Shooting Newsletter Vol. #4, Issue 12, December '02

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THE SHOOTING NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 2002
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By Tom Nordland, Shooting Coach
Volume 4, Issue Number 12, December 2002
Editor: Tom Nordland
E-mail Tom
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Welcome from the Coach
2. Purpose of this Newsletter
3. What I'm Up For In 2003!
4. An Indexed Directory to Previous Newsletters
5. KIDS' KORNER
6. Please Bookmark this Website
7. Shooting Clinics / Private Coaching
8. How to Subscribe / Unsubscribe
9. Contact Information

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1. Welcome from the Coach
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Welcome to my free Monthly Basketball Shooting Newsletter. Each month I write about the skill of shooting in the game today and how it can be more effectively learned and coached. If you like what I'm saying, please tell others about it and suggest they subscribe, too. Remember: Great Shooting CAN be taught!

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2. Purpose of this Newsletter
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This newsletter is a vehicle for communicating what I know about shooting and for a conversation on how shooting can be improved. 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.
-- Tom Nordland

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3. What I'm Up For In 2003!
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Here is a snapshot of what has been accomplished to-date and a look at the things I'm working for in the coming year.

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To-Date:
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MY VISION
I'm committed to helping shift the basketball world in how shooting is taught. I can see that what kids are learning is not working. A few players become good to great shooters but the large majority do not. My own discoveries, both as a teenager growing up in Minneapolis, and then over 30 years later as an adult, can serve as a model and simple method for inspiring a Renaissance in shooting. I'm writing about it, my video shows what's needed, and my clinics teach both players and coaches how to do it.

At each step of the way, I invite you to "test" out what I say. Check to see if an "open" stance isn't more natural and comfortable and aligned than a "square" stance for a one-handed shot. See if a Set Point (hand position) that's aligned with the shooting eye and target doesn't create more accurate shooting. Note if a flipping or throwing release motion flattens the shot and adds variables, whereas a simple, upward-aimed, pushing action of the arm with a relaxed wrist and hand (driven by the lower/middle body muscles) creates a more accurate, consistent and "repeatable" shot.

The tremendous endorsements and testimonials my video and coaching are getting reveal that this approach is widely agreed with and works! Once you see and understand it (and can do it), you'll find proof and confirmation in watching the few great shooters shoot. This is not a "Trust me, it will eventually work!" kind of coaching. It works immediately. Learning it deeply so it replaces the habitual things you've been doing takes time, as we all know. But a strong, focused and patient practice of awareness will speed up the process. It will also help to stop judging yourself every time you slip back into old patterns.

If you agree with my vision, help me get this approach out to your friends and fellow coaches/parents/players. The easiest way is to refer them to my website (www.swish22.com) and recommend they purchases the Swish video(s).

VIDEO SALES - SWISH I
My Swish video continues to sell well and sales are, in fact, accelerating. It will have a long life due it's basic simplicity and power in teaching how shooting can be learned and coached. Sales are approaching 10,000, mostly in the U.S. but also overseas more and more.

CLINICS GOING STRONG
My clinics locally and across the country are well-received. This past summer and fall I traveled for the first time to Rhode Island, Georgia, the Washington D.C. area and Idaho. I'm in communication with people in Canada, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, South America and other countries about visiting those parts of the world in the near future.

TRAINING COACHES
I've done a number of Coaches' Trainings as I travel and over 300 coaches have joined my Coaches' Mailing List and started on the path to improved shooting coaching. I started a "For Coaches" section on my website where I publish "Homework" to get them started, coaching suggestions, lesson plans, discussion of coaching principles, etc.

PUBLISHED NEWSLETTERS AND ARTICLES
My free monthly Shooting Newsletter is now subscribed to by over 2,150 people from around the world. There are 44 back issues on the archives, including this one.

The "Winning Hoops" magazine featured an article of mine (co-edited by Mike Podoll of WH) called "Fixing What's Wrong With Shooting" in their recent "Sizzling Shooting" edition, page one. It's available only in printed form, I understand. It's a combination of two prior articles I wrote for the Basketball Highway website, and you can read it at this URL on my website: http://www.swish22.com/fixing.html.

This article is also going to be published in the Italian basketball magazine, "Giganti," in the February, 2003 issue (George Gandolfi, Editor). I'll be writing a follow-up article for them for the March issue.

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Coming up in 2003:
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VIDEO SALES AND SWISH II
SWISH I: I will continue to market the first video, of course, and will put it out in DVD form as soon as possible. Foreign language versions will also be forthcoming.

SWISH II: I'm working on my second video, to be on "Coaching the Method," a practical addition to the first video. It will have lots of examples of great shooting development and a thorough presentation on what great shooting requires and how to coach it (both for oneself and others). I expect to have the video finished by mid- to late-spring. It will be available on DVD quickly, once it's finished. Like Swish I, it will be translated into other languages.

