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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. The play wasn't as great as the teams are capable of, we all could see. But it seemed to me the best teams won. There were a large number of turnovers, missed free throws, streaks of poor shooting, etc., but you and I can barely imagine how much pressure there was on these young players. Connecticut's record of 39-0 is a tremendous accomplishment, too! Wow!!! What a fabulous team, a team for the ages! I was especially impressed with their passing and the great team movement. That was key to their great team performance. And of course they have floor leadership and scoring/shooting of Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi and all the other wonderful players to run the powerful offense. Oklahoma made it a close game with their great energy and courage. Just when you'd think UConn would put it away, the lady Sooners would make a run and be back in it. Thanks for some great basketball! For the men, Indiana made a great run, and it was their shooting that carried them so far. Having three wonderful shooters on one team is very unusual. And backed by Jeffries and Odle and a great supporting cast and led by a great coach, they were a very dangerous team. Maybe if Coverdale had not had that terrible ankle sprain they could have pulled it off, but Maryland had both the outside game, with Dixon, and a tremendous inside game with Baxter and Wilcox, so they were able to prevail. I was thrilled to see shooting become a major factor. Too often these days the shooting is just streaky at best, and games become defensive struggles. It was a great performance by both teams. ------------------------------------------------------------ Here are couple responses I got from my question last month asking for descriptions of a "pure" shooter: Ken Martin wrote: "As he said this I thought 'That's it!' They don't know that they need more work because they don't see themselves as lacking in shooting ability. If a neighbor kid can do a better trick on a skateboard, my son would be out there trying to outdo him until I made him stop. But shooting has become so bad across the board that the kids have no measuring stick. Add to this, coaches who fear changing a players shot for fear of making it worse, and you have a big problem. I'll be watching the website for any info I can glean. Thanks for caring enough to help." A coach from India, Adil Kareem, wrote: From the Editor: "Pure" shooting is what all players can strive for. It means to me, simply, the best kind of shooting. The dictionary defines "pure" as: "free from anything that adulterates , taints, etc.; unmixed; simple; absolute; faultless." To adulterate means to make something inferior. And Absolute means, "perfect, complete, not mixed, pure; not limited, positive, not doubted, real." The key description there is "Absolute" -- something "perfect, pure, unlimited, real, beyond doubt!" A "pure" shooter (or "absolute" shooter, you could say) is one whose shots are perfect, beyond doubt. It implies, to me one who puts the ball consistently into the basket with a high arching shot, a "swish" shot, the most admired kind of shooting. A flat shooter rarely gets swishes, so she or he probably can't be called a "pure" shooter. There are always exceptions, and maybe Jerry West was one. He's been described as the greatest flat shooter ever. I haven't seen him shoot on video or film since my discoveries about shooting, so I can't comment on exactly how he shot. But from my point of view, most great, pure shooters have high arch. High arch also implies a quick release, as it's difficult to get high arch if you hesitate while you shoot. From what I can see, shooting at the "top of the jump," like so many coaches instruct, actually sabotages great high-arch shooting and, thus, "pure" shooting. A "pure shooter" also describes a player who ALWAYS shoots well, not a streaky shooter. It describes a shooting method and action that are flawless. The word "repeatable" comes to mind, because to be great at anything, you have to have a motion that you can do over and over and over with little, if any, variation. Golfers seek a repeatable golf motion. By that they mean a motion that they don't have to think about anymore, a motion that can go on automatic. When your motion is repeatable and reliable, trustworthy and automatic, then you can shift your focus totally to the target. Poor and mediocre performers in anything are too often focused on what they are doing and how they are doing it, focused on mechanics. Because of that, they cannot be well connected to where they are going. When a motion becomes flawless and repeatable, then you can move attention to the end result desired, to the target, and then tremendous performance becomes possible. The term "Rainbow shooting" would apply to a "pure" shooter, as her or his shots have great arch. Please send me any more comments you have on this subject and I'll summarize them next month. Make "pure" shooting be your goal and the goal of your players ... beautiful, high arching swish shots that drill the nets. One last thing: Have you ever noticed that a clean swish shot drives the net up above the rim for an instant? I ask this because I never noticed it until I started to study shooting about 12 years ago. I had been oblivious to that action before then. (It's like golfers playing a course numerous times and not being able to tell you what color the flags are. They see 18 different flags each time they play and look at each one 5-10 times on each hole, but they're not really seeing what's there. I can say this because I was one of them.) ------------------------------------------------------------ More and more I'm asking for coaches to contact me if they want to be trained in how to coach shooting. Here are some examples of replies I've gotten: ------------------------------------------- Started her at zero, working on her form
