`Awakening' leads to shooting clinics

Review of Swish video

By Alan Lambert of the former "Basketball Highway" website, 1997

Note: Alan Lambert was President of the Basketball Highway Web Site, probably the largest Web Site in the world devoted to basketball (~400 pages and 4,000 links), now defunct.   The Site address was: www.bbhighway.com.

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Tom Nordland's "Swish - A Guide to Great Basketball Shooting"
Breakthrough Sports Productions, 1997       (Color, VHS, 51 minutes)
Cost $39.95 – includes 35 page companion Swish Workbook and 2 page Swish Shooting Guide

Dead center "On Target!"

There are times as a coach or player that you just absolutely love what you are doing. The sounds of the fans, the excitement of competition, seeing a player master a skill, and gaining new insight into the game of basketball by interacting with other colleagues. Reviewing Tom Nordland's new video what one of those experiences for me.

Tom Nordland is a shooting coach is currently working with one NBA player, has worked with Stanford and Santa Clara Universities, and is currently working with Skyline and DeAnza Junior Colleges. He also worked with high schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a coach's coach you might say. I will state flat out that this is one of the best if not the best shooting video I have had the pleasure to see. You are going to say that there are a lot of shooting videos and many of them very good. So, what makes this one so different?

Tom has taken the art and science of shooting to another level. Having coached more than two decades and spent hours teaching players shooting skills, this is the first video that I have encountered where I can honestly say it teaches shooting the way I have. Swish-A Guide to Great Basketball Shooting simplifies all the steps to developing a accurate, consistent and reliable (taken from the video) shot and helps you to "discover the great shooter within each of us".

The most successful coaches in basketball have an enormous library of knowledge to draw upon when teaching and coaching the game, but at the same time can take these complex ideas and express them in the simplest and most easily understood terms. Tom Nordland is dead center in his approach, and explanation of what it takes to be a great shooter.

The Contents

The video approaches one hour in length and moves rapidly with a substantial amount of detail and suggestions for teaching each point. Tom's presentation style is excellent and you can quickly understand why he is a teacher of the pro's.

Swish opens with an simple explanation of what it takes to become a great shooter; accuracy, consistency, and reliability. Mr. Nordland then breaks the shot down into four critical components which is a consistent theme throughout the remainders of the video. I don't want to give away the specific details of his methods because you should see them for yourself. Needless to say, Swish is organized in easy to follow steps and his graphically presented progressions for learning the Swish method of shooting are thorough and effective. The major focus of this section is on learning to use force effectively in your shot and minimizing variables that make your shot unreliable and inconsistent.

Added Value

Just when you think you've received your money's worth, you get more. About one third of the videotape focuses on free throw shooting. Tom includes many interesting pieces of teaching information and I especially liked the descriptive equation UpForce™ + Release + Constant Height = 13'9" (dead center of the basket) on a free throw. There are many other examples like this in the video. He provides you with a series of free throw shooting drills as well which will help you develop what he calls "Distance Discipline", a critical aspect of shooting.

Wait, there is more. While Swish doesn't spend a lot of time on the mental aspects of shooting Tom does address it. He expresses quite eloquently the idea that the shot is very simple and is a physical, not mental act. When the mind is focused and concentrated it is primarily a physical act. The resultant equation Performance = Potential - Interference (borrowed from Tim Gallwey's idea from the books Inner Game of Tennis and Inner Game of Golf) is a great way to describe how to reach optimal performance. When concentration is broken through focus on too much detail, or external noise (coaches and fans) the interference is great and performance is poor. I believe Tom is in the process of creating a follow-up video which will address the mental aspects of shooting in much greater detail.

Finally, you might be thinking as a coach or player that this is too complex for my players. Think again, the details are comprehensive but Tom makes them simple and easy to teach. It is at this point in most videos that the presenter says good bye and thank you.

Excellent Follow-Through

Tom goes even further by providing you an Appendix A - Exercises for Teaching Shooting Fundamentals. This includes a basic review of the grip of the ball, stance, vision, set position, and the release and follow-through. This section alone is more than adequate for a beginner to get a clear head start in developing their shot. As a coach, I truly appreciated Tom's comprehensive approach to teaching shooting but adding this appendix for those with less experience. This makes this video one for all levels of players and coaches. Appendix B- Is a visual demonstration of six exercises and games for fun and growth.

If you are looking for a video about shooting, and you don't have this one in your library, you are missing an outstanding tool and resource toward helping you and your players discover how to become great shooters. I liked the video as well because it is non-traditional in some of it's approach. Many shooting videos give you all the basics, and some drills to go with them. However they are like a car with a big engine that never gets out of first gear. This video has all the gears and each one will expand your knowledge of shooting the rock.

Swish - A Guide to Great Basketball Shooting is available from:
    Swish International, Inc.
    325 Crows Nest Drive
    Boulder Creek, CA 95006
    Telephone 1-888-SWISH-22 (or 831-338-4647)
Visit the SWISH web site at "www.swish22.com"