|
Return to Newsletter Index page
ATTENTION: You are receiving this newsletter
because you subscribed to it. If you'd like to remove yourself
from this mailing list, please see the instructions at the end
of this newsletter. Our subscriber list is NOT made available
to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber
and respect your privacy. 1. Welcome from the Coach The tools are awareness, patience. The human body is a learning machine. We are "geniuses" when it comes to learning if we can just be aware of what's happening relative to some kind of "goal" out there. When you become aware of what you want and what's happening and then just give feedback without "trying" to get to the goal, then the body is free to explore and learn. And it can happen very quickly. But if the student is unaware (can't focus long enough on what's happening to actually experience it -- seeing, feeling, hearing, etc.) then learning is stunted. Some people (kids and adults) will say too easily that they "CAN'T" feel. When they do that I poke them on the arm and ask if they felt that. Of course they say they did, and then their cover is blown. They realize they can feel where things are, where their hands are or how far overhead they take the ball. When they then spend energy feeling instead of making excuses, they start to learn. Learning is always fun. A mentor of mine said that "learning and enjoyment" should be one word, "learningandenjoyment," they are so closely tied together. HOW DO YOU LEARN TO TRUST A NEW PHYSICAL
ACTION The usual thing that happens when pressure is applied (in a shooting competition like "Knock out," or team competitions to see how quickly you can get to "21," or a game of 5-on-5, or 3-on-3, or 1-on-1, etc.) is to revert to old patterns of shooting. This is very normal as our behavior is shaped by our past experiences. We develop what we call "habits," and they're usually hard to break. Thus, when asked to "perform" in something like a shooting drill, the old shot dominates. With practice and patience, the new stroke will come to be trusted and become the new "habit" eventually. How long that takes is a function of how aware you are. A few years ago a friend and I got together on a court so I could show him what I'm up to regarding shooting. He had been captain of his team 20 years earlier but had never been able to shoot very well. He was (and is) a very "aware" person. Among his other talents and skills, he's become a golf teacher and also plays the game at a high level. In 20 minutes, after I explained my simple Method and demonstrated it, he "GOT" it. It didn't take hours of coaching. Just a few minutes went by and then he started drilling shots from all over the court, from 3's to inside shots. It was incredible! At one point he called out that "This is so much fun I'm not even that ticked off I didn't know this 25 years ago." But you knew he was. He said he felt he could have been "All American" if he had known this stuff in college. (We'll never know about that, but you get the idea. He was transformed!) Then, after an amazing 45 minutes of drilling the net from all angles and distances, he went to the free throw line, took a few free throws and exclaimed: "I'm a 90% free throw shooter!" He could just tell that he was. He said the best he had ever done in college was 72% " with a lot of hard work!" Now, in a very short time and years after he had quit playing, he could see that his accuracy and consistency were such that he knew he was an outstanding free throw (and jump) shooter. The point is, this stuff doesn't have to
take 21 days or 21 months. It might take just 21 minutes if the
student is super aware. That kind of awareness is rare, so more
usually it takes some time. But don't expect it to take a "long"
time. It might, but if you apply a high degree of awareness and
intention and commitment, you will be surprised. Stanford's starting pitcher, meanwhile, the "Freshman of the Year" in the country, didn't have a "nice day." His game was off. He gave up five walks in the first inning and a sixth early in the second inning and was taken out. In the first inning he walked three batters with the bases loaded! From there Rice went on to a record-setting 14-2 victory. So it was the usual: some heroic performances, some less-than-perfect. Someone wins and someone loses. In the end it was Rice celebrating and Stanford disappointed. It was Rice's day! I attended Stanford and I love the school. Besides the school's terrific academic reputation, it has had remarkable success in sports. There's some national award the school wins almost every year for the number of national championships it wins in all sports. By comparison THIS WAS RICE'S FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN ANYTHING!!! My reaction was, "Congratulations to Rice!!! They played hard and well and deserved it! How wonderful they must be feeling! Their first national championship? Wow, isn't that great!" STANFORD WAS APPROPRIATELY CRESTFALLEN A DIFFERENT POSSIBILITY FOR NATIONAL TV One of the disappointing things about sports on all levels is the overly-emphasized (by some coaches) focus on "winning!" That mentality says that if you don't win, you're some kind of "loser." But the guys who lost in this series went very far! They made it to the finals of the National Championship! They're healthy, strong young men. They're going to a great college and getting a wonderful education. They have remarkable lives to look forward to. They're incredibly lucky human beings. All that happened is that they lost a game and lost some fame and honor! COULD HAVE BEEN GREAT ROLE MODELS The Positive Coaching Alliance (http://www.positivecoach.org) I write about occasionally addresses this kind of approach to sports, with players, coaches and parents. They are a most inspiring group. Reading their Spring 2003 newsletter called "Momentum" helped me see again how this could have been a transformational moment, rather than business as usual (or sports as usual). I can see how the Stanford coach could have prepared his team to do something special that day. He could have taught them an extraordinary way to lose! IT WOULD TAKE SOME PRACTICE On national TV like this game, the media might think you're happy to lose and try to make a story about that, but very quickly they and everyone else will see the incredible message this sends. That losing is just part of the game. NEW ZEALAND AT THE OLYMPICS BEING EXTRAORDINARY The Positive Coaching Alliance's motto is: "Transforming youth sports so sports can transform youth!" It would be a great message to kids to demonstrate this kind of selflessness so they can grow up to love sports even more and become parents who raise their kids to love sports, too. This "attitude shift" could be
done for any sport, of course. If you're a coach, have a conversation
with your team about how they might more powerfully accept winning
and losing. It could even start before the game, with some kind
of ceremony of gratitude before the competition. After the game,
if you're the winner, can you feel some humility about your victory,
knowing how easily it could have been the other way around, and
shake the hands of your opponents with sincere appreciate of
who they are and the effort they have made to be there that day?
