17-year-old high school senior Maddison Neale (USA) has broken the record for the most consecutive basketball half-court shots with an incredible total of nine.
The previous record was set in 2020 by Xu Changqing (China), who scored eight shots in a row.
Maddison attempted the record during her lunch break at school, successfully achieving it just six minutes before the bell rang.
Maddison describes her shooting technique as “consistent with a smooth flow to it”.
“My form mainly comes from my wrist which allows me to shoot from much further distances,” she explained.
Maddison began practising to break this record during her recovery from a surgery which she underwent last year after tearing both ligaments in her ankle.
Her injury prevented her from playing basketball, but she was determined to still practise the sport in some capacity.
So, wearing a medical walking boot, Maddison went to the court every day to work on her shooting.
“The recovery took much longer than I expected, however, I never gave up,” she recounted.
“Day after day, [my shot] continued to get better, and my range started to come back. Before I knew it, I was shooting further than ever.”
Although achieving the record was harder than she initially thought it would be, Maddison continued trying to get closer to it each day.
“I just wanted to see a little bit of progression. The more shots I got up, the more I realized that it was possible,” she said.
Maddison’s ankle injury is not the only adversity she’s overcome in recent years; in 2020 she was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a rare heart condition which can cause life-threatening arrhythmias.
She underwent a five-hour procedure to partially resolve the issue, however, she continues to live with the condition to this day.
“Some people with the condition are afraid to do certain things, but I hope accomplishing this record can prove not to let something define you but rather embrace it and live your life to the fullest,” Maddison said.
The physical challenges she faced were not the most difficult aspect of this record attempt though, according to Maddison – it was being mentally prepared.
“There were a lot of people that doubted me and told me to give up,” she revealed. “I wasn’t ready to accept that.”
I wouldn’t have been able to do it without all the amazing people in my life that supported me. I am very grateful for my mom going to the gym with me every day and believing in me, my dad for constantly telling me to get out of my head and helping me reach my fullest potential, and my brother for always cheering me on.
Maddison is “thrilled” to have broken this record, but she doesn’t plan on stopping here.
She’s confident she can achieve the most basketball half-court shots in one minute, a record which currently belongs to Adam Beatrice (USA), who sank 10 of 24 shot attempts in a frantic minute in 2011.
Maddison is also eyeing up ex-pro basketballer Jason Pryor’s three-point shot records:
- Most basketball three pointers in 30 seconds: 18
- Most basketball three pointers in one minute: 33
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