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to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber
and respect your privacy. 1. Welcome from the Coach With your help, I intend to shift the game
and help players and coaches everywhere re-discover the Lost
Art of Shooting. Thank you for reading this and subscribing to
it and sharing it with your friends. This new attitude doesn't solve the problem out there, but it is getting me more focused on solutions, rather than what's wrong. I've had a good number of coaches contact me in the last month asking for more information on how to coach shooting. I've added them to my coaches' database and I'm beginning to set up a structure to handle the requests and communicate more effectively. -- Coaches' Section -- A Public Forum --Traveling Road Show The result will be a core group of coaches in an area who have been coached in how to coach this simple, yet powerful method of learning and coaching shooting. They'll have seen me coach it and participated as assistants. It will start a coaching movement and a powerful conversation in an area, which on-going coaching and communication will fuel. If you would like to set up a visit to your area like this, let me know. ------------------------------------------------------------ I'm getting a lot of requests to be "coached" in how to coach shooting. I send "homework" to those who contact me and urge them to start coaching and then continue the conversation with me. I'm working to develop a structure for communication so we can stay in touch easily. I'll soon add a Mailing List just for Coaches, for example, so stay tuned for that. The main coaching I can give you here is to "Go for it!" Learn the Method I'm offering a little and then "try it out" on some students. You can get a lot of it from the articles, and the video gives an in-depth presentation of the Method and how to coach it. Get some players together, be they kids, your spouse or parents, friends down the street, kids on a local court. Tell them you're interested in coaching this critical skill and ask if they'd like to experiment a bit with their shooting. Then do your best to convey the Method. Don't worry about failing. Whatever you say and do will be appreciated. Just pay attention and learn from whatever coaching spills out of your mouth. The better you can do it yourself, the more credibility you will inspire. But even if you can't do it so well yourself just yet, take your best shot. If you understand the key principles to focus on (the video helps with that), describe and demonstrate them as best you can and start the coaching. Then pay attention and you'll know what to say next. Just trust the whole process and see where it goes. From my experience, "Awareness is Developmental." If you can just increase the awareness of the students in how they do things, their amazing bodies will start to develop. They'll figure out more efficient and more effective ways to do things. I'll be coaching you in the things that matter, so once you have both worlds -- where you are and where you want to get -- then remarkable learning will start to take place. Keep the awareness high and judgment (and frustration) low. My two articles, from the "articles" page (http://www.swish22.com/articles.html) entitled "Coaching Shooting with Large Groups," and "Simplified Shooting Coaching," give you some specific introductory things to coach. COACHING OR TEACHING It's in the exchange, the questioning, the attempts to explain and understand, the communication of feel and awarenesses, where most effective learning takes place. So I believe we are "Coaches" when we have an interchange. Asking for feedback, asking for awareness of what happened, is how that works. We do both, of course, teaching and coaching, but I suggest you make "coaching" more your intention and value feedback, and the students will learn a lot more quickly. Here are some samples of the emails I'm getting from coaches who would like to be trained in how to coach shooting: (I can give you email addresses if you want to communicate with them.) ------------------------------------------- I have also had good success teaching it. One of my 5th grade girls won the final day "shoot out" against 6th and 7th graders last summer at a camp put on by our High School Coaches. Another of the girls I taught got first in shooting at a different camp with 60 kids. I have developed a "Shooting Awareness Survey" that has the kids answer questions about how they shoot. It is based on some of the Awareness stuff that you are talking about. I am attaching it - feel free to use it or give me any feedback. I have thought about doing some sort of
clinic or giving free shooting lessons to any of the local kids
that are interested. I really would appreciate any help or advice
you can give in that area. I was surfing the net and came upon your site. Firstly I would like to congratulate you on it as I think it is a fantastic site. I have been reading your newsletter and have been subscribed to it for a short while now, but went back and read all your earlier editions. I can not agree more with your sentiments on shooting. I have always lived by the old saying that free throws win ball games and I am constantly seeing teams lose games because of the inability to make a free throw. It is extremely frustrating. I don't believe that you can stop learning and I am very open to all opinions on this great sport. I would love to get more detail and information on your swish method and would love to hear back from you. Your last newsletter said that you were looking at coaching coaches as well as players. I am responding to the homework you spoke about and would love to get your opinion of becoming a pure shooter. I have seen and tried many theories and
would welcome the chance to look at another different one. We
don't get much of a chance to attend or see/hear coaching clinics
of any kind down here in Australia, but we still have a pretty
good record and standard given our small population. If I can
find something else that is going to assist in making better
players then I am all ears. I look forward to your reply Anyway, I'd love to learn more about how
to teach your method. Thanks . I am 41 years old and currently hold clinics
on ball handling skills. Shooting technique has always been a
difficult item to teach. I believe this method will be very helpful
to my school and community. I believe in the future that I will
be able to organize a clinic for you to appear in my community.