If you're the loser, can you adopt the above attitudes? I've
seen too many games where the handshakes are barely there. The
losers think they have to look and feel rotten. How about a game
where both parties are joyous in the handshake because they can
walk in the others' shoes? (Note: this is a reprint of what I wrote in June '99. It's relevant today, too, of course!) GOOFING OFF OR LEARNING SOMETHING? For the younger players out there reading
this Newsletter, summer is a wonderful time. You can just "hang
out" at the beach or the lake or the river, you can just
be with friends, doing stuff, or just loafing around or goofing
off. Go to gyms or parks and play the game as much as you can. Hook up with teams and join organized play, if possible. Spend lots of time practicing, learning how to do things: like dribbling, passing, shooting,rebounding, blocking out, running plays, working off picks and screens. Develop your muscles, lift weights, learn to jump high, develop speed and quickness. If you have older, more experienced players around when you practice,ask them to help you. Everyone loves to be asked to help. If they seem, at first, to not want to help, be persistent. When they know you're serious, maybe they'll take some time to teach you what they know. Adults will especially love to help. Please please please DO NOT BE EMBARRASSED that you don't know how to do something! You're not expected to know a lot of stuff at a young age. You can constantly ask for help and clarification. Then observe yourself as you attempt to learn the new things. This is a key Life Principle! I've learned over my lifetime that just observing something leads to change until it's both comfortable and effective, at which time the change slows down and stops. Then it's time to move your observation to the next thing needing attention. With shooting, watch how you shoot. How to you use your lower and upper body muscles? Where does your power come from mostly? How high do you shoot? What kind of spin do your shots have? How do you control distance and direction? Where does the ball typically land? ...short? ...long? ...left? ...right? By simply observing what happens when you shoot and then just doing it again -- WITHOUT ATTEMPTING TO CORRECT WHAT YOU'RE DOING -- you'll see your body do something different. It will automatically start to correct itself. You don't have to force change. Change is automatic! This is an important step to "get." That your body is incredible!!! Give it a task or a goal, then do the task or move toward the goal, and your body will figure it out. This is GREAT news!!! You don't have to "try" so hard. Just learn to observe what really happened. For example, your shots are always long and to the right. Just put that information into your computer(brain) and shoot again. Resist the temptation to shoot shorter and more to the left. That correction will happen automatically. If you try to "fix it," you'll actually have a double correction and go way too far left and short. Then you'll have to correct the correction. Good coaching can help you shortcut the natural learning process,permitting you to get right to the key learning points. If you don't have good coaching, then you can still learn a lot of neat stuff, but it may take more time. When someone coaches you or tells you what
you can do, take it as an invitation to "experience"
what the person is getting at. Thank him or her for the suggestion,
and then, if it's something that interests you, OBSERVE yourself
perform. It might be great coaching or it might not, but your
observation of your experience doing it will teach you all you
need to know about it. If you'd like to start on the process of learning how to coach shooting with my Method, please join my Coaches' Mailing List. The list is a quick and easy way for me to communicate to all the coaches at once. As I develop new things and post new articles, coaching ideas, etc., I use this vehicle to let you know. Also, visit and bookmark my "For Coaches" page, as it will have more and more coaching ideas, lesson plans, articles, etc. There's a "Homework" document that can get you started on this path very quickly. To join the List, go to this webpage on my site ("For Coaches" page), scroll down to the "Sign up" section and click "Join List." You'll be prompted as to what to do. Your email address will not be sold or given to anyone else, and you can easily un-subscribe yourself on that same page. If you're having some wonderful results either from working with the Swish video or just from reading my coaching suggestions, lesson plans, etc., please write them up for me to post on the coaches' page for others to see. We can all learn from each other's experiences and insights. ------------------------------------------------------------ For the latest news about Clinics, Camps and Coaches' Trainings across the country, go to this page: Clinics and Camps Clinics and camps scheduled this summer
and fall (some will have Coaches' Trainings the first evening): Other possibilities for the fall: 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. I invite you to bookmark my Website (http://www.swish22.com) so you can go there easily to catch my latest news and 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 this newsletter,
my site, and my video. Forward the newsletter to them and suggest
they read it and the many archived issues. Send them the URL
(http://www.swish22.com) and let them know there's a proven method
for powerful shooting. To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter, click
on the link below. 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. Remember to expect the Confirmation email. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this Newsletter, just
send a blank email to the following: ------------------------------------------------------------ |