposite her shooting leg. As it moves outward and upward, it helps coordinate trunk rotation, contributes to balance, and supports an effective transfer of momentum through the shooting motion.
4. Rotational acceleration and follow-through. After initiating the strike, Penelope continues rotating her body. We’re exaggerating that rotation in this exercise to help her experience the movement and develop the coordination needed to bring her shooting leg through with greater speed and momentum. In an actual shot, the follow-through should emerge naturally from the strike rather than force the player into a complete twirl.
5. Weight transfer and balance. Notice how she finishes by transferring her weight from her plant foot toward her shooting foot. This helps her manage the momentum generated during the strike and regain balance as the movement concludes.
6. Managing rotational forces. Learning to coordinate rotation, follow-through, and weight transfer helps distribute the forces generated during shooting. An appropriate finish allows the body to decelerate more naturally rather than abruptly stopping the rotational movement and placing unnecessary stress on the joints. We feel this is especially important for girls, who are at greater risk of certain knee injuries, particularly ACL injuries.
This is the WABA approach: isolate the movement, understand the mechanics, develop the coordination, and then transfer those improvements to striking an actual ball. We do this by training the neuromuscular and musculoskeletal systems to work together, helping athletes build more efficient movement patterns that can support performance when the ball is added and the demands of the game increase.
And the best part? When the learning comes together, there’s a little celebration at the end.
WABAON! Penelope, great work!