CLINICS AND COACHES' TRAININGS / TRAVEL
I will travel as much as I can to teach players of all ages how to learn the great skill of shooting. To augment what I can do myself, I will be training more and more people to coach the Swish Method, both as I travel and here in California. I'm committed to making the "For Coaches" page more and more content-rich with interesting and useful information and practical coaching advice for all levels. Soon a Coaches' Forum will be on that page so you can exchange ideas and experiences on various topics in a clear, easily accessed manner.

As soon as possible I'll develop some kind of "Certification" course so coaches will have a specific path to follow to develop their teaching of this skill. Besides empowering them (you) in this way to make a difference with kids, a secondary purpose will be to develop a Directory of coaches around the country to whom I can refer people who ask for coaching in their area.

DIGITAL VIDEO TECHNOLOGY
As the technology for recording and displaying digital images and video clips develops, I see this media being more and more powerful to share my coaching. I'm educating myself in the technologies at this time. As time goes on, I'll be offering more and more sophisticated video presentations and analysis.

A SUMMER CRUISE TO ALASKA?
Let me use this opportunity to raise a trial balloon and see if anyone's interested. My wife and I have wanted to take an Inland Cruise up to Alaska from Seattle (or Vancouver) for many years. Those cruises are known to be especially breathtaking, the cruises of a lifetime, I'm told! They travel up alongside glaciers and offer spectacular views of Alaska's wilderness, views of glaciers and fjords, mountains and waterfalls, Killer Whales and other remarkable wildlife. There are 4-5 stops where you can visit the local towns and take side trips into the natural beauty.

Such a cruise presents an opportunity for basketball. I could coach shooting during the week on board using a couple quality, portable baskets in an interior gym or ballroom with a high ceiling. (We might go outdoors when in port, if there is no wind.) If a group of people would be interested, I feel I could convince a cruise line to make this available to this special group (and their guests in general) throughout a trip. There would be time to view the scenery, of course, and in off moments you and/or your kids could meet with me on the court, learning the joyful art of shooting in group and private sessions. It would be a little added benefit for basketball lovers like us, low key and relaxed, with plenty of time for play and discovery.

I would also plan to put on clinics for local kids and coaches at a few of the stops along the way, at places like Ketchican, Juneau, Skagway and Haines. You could join the land-based clinics, if you wanted, or use that time for sightseeing.

I'm guessing a seven-day cruise costs from $800-900 per person and up, depending on the location of your room, and I'll figure a little Add-on for my coaching. The $800-900 is an approximation from cruise information I got from last year. Let me know if you're interested and I'll pursue this crazy (and wonderful) idea and see if we can make it happen. I'll get more specific information to you then. One tentative period for this trip this summer would be around the time of July 4th, a great time to take a vacation (possibly June 29 - July 6).

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4. An Indexed Directory of Previous Newsletters
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In the final Newsletter for each year, I create a Directory to the various Newsletter items I wrote for the prior 11 months. As with last year, I'm incorporating these items with those from all prior Newsletters, going back the full 3 1/2 years (43 months). They are all identified and sorted by Subject so you can quickly find and read the items of your choice.

Here is the Index of Subjects, alphabetically organized.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS
(Click on Subject to go to that section)

ARTICLES, VIDEO REVIEWS, SWISH WEBSITE
COACHING
COLLEGE GAME
CONCENTRATION, CONFIDENCE, THE "MENTAL" STUFF
GENERAL SHOOTING/BASKETBALL
HIGH SCHOOL GAME
KIDS - COACHING
KIDS - LEARNING
KIDS - PERFORMING
KIDS - SUGGESTIONS
LEARNING
NBA/WNBA GAME
OLYMPICS
PERFORMANCE, DOING YOUR BEST
PETE NEWELL'S BIG MAN CAMP
POOR SHOOTING
PURE SHOOTING
Q&A's
SHIFT IN THE NEWSLETTER
START OF A NEW SEASON
SUMMER PRACTICE
SWISH VIDEO
SWISH VIDEO SEQUEL- SWISH II
TESTIMONIALS
WHAT'S NEW

Here are the items, with direct links to each Newsletter so you can quickly go there and then scroll to the specific # (the item # in the Newsletter appears first):

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ARTICLES, VIDEO REVIEWS, SWISH WEBSITE
7. Reviews of my "Swish" Video [June '01]
8. Links to My Site [July '01]
5. Video Clips now on my Website [Aug. '01]
6. Links to Four Major Articles on Shooting [Nov. '01]
7. New "For Coaches" section on the site [March '02]
4. Wonderful New Review! [April '02]