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what I know about shooting. I see the game in deep trouble because
there are very few great shooters any more, and few people know
how to coach great shooting. Coaches and players everywhere lament
the decline in this master skill. Wonderfully designed plays
are run to perfection, a player is opened up for a 10-15' shot
or a 3, and then the shot is missed. It even happens so often
that coaches and players aren't surprised when the shot is botched.
Failure is kind of expected, but it's still disappointing. Articles
are written about this dilemma, and people are looking for an
answer. I wish to provide that answer. None of the "draftees" was more excited than Stanford's Mark Madsen, as he was picked 29th in the first round by the L.A. Lakers! He loves the Lakers and said he's delighted to be able to play for a "living legend," Phil Jackson. I had the great pleasure to work with Mark this spring just before his team tryouts and showcase events. A strong rebounder, defender and team player, his offense was limited in his college game, and he wanted to learn how to shoot and what to practice. He "got" very quickly what it is I coach and began to shoot better and better in a very short time. He even now has a 3-point range, a shot he never dared try in college. In one of the interviews he gave, he told of being in Chicago trying out with the Bulls. One morning he thought he was unobserved and was taking a bunch of 3-point shots. He was making a good percentage of the three's, fortunately, because he learned later that a hidden camera was recording everything. He was pleased he had shot so well. He recently gave me a quote that he had improved "...more than I ever could have imagined!" That tells a lot. We are so driven (or limited) by our attitudes and our imaginations. I feel Mark now has a chance to become one of the better big- men shooters in the NBA. He told me his workouts for the Lakers and other teams were very positive, partly due to his ability to make his jump shots and free throws consistently. His being drafted in the first round revealed the Lakers feel he is developing that part of his game. Shooting is, and always will be, the most
important skill of the game. If any coaches or agents read this
who have players who can't shoot (more the norm these days that
those who "can" shoot), give me a call. In a relatively
short time I can reveal the "secrets" of great shooting
to any player who is willing to work and is coachable. It can
make a huge difference for his career. I just completed shooting clinics in Seattle and northeastern Pennsylvania in late June. I was struck by how quickly kids "get" my coaching and start to swish shots more and more. In Seattle I worked with two groups from Summer Camps on Mercer Island run by the highly respected Washington State high school coach, Ed Pepple. His kids were very atten- tive, and Ed constantly reminded them to listen and learn. Learn they did, and he and his coaches felt the experience was very positive. Ed told me a day later that the kids who had me the first day had come to Camp the next day shooting very, very well with high arching shots that drilled the nets. The coaching had definitely "held" for them, and he was most pleased. The second of the two sessions I did for Ed was for high schoolers and they were all excited by what they saw and felt in their shots. One of the boys, first name of Taylor, already had the perfect stroke I coach. When I brought him up to demonstrate, it was amazing how beautifully and consistently he shot. Besides inspiring his mates, I'm sure the clinic helped him by confirming the things he had learned on his own. The coach who brought me to Pennsylvania, Dan DeNoia, head coach at Bishop Hafey High School in Hazleton, was very emphatic in telling his kids to pay attention because they were going to be introduced to the "simplest" coaching method he's ever seen. Dan had purchased my video awhile back and had been reading my articles and newsletters for a long time. He was a true believer in my Method and wanted his team and himself to experience it first hand. (By the way, Dan's remarkable five year old son, Clay, can make shots at the 10' level with a full size ball. On a home court with a 6 foot basket and a mini ball, he demonstrated perfect form -- he's been watching the video with his dad! In fact, he and his sister, Shay, beat me most of the time playing horse with that backyard system. And thanks, Ann, for the wonderful hospitality!) Dan had the idea to sponsor me to do the equivalent of four 3 1/2 hour clinics in two days (14 hours) for his team rather than have them pay for a summer camp (approx. equal dollar outlay). So we did 8 hours on Day 1 and 6 hours on Day 2. I got to know the boys -- Frank S., Patto, Chappy, Jimmy, Cino, Mad Dog, Terry, Chris, Kevin, John, Joe, Brandon, Michael, Jude, Tony, Frank C. and Nick -- very well. I feel they're going to have a great season. Already a great "team," now they're potentially a great "shooting team." The long hours were grueling for both them
and me, but in the end Dan and I felt it was a huge success!
Each player came away with a deep understanding and experience
of the simple things required to become a great shooter. I presented
them over and over in different ways. The better shooters got
better, and the majority went from "no clue" about
how to be great shooters to a simple and powerful understanding
of what's required of them. We emphasized that the coaching will
not stick unless they have desire, commitment and dedication
to practice what was learned, and Coach DeNoia is the perfect
disciplinarian to bring that forth from them. Good luck, guys!
I'll be watching your season. Coach will let me know of your
progress and discoveries. In my clinics, I usually spend part of the last few minutes showing participants how to coach themselves in shooting with their opposite hand (left hand for righties, right for Lefties). If a method of shooting is simple, this becomes possible. If it's complicated, this won't work because the weaker hand is not as good at throwing or flipping things (at least mine isn't). I'm impressed by how many of the kids, some just 9-10 years old, can "get" this opposite way of shooting. I tell them in my Clinics that it's important to be able to coach themselves. The real shooting clinic starts after I leave. What are they left with? What do they "own"? Can they recreate it? They need to be able to re-discover the things I coached them in. Coaching yourself with the opposite hand is a great way to do that. You have to translate what you learned in the Clinic to the other side, in a mirror image for the stance and Set Point, for example. Use of the UpForce (leg drive) is the same on both sides, as are most of the other principles (the "constant" and relaxed Release, aiming high, varying arch, not holding back, etc.), so once you translate the physical set up, shooting on either side is easy. For you, now, you probably don't have my video so you are left with whatever shooting technique you happened to learn. Hopefully it's effective. Either way, it will probably help you to coach yourself with the opposite hand because you'll be more innocent and open on that side. You have no "history" there. You won't have the extensive performance, good or bad, that you try to repeat or avoid. Fears and doubts will be fewer and smaller because you have little experience. You'll probably even improve on your technique because Learning will be in high gear. My students find that shooting from the opposite side is amazingly "doable" and you will, too. In fact, your intelligent body will figure things out differently from how you shoot on your strong side. You'll know to use more legs automatically. The idea of jumping over people and flipping or throwing the ball at the top of the jump will not make sense on the weaker side. You'll learn to shoot "on the way up." You'll see how simple the motion really is. Give it a try and check it out. Let me
know what happens. Remember to do everything in a mirror image.
As you "open" your body counter-clockwise for a right
handed shot, then you have to rotate clockwise for the left side.
Good luck! The girls' teams at our school have a big problem with shooting from the outside. I don't ever expect us to be a great outside shooting team (we're much better at slashing to the basket), but I'm hopeful over the summer we can improve our shooting so it doesn't lead to our downfall. I have two questions: 1) Are there any good products (books,
videos, etc.) that really do work on improving shooting? I've always believed the ball should be released from directly over the head or a little in front of the head because that best matches up point of release to the visual picture. My varsity coach believes that the ball should be released from between the shoulder and head because if you shoot from over your head the hands may get in the way of looking at the target. Any suggestions or comments would be helpful as our program has classified this as our number one off-season goal. -- Coach W MY ANSWER: Accuracy is much easier if, as you put it, the ball is aligned with the "visual picture" your eyes are getting. I call it being "under and behind the ball." Younger kids who have to start the ball below their eyes because of lack of strength can still have it in line with their strong eye. When it's in line with what they see, the shot can be just a simple "pushing" action to send (keep) the ball directly on line. And you'll see I advocate doing nothing with the wrist, hand and fingers. That minimizes variables and gives you what I call "Repeatability." And to do all that, you MUST shoot from more leg drive, which automatically gives you arch and helps power and stabilize the shot. Your varsity coach might also be telling kids to "Square Up," too. To me, it's why John Stockton of the Jazz shoots the way that coach says, off his right shoulder (or between shoulder and head). I'll bet he was told to square up as he was learning the game, but probably also told to have his elbow down or his forearm vertical, and his solution was to shoot off the shoulder. The problem is that he has to compute an angle every time he shoots, complicating things. John's pretty amazing with that shot, being a great athlete and devoting his life to the game, but it's more difficult than the motion of Jeff Hornacek, who brings it over his shooting eye with an open body. Jeff will always beat him in a shooting contest (I've heard he beats all the Jazz in games of "HORSE.") And watch Detlef Schrempf shoot. He opens his body, brings the ball up above and in line of his shooting eye, shoots quickly on the way up, high and soft ... Swish! He's one of the best shooters ever, along with Jeff, and what they're doing is ridiculously simple. It's exactly what I coach! Read the articles I wrote for the Basketball Highway Website, especially #4. It's about Squaring Up and three other instructions I feel interfere with good shooting. Here's a direct link to that article: http://www.bbhighway.com/Talk/Coaching_Box/Clinics/TNordland/take_the_lid_off.asp Tom Nordland P.S. As to Question #1, Coach Wells, who moderates a forum for coaches, says this about my video on his Website (http://www.coachwells.com) under "BASKETBALL REVIEWS": "Swish is an excellent teaching tool
for both the coach and player. Tom Nordland has a great philosophy
of teaching shooting. His simple approach to shooting meets the
needs of all levels of players from elementary to professional.
The step-by-step instructions are absolutely fantastic. The video
comes with a companion workbook which I feel is a big plus. I
give this video an A+ and encourage all coaches to give it a
look." I'm slowly getting more and more known. I've sold over 2,000 videos now, and over 650 of you are subscribers who read these insights into shooting. More and more articles are being written about my coaching ideas and successes. This summer I expect to coach close to 1,000 kids in Clinics across the country. Coaches are asking me to teach them how to coach the skill. The question I'm now asking is, WHAT CAN I DO TO GET MORE WELL KNOWN? Who can I meet, what coaches' conferences do I need to be at, what can I do to link my Website to more sites and more people, etc.? If you have any suggestions, please send
them to me. I'll give a free Swish video to the person(s)
who sends in the best recommendation(s). Thank you for participating.
Basketball needs a new approach to coaching shooting, the most
important skill in the game. I feel my "Swish Method"
can be the answer to this great need in the game today. I plan to redesign my Site one of these
months, but it's going to have to wait until I finish all my
summer travel. ...Dallas/Ft. Worth - July 15 and 17 (OPEN) Being planned: Being considered for the fall: Call or Email me for more information. They'll also be put on my Website and in this Newsletter as they become firm. BAY AREA COACHES/PARENTS: I'm available to coach half day shooting clinics in the Bay Area of northern California. If you have 10 or more kids and a gym, contact me and we'll design a clinic. The cost is $35/player* for a 3 1/2 hour experi- ence in becoming a Great Shooter ($50 including a Swish video, a $30 value). OTHER AREAS OF THE COUNTRY: I'd love to come to your city to put on Clinics. My rate for 2-3 days of coaching is a mini- mum of $2,000 plus expenses. If we do 5 Clinics of about 18-20 players at a cost of $35/player*, that would pay for the visit. The Clinics would be 3 1/2 hours each, giving enough time for lots of individual coaching in addition to the powerful group exercises. Also, a school or basketball association could engage me to coach their team or a couple teams for an extended period for the flat rate. Call for details and to set up such a visit. (*Price includes an administration fee for the organizer(s).) Keep checking my Website at http://www.swish22.com or call or Email me if you'd like more details. I'll update the schedule on my Website when it changes. TRAINING COACHES: PRIVATE COACHING: AUDIO TAPE ANALYSIS OF VIDEO: VIDEO ANALYSIS: Voice over will be used to assist the coaching.
Approx. cost $200 for up to 6 players. As I have to drive a long
way to do this and use a friend's digital video system, it is
not cheap or easy to do. When I have my own equipment and software,
then this will become more reasonable. Call or Email for further
information. Go to the Swish Website, find the section about the "Shooting Newsletter," key in your Email address and click on the "JoinList"graphic. An Email will be sent automatically back to you asking that you confirm that you want to be on the List. Reply in the affirmative and you will be added to the list and receive a password. There is no need to save or record the password because ListBot will always quickly Email it back to you when asked. It's needed only to change your Email address or to Unsubscribe. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this Newsletter: If you ever want to Unsubscribe, please
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