I Built a Sports Analytics App. Then Used It to Discover I'm Awful at Basketball.

I've tracked 3,000 basketball shots over the past few months. Want to know my shooting percentage? 12.9%.

That's not a typo. I'm making roughly 1 out of every 8 shots in practice, alone, wide open. In games, I average 0.7 points per game; less than one point.

But here's the thing: I'm not discouraged, because I actually get to understand why I'm terrible. And that's the first step to getting better.

The Background

I picked up basketball seriously about a year ago at 17. I played football (soccer) for 7 years growing up, so I'm not unathletic; I average 6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game. I can move, I can defend, I can read the game. But I absolutely cannot shoot. Most people would say "practice more," but I wanted to know what to practice. So I built StatFlow, a sports analytics app that tracks every detail of my performance. I spent months logging every single training session. The data didn't lie. And honestly? It was worse than I thought.

The Brutal Truth

Here's what 3,000 tracked shots revealed:

• Free throw line: 20.2%
• Mid-range: 15% average
• Three-pointers: 10% average

My best zone is the free throw line at 20%. The NBA average is 78%. The high school average is around 65%.

My in-game stats somehow look better: I technically shoot better in games (28.6%) than in practice (12.9%). This is backwards; most players shoot worse under pressure. Why am I different? The truth? I'm not. I just don't shoot. And when I do, I'm right at the rim, so my percentage is higher, but misleading.

What the data is teaching me

I probably have a fatigue problem

When I play under 30 minutes, I shoot 28.6%. Over 30 minutes? 0%. My shooting collapses when I'm tired. Action: I need to work on my conditioning. Can't fix my shot if I'm just exhausted.

Rest days matter (but not how I expected)

I perform 300% better with 0-1 rest days (2.0 PPG) than with 4+ rest days (0.5 PPG). Most athletes need recovery, but I apparently need rhythm. Action: Play more consistently, not less.

There is still evidence of progress

As catastrophic as the shooting may be, it is evidently improving from what it was. Going from 16% to 25.3% from the free throw line is notably better. With reps, progress is inevitable.

The Plan Forward

So what now? I'm not quitting. I'm doubling down. I believe in data-driven development. That being said, it would be ridiculous to see such numbers and not look for a root cause. It isn't difficult to realize that the issue is my shooting form, and that's what I'm going to focus on addressing. Changing my form could essentially be starting from 0, but I'm confident I can get it right. Here's my plan for this year:

1. Work on my form - Can't shoot.
2. Work on my conditioning - Can't shoot when exhausted.
3. Track everything - Keep logging everything in StatFlow.

Will it work? I have no idea. But at least now I'm practicing with purpose instead of randomly shooting. I'll update in 4-5 months with the results. Hopefully the data shows improvement. If not, at least I'll have proof that I'm hopeless.

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Why I'm sharing this:

I built StatFlow because I wanted to understand my own performance. Turns out, the data was more brutal than I expected, but also more useful. If you're serious about improving at basketball (or any sport), I genuinely believe tracking is the only way to know if what you're doing is working. Feel vs. reality is two very different things. StatFlow is currently in a closed testing phase on Android. If you're interested in trying it out, please join the waitlist. (iOS coming in Summer).

If you want to track your own journey, try it out: StatFlow And if you're a terrible shooter like me? At least you'll have data to prove it.