Thank you for the information and I look forward to spreading
the word on the Swish Method. Just let it fly! We live in the Lancaster , Pa. area. Send
an e-mail with about your certification process as i am very
interested in teaching proper shooting . ------------------------------------------------------------ About a month ago a coach wrote me and pointed out that my newsletters and writings have been very top heavy in criticism of the poor shooting I see in the game and largely I was "selling" my Swish video as the answer. He asked that I give some practical examples of coaching so that coaches could "try it" before buying. Luckily for me, I had come to the first conclusion myself last month, too, so I thanked him and assured him I would do what he asked: Give coaches something to work with. Starting soon, I will put up the first of many coaching plans and articles for coaches. A good friend and Swish Coach-in-Training from Dallas is starting a 4-session Shooting Camp next week (one hour per week) and asked me to help him with it. So that's my incentive. I'll be developing a structure for four one-hour lessons in the week or two. It'll be kind of general, as some of you know my Method and some do not. Look on my website under "Coaching" for this or email me and I'll send it to you or tell you where to find it. I'll be adding, as quickly as I can, more and more coaching ideas, articles and lesson plans. I'm also working to get a public "Forum" added to my site, which I described above. An example follows. A coach in New England has developed himself into a pretty effective shooting coach and sent me this exercise he thought to do at the end of a session with a group of kids and their coach. It's wonderful! It's the kind of creative use of the Method I want to encourage. My vision is that the Forum Discussion can be one of the most effective ways we all can coach each other in this powerful shooting method. Thanks, Jim! -- A Creative Way to End a Shooting Session "I had read many articles on shooting by Coach Tom Nordland for many years and purchased the SWISH video last year. As I read the articles, I applied the techniques to my own shooting. One powerful way to reinforce the principles is to use your off hand. I was amazed at how I could sink shots with my left hand. Since that time I have held many clinics to help improve the shooting ability of all our local teams (6th grade through High School). "My usual approach is to always offer my services when the opportunity arises. This is usually at the beginning of the basketball season and, since I'm the JV Boys coach, normally the boys teams take me up on this offer. I follow the format and suggestions from the video and the articles by Tom. One suggestion that I have found to be very powerful is the use of the coach in helping to reinforce the principles. "Here is how it goes -- near the end of the clinic I ask the coach to go to the free throw line and shoot with the off hand. I tell him (or her) to "throw" the ball at the rim and then wait for the kids to "coach" on one improvement at a time. I have the kids line up on both sides of the lane. I stress that we are having their coach shoot with the off hand. The coach throws the ball at the rim and I assist the kids in making one suggestion at at time to improve the shot. "Normally the first thing the kids
comment on is how the shot was thrown at the rim and not released
upward. We ask the coach to make one correction and observe.
The kids continue to make one comment at a time and the coach
makes that correction. The kids naturally follow the progression
on how they just learned it and instruct the coach to use more
leg power, use a constant release motion, and put the UpForce
and Release together for a smooth shot. Usually within four or
five attempts the shot is sailing through the rim with ease (or
very close). The reason I find this to be so helpful is 1) the
coach is now a true believer in the technique and will be more
likely to use the principles after the clinic is over and I am
gone; and 2) the kids learn by teaching, they have to take what
they just learned and apply the principles in their own way to
help someone else. They also get a kick out of having their coach
do what they say. Try this in your next clinic and help spread
good shooting." ------------------------------------------------------------ The official youth, middle school and high school basketball season is about over, with just a few teams successful enough to still be playing. The college game goes through March and the pro game goes into June, and then the WNBA season has its turn. I've been watching a lot of games recently in person as the playoffs are happening. Shooting is, as usual, very poor. I don't want to dwell on that, but I wonder what the coaches see and think as they watch their teams practice, warm up before a game, and then perform in games. It must be frustrating to see their teams shoot a poor shooting percentage during warmups (I'm seeing 25-40% for most teams, usually the lower end of that range), and then continue to shoot poorly in games, of course. If you can't make shots consistently when you're relaxed and no one's guarding you, how can you expect to do any better under pressure? If you watch what's happening, you'll see missed shot after missed shot, sometimes from the same spot, over and over and over. The ways players use their bodies vary widely. Most shots are flat and "hot." The players hesitate before releasing the ball, thus flattening the shot. Some shoot early, on the way up, like I suggest for most shots, but for most the leg power is not used well. Releases are firing off in different directions, with arms and hands moving up, back, right and left. Occasionally you'll see air balls. You can see tension in their wrists and hands, a pretty good indicator of variability. The few good shooters hold their arms straight to target and have a good "connection" with the basket, but the majority don't have a consistent Release or Follow Through. The Set Points (where the ball is brought before