as you have shown, gradually working back in distance and adding
"UpForce" -- after just a short while, I would estimate
that she was hitting better than 50% of her shots out to about
10 ft. May not sound like much, but if you'd seen her shoot
before, you would've been impressed. I will keep at it, and
keep you posted. P.S. I should also tell you that yesterday
when I got home from work, my daughter ON HER OWN had gone out
and practiced shooting -- may not sound like much, but she's
never done that before! She told me later that she was really
enjoying making shots now. The culprit was bad shooting all over the floor. Good friends of mine have a daughter who plays JV for Scarborough this year as a freshman. She started playing just under 2 years ago and got me actively interested in basketball again. I have pretty much given up on the NBA because it is ugly to watch too much of the time, but have always followed, at a distance, college hoops. I started shooting around and playing at a low level (good, non-boring exercise) mostly with my friend and his kids (there is a younger brother with some potential). I was not able to shoot as well as I remembered being able to when growing up next door to a varsity high school player a year older than me. I happened upon your web site last year around June while looking for information on the Swish camp that is held at the University of Southern Maine Your video helped me right out of the box and I have been keeping at it, although winter here means a gym must be found to shoot most of the time. I recall making only 13 of 50 FTs before getting the video. On Thursday I made 20 of 25 with most of the makes being swishes. That left me feeling pretty good, although I wonder why I miss that much. My friends' daughter and son both borrowed the video again over the last couple of weeks. Today we are going to an open gym at a local school and will do some shooting practice using the Swish method. What I find particularly attractive about Swish is that it provides a method to shoot longer shots (threes) as well as shoot well. At the games last night was a girl in about 4th grade, under 5 feet tall, maybe 50 pounds, who put three's on the rim consistently at the half times of the three games we watched and made at least three that I saw. It looked like she was using the Swish method, good up force tied to a nice flip out shot that went mostly straight at the basket. An obvious gym rat who the local coaches must be waiting to get older. One of the coaches obviously knew her and may have been her father. This little girl made a real impression on my friend's younger son who struggles to get the ball to the rim because he shoots only with his arms. I think their daughter saw something, too. If your travels will get you to Boston,
we are a 100 miles away. I am not plugged into the local basketball
scene except for a passing acquaintance with a couple of coaches,
but my instinct is that there ought to be interest in both players
and coaches in Swish. You are right that there are very few
really good shooters and that it's a curable (as in teachable,
witness me teaching myself at age 55) condition that you have
a working solution for. I know how to show them dribbling and positioning but I did not know how to show them "good techniques" for shooting. Now I have this tool! Thank you very much and I will keep you posted. By the way, the team is 2 and 1 at this time. The first game and win was with 4 players. We have 6 on the roster. I do tell them that winning is not the total objective but to play well and with all of their heart. If the score doesn't show the win then if they gave their all the win is within them. We play to have fun but it is always more fun to do something well. I'm sure there is a cliche that says this
better but you can understand the philosophy I believe. I really
never expected to be coaching but it is rewarding to see the
children improve and in so doing the smile remains. I felt I just had to brag on my son (Joey) a bit. His basketball season is well underway. He is a starter on the JV. He has been working very hard on his shooting since watching the video and attending your Dallas clinic. His shot has been getting more consistent each week. This past Friday his team played in two games in a tournament. Joey was 4 for 7 on 3-pointers, 3 for 3 from the line. All but one of the 3-pointers and all of the free throws were dead center SWISHes! He is starting to believe he should look to shoot more. He followed up the next day in practice with 9 for 11 in a free throw drill. He was upset because he missed 2. Thanks again for the wonderful instruction.
