March 11, 2015

Learning Basketball Shooting: “Awareness” — A “Monster” or A Necessity for True Learning?

March 11, 2015/ Tom Nordland

After a recent set of clinics, my top Coach-in-Training, Ernest Johnson, from D.C. and I were talking about the value of Feedback. I've been taught by my mentors that physical learning occurs from in-the-moment "awareness of experience" much more than from being told what to do or reading about it or even seeing it. When you can FEEL something, like the difference between a tight wrist and hand and a relaxed wrist and hand, that feeling (experience) will teach you about wrist-hand tension and how effective or ineffective it is. The "idea or concept" of something is superseded by the "experience" of it, and a much deeper learning can occur.

January 28, 2015

Whose "Fundamentals" Are They Anyway? (A New Look at the Fundamentals of Basketball Shooting)

January 28, 2015/ Tom Nordland

What are the so-called "Fundamentals" of shooting? This reflection was triggered in late 2005 by viewing some of my collection of shooting videos, DVD's and CD's, including some new ones I recently got. (I thought to update it as of a year later, with some new insights.)

Though there is some consistency of thought, I find a lot of differences, too. And some of the things that many of these people agree on are totally contrary to what I've discovered in my own exploration of shooting.

January 14, 2015

Watch Others Like a Hawk!

January 14, 2015/ Tom Nordland

Birds of prey like hawks and eagles have incredible vision. They have to in order to spot prey like rabbits and mice from hundreds of feet away. My words were meant to tell the kids that seeing others is more than just entertainment. It can have a big impact on your learning.