shooting, also called the "Shooting Pockets") are all over the place. Some kids bring the ball way overhead, some off the shoulder or ear, some very low or out front, a few very high, before shooting. If you watch the spins, you'll see different degrees of backspin, some with sidespin, dead balls, and, rarely, even forward spin. Shots miss long, short, left and right. It's as though most players have no control of the flight of the ball. They're just guessing, throwing it up there. The few good shooters make most of their shots. They have a sense of how to control distance and direction. The very few really good shooters are swishing most of their efforts. But most are, excuse the pun, basket cases. I wonder what's going on in the heads of these players as they shoot so inconsistently. Are they embarrassed by their performances? I think not as much as they could be because most of their teammates are doing the same thing. If they were embarrassed, maybe they'd seek help and work at it more, but the state of shooting is so low, mediocre performance is accepted as somewhat normal. THERE IS A WAY ------------------------------------------------------------ In talking about shooting, sometimes the description "pure shooter" is used. It's not used as much as it used to, as there are very few great shooters any more. And it's something I'm starting to use more and more to describe what I teach and coach. I wonder what you all think of when you hear that term. Would you please email me with your definitions of that special shooting title? (Email on Pure Shooting) I'll summarize the responses I get and add my own description and we'll get a much clearer picture of what this kind of shooting consists of. Thanks! ------------------------------------------------------------ MAKE PLANS FOR SPRING AND SUMMER -- WORK ON SHOOTING! As the season winds down, pressure to perform at a high level is gone and you can now focus on improving for next season. There's a lot to learn in a season. It's an exciting but stressful time. (More stress for your parents than for you, maybe, at least during the games.) What I can suggest to you is make some commitments for things to learn this spring, summer and fall that will help you succeed next season. If you play other sports and basketball is put on the shelf, then dust these ideas off when you get back into the basketball "mode." Sports are arenas in life where what are called "life lessons" can be learned. That is why they have such great value. The "Winning and Losing" thing is only one of the lessons. Many coaches understand that the game far transcends the outcome, though a few may get lost in the bottom line and think "Winning is everything." I hope you don't get a coach like that. But approached from the point of view that the game is about learning and personal development, teamwork, the value of hard work, the joy of play and games, leadership, overcoming obstacles, achieving goals, sportsmanship, fair play, etc., it's a fantastic game! It's an arena where you can forge your self esteem. You can get a glimpse of your potential. I know for me, being a wonderful shooter in high school and the success that created influenced my entire life. It gave me a sense of self worth I might not otherwise have obtained. Your ability to contribute to the team will determine, often, how much you play. So it behooves you to work hard to learn as much as you can about the different skills of the game. Take on shooting as a major goal this off season. It's the master skill of basketball. Ask for coaching. Ask for help. Talk to your friends about it, and if you find someone who can shoot well, ask her or him to coach you. And make the time to go to a court with a ball (and a friend, of course) and practice and learn. Have fun, but also pay attention to what's
happening. You CAN become a better and better shooter! It's not
really that difficult, once you know the key things. Keep coming
back to my website (swish22.com)
and read the articles, the endorsements and testimonials, these
monthly Newsletters. The Swish video can help a lot, but just
your own play and practice, if done with awareness and feel of
what's happening, can teach you a lot. Good luck. I invite you to bookmark my Website (Swish22.com) so you can go there easily to catch my latest comments on shooting. You can read about my video there (including endorsements, testimonials, reviews and an Overview of the video), my coaching, and the many articles on shooting I've written. You can see video clips and archived back issues of this Newsletter and, of course, subscribe, if you're not already getting this on a regular basis. Please tell others about my site and my
video. Send them the URL (http://www.swish22.com) and let them
know there's a proven method for better shooting. I am gearing up to travel and coach kids and coaches this spring, summer and fall. See my Website for the latest news about Clinics, Camps and Coaches' Trainings across the country. If you'd like to organize a clinic or camp for me, please call or email me. I'll be scheduling Coaches' Trainings at each stop as much as possible, too. Stay in touch for them. Here's a direct link to the Clinics &
Camps page:Clinics
& Camps ***Important: Please note that when you "subscribe," Topica, the company that manages the free list for me, will send you a "confirmation" email and offer you two ways to "confirm." I SUGGEST YOU USE THE SECOND OPT ION! The first option is to click on a link to Topica where they will ask you open a free account with them. This is okay to do, as they have good free mailings lists, discussion groups, etc., but I think most of you just want to subscribe to the newsletter. You do that most easily by the second option, just REPLYING to the email. That's all you need to do, no need to key anything. Click on this email -- it will start the subscription process: Subscribe me. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this Newsletter, just send a blank email to the following: Unsubscribe me ------------------------------------------------------------ |