I wish I had known this stuff 30 years ago! ------------------------------------------------------------ As the season winds down, I'm sure a lot of coaches are planning instructions to their players for things to work on over the summer. One thing that comes up every year for some coaches are plans for shooting repetitions over the summer. I hear of "3,000 shot plans," and "5,000 shot plans," and even 8,000 or 9,000 shot plans. The programs consist of taking lots of shots from different spots, probably starting in close and moving back, or moving from spot to spot. The general idea is that repetitions will help the shot. I agree repetitions can help, but if they are repetitions of ineffective technique, then the program isn't going to help much. Repetitions will make you stronger, and a strenuous workout of any kind can improve your physical condition. But to learn a fine skill like shooting, just lots of repetition will not help much. May I suggest that what's needed is "Quality" rather than "Quantity"? If you've been reading my writings on shooting, you know I stress what's called "Awareness." The Quality I'm talking about in this section is arrived at through awareness, what can also be called "feel." In fact, the learning of a physical action is totally a function of awareness, physical awareness of an action and feel, visual observation and feedback (through awareness) of the result. If you can't feel something, there will be little or no learning. You might, by accident, do an action perfectly and make a swish shot, for example, but if you didn't feel what you did, you probably cannot repeat it. My golf mentor put it this way: It's crazy to think you can correct (or "fix") something you can't feel! Golfers do that all the time, trying to fix slices or hooks, but rarely spending time on a practice range feeling how they actually swing. They're too intent on solving their swing problems and don't put in the time to feel and experiment and learn, thus the problems persist. Telling a player what to do is one thing, but to "coach" a player to experiencing what she or he feels and seeing what happens to the ball is a much more powerful way to coach. For a coach, my suggestion for summer shooting is to ask your kids to spend a lot of time just observing how they shoot now. Observe the flight of shots, the height, spin, where they land. Do they land softly or are they "hot?" When they miss, where do most shots hit? Is there consistency or are they all over the place? Watch what you do to create and utilize power. Is your shot more upper body or the upper & lower bodies working together? Where is your Set Point (Shooting Pocket) for jump shots? Is it in line with your shooting eye or left or right? Is the back of the ball somewhere near the front of your head, or is it overhead a little or a lot or out front? What do your arm and hand do during the release and follow through? Are your wrist and hand relaxed or tight? Shoot this way a few dozen or a few hundred times and your shot will improve, probably dramatically. In fact, if you're employing awareness well, you can learn things in a fraction of the time that just more repetitions will ever teach you. And while you're learning, remember to keep your shots closer in, smaller in size and slower in speed, a lot of the time. We learn more effectively at slower tempos and with smaller degrees of energy. Once a motion is learned, then you can move back and add more power and speed. If you're too anxious for results, you'll move beyond the comfortable, learning distance too quickly and lose the learning. Put it this way: You can learn more from one shot, well felt, well experienced, than you can from a hundred poorly-felt shots. Learning is like that. The quality of awareness is the key. So spend more time learning how to use the senses, especially the kinesthetic "feel" sense, and you will not have to shoot thousands of shots to improve. You'll need a good number, as old habits die slowly, but with increased awareness and a strong intention and commitment to learn and grow, development will come more quickly than you might think. I tell kids in my shooting clinics that they need to become responsible for their own learning (self coaching). I can lead them to the water and show them how to get their feet wet (experience it), but only they can drink the water. And then they have to return to the well over and over and re-create the experience. Then they will learn like crazy. Practice Quality, not just Quantity. And if you can have both, that is great awareness and lots of repetitions, then you have the best of both worlds! ------------------------------------------------------------ Last month I said I would be putting up a "For Coaches" section on my site within a week or so. Excuse me for missing that deadline. It was a much bigger job than I anticipated and my time to work on it has been short. I will put it up this week and it will have some "starter" information. Slowly I will add more articles, ideas, suggestions, lesson plans and more. These will be some of the components that will eventually be "fleshed" out: · Articles on how to coach the skill
of shooting Soon: The Suggestions document will answer your questions about a number of issues in shooting, from how to coach the Fundamentals to how to address and coach ball spin, height, developing a repeatable motion, shooting off the dribble, etc. etc., plus a myriad of other ideas that relate to improved shooting. This will be a collection of my thoughts about, and answers to, questions that all of us have about shooting. It'll be a Work-in-Progress, as I get inspired to describe ways to coach the critical skill of shooting. Though it will be aimed at youth coaches who impact the younger players, it will be "universal" and apply equally to all levels of the game. I also solicit your own coaching stories of what works and doesn't work for shooting using my Method, and I'll include the best of those for all to see. When we have a Discussion Forum running, you'll have a place to write of your experiences and questions for all to see and respond to. Thanks for staying tuned. ------------------------------------------------------------ Starting in May, I will be traveling as much as possible to do Coaches' Trainings and Shooting Clinics across the country. If you would be interested in having me to your area, contact me. There are available weeks this summer and weekends in the fall. A suggested format is a Coaches' Training one evening, followed by a couple days of clinics at which the coaches can observe and assist. My wish is to leave an area with empowered kids and coaches/parents so that a "Shooting Renaissance" is started and can be sustained and developed. After a shooting clinic with me, here is what the kids will "know" about their shooting: 1) They know they CAN do it, that they
can become very fine shooters Coaches will: Please keep in touch with my Clinics &
Camps section on my website (http://www.swish22.com/clinicsetc.html)
for the latest plans. May 3-5 in New England and June 6-8 in
August, Georgia are currently firmed up, with plans developing
for several other major areas. Just a quick bit of coaching on a couple things that really matter when you go to shoot: The Setting of the ball and the Release/Follow Through. I'm getting more and more interested in the importance of the "setting" of the ball just before you go to shoot. When you watch the few great shooters out there, like we just did with Juan Dixon of Maryland, with the three sharpshooters for Indiana, Coverdale, Fife and Hornsby, and with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi from Connecticut, they have a strong connection to target as they go to shoot, a quick Release, and a great finish. They shoot from their whole bodies. You can just "see" how their shots have a high probability of success in the way they power their shots and in their release and finish. The setting of the ball is critical in the whole process. For my coaching, just start to notice how you "set" the ball and release it. Is the ball solidly in your hand, and when you bring the ball to the Set Point (or Shooting Pocket), is the hand pointing directly in line with your shooting eye and the target? If the answers are "No," then your shooting is probably sporadic. If yes, you can probably shoot pretty well, assuming your Release and Follow Through stay connected to where you're sending the ball. Note that connecting the center of the hand with the eye and target will require that the elbow be out to the side a few inches (4-6" depending on how long your arm is). The "Elbow under the ball" instruction interferes with this plan, so make the hand more important than the elbow. Try moving the elbow directly under the ball and see what it does to the hand alignment. Where is your Set Point? Look to see where, exactly, you bring the ball before shooting. Is it above the eye or below the eye? Is it in line with the eye or off to the right or left? How high overhead do you bring it, if above the eye and head? (Note the Set Point is where you bring the ball and stop, momentarily, before shooting a jump shot. That gives you a solid base from which to shoot, which is especially important with shots off the dribble, to counteract all the chaotic movement. Set shots and free throws don't need a "Set" point, since the body is basically stable. For those shots, the ball starts lower and goes up and through the area of the Set Point without stopping.) Next watch your Release. Does the arm straighten at the same speed and force each time? Does the arm stay connected and in line with the target in the Follow Through? Are your wrist and hand relaxed, and does the hand flop forward, staying in line in the Follow Through? If yes, you are probably pretty accurate and consistent. If no, then you need some work (awareness) in those areas. You could do some of this examination at home without a ball. Pretend you have one and go through your motion. My coaching is to propel the ball with a pushing action of the arm rather than a throw or a wrist flip. See which way you shoot, and then try my way and see what happens. In order for the upper body motion to do less (and thereby become more predictable and repeatable), you have to shoot from the leg action. Shooting quickly, on the way up, does that. And, voilâ, you'll get more height shooting this way. Experiment with these ideas and see what develops. You'll start having discoveries that will "teach" you what really works. Stay in touch with my website. If you have some great discoveries, write them down and email them to me. For questions, go to my new "For Coaches" section and read some of the "Shooting Suggestions." (This will be up soon on the site.) Most of your questions will be answered there. If not, then drop me an email and I'll give you a quick answer. Cheers and great shooting! I invite you to bookmark my Website (http://www.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 (see above) and let them know there's a proven method for better shooting. ------------------------------------------------------------ If you'd like to organize some shooting
clinics or camps, please call or email me. I'll be scheduling
Coaches' Trainings at each stop as much as possible, too. Stay
in touch for them. ***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 ------------------------------------------------------------ |