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July '10 | Jan. '08 Newsletter | Feb. '08 Newsletter | Apr. '08 Newsletter | Mar. '08 Newsletter | May '08 Newsletter | June '08 Newsletter | July '08 Newsletter | Oct. '08 Newsletter | Jan. '09 Newsletter | Newsletter Archives | Apr. '09 Newsletter | July '09 Newsletter | Oct. '09 Newsletter | Jan. '10 Newsletter | April '10 ----------------------------------------------------------------- T H E “S W I S H R E L E A S E” N E W S L E T T E R A Quarterly Conversation FOR Great Shooting! ----------------------------------------------------------------- By Tom Nordland, Shooting Coach Swish International, Inc. Issue Number 113 -- January 2009 Tel: 888/SWISH-22 (888/794-7422) or 831/338-4647 Email: Tom@swish22.com mailto:Tom@swish22.com -----------------------------------------------------------------
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PLEASE excuse the advertisement paragraph you'll see at the top of this Newsletter. Because I have a “free” service with the Mail List company (Topica), they insert that ad to help them pay for the service. Sorry for the little commercialism.
============================================ IN THIS ISSUE ============================================
1. Welcome from the Coach 2. Purpose of this Newsletter 3. Alignment Really Matters! 4. 100-0 !!!??? 5. Video Clips from Swish 2 6. Practice Principles 7. More Testimonials 8. Free DVD’s for a Coach 9. KIDS' KORNER 10. Shooting Clinics & Camps 11. Get the Swish Videos 12. Please Bookmark this Website 13. How to Subscribe / Unsubscribe 14. Contact Information
------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Welcome from the Coach ------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to my free “Swish Release” Basketball Shooting Newsletter. Each issue 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!
------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Purpose of this Newsletter ------------------------------------------------------------
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
------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Alignment Really Matters! ------------------------------------------------------------
I’m discovering more and more that alignment of the ball with eye and basket is a critical thing in extraordinary, “always-on” shooting. How you “set” the ball is part of that. Here are a couple factors in this:
1) Setting the ball: If you bring the ball up to the Set Point off-line, then there can be no Inertia* to catch and help ensure accuracy. Bring it up on line and then keep it moving and in line and your shots will be much more accurate. 2) The Set Point: If your Set Point is not in line with eye and target (as close to exact as you can), then you’re always trying to “find” the target with your Release, and it becomes a bit of a guess. That’s why you see so many streaky-at-best players. 3) The Release and Follow Through: These actions complete the action of sending the ball to the basket. The direction is determined by the action of the arm and whether or not you use the less-reliable muscles of the wrist and hand (which could throw the ball off line).
If all three of the above are “on line” with the target, your control of direction (accuracy) will be pretty good, maybe excellent. I know when I shoot and get warmed up and focused, most of my shots are close to, if not on, dead center. My awareness of ball, target and target line and my simple, repeatable Release action lead to extraordinary control.
*Inertia, described in Newton’s First Law of Motion, is created by an object moving and in line. If you get Inertia going before the Release and then “catch” it by shooting quickly, like in a “one-piece” action, Accuracy is much, much easier. Most players these days do not generate Inertia or they lose it by stopping the ball before the Release.
--------------------------------------- 4. 100-0 !!!??? ---------------------------------------
I liked this article by Jim Thompson, director of the Positive Coaching Alliance:
“No Winners in Dallas’ 100-0 Basketball Game!” by Jim Thompson, Positive Coaching Alliance
“If you want to win, here is a surefire, guaranteed way to do so. Schedule your team against a really weak opponent.
“In the wake of The Covenant School girls basketball team's 100-0 "win" over Dallas Academy, many have defended since-fired Covenant Coach Micah Grimes, asking what he could have done differently, because "it just isn't right to let the other team score."
“My answer -- often shared in our Double-Goal Coach workshops, where we train coaches to win and teach life lessons -- is that there are many ways to make productive use of a blowout game. It all starts with preparation for a game against an obviously mismatched opponent. When coaches have an upcoming game against a strong opponent, we prepare our players for the challenges facing them. We tend to not do the same when we know we are facing a much weaker team.
“But blow-out games provide as many teachable moments as do highly-contested ones. For example: • Don't try to build a comfortable lead and then let up. Start your substitutes even if it means a slower, less-stable advantage. Even if your team falls behind, your stronger players can then enter, challenged to play their best.
• Start players in unfamiliar positions. Got a big center who doesn't dribble well? Have her bring the ball up. Let your smallish guards post up.
• Have your players dribble with their weak hand. Caution them not to show up the opponent-have them dribble weak-handed without a big show. These are ideas for basketball, but with some creativity and preparation, coaches can apply these to any sport. But let's look at the bigger picture, which a 100-0 game forces us to do. What exactly is the purpose of sports?
“With the attention that winning big brings to coaches in the college and pro ranks it's easy for youth and high school coaches to forget that they are educators. Many, perhaps most, youth coaches imagine themselves, from time to time, coaching on the big stage.
“But as much as youth sports resembles pro sports, they are fundamentally different. One is an entertainment business. The other is about educating kids. Or should be.
“Everything that happens on the playing field is grist for the mill of the Double-Goal Coach. Win or lose, come through in the clutch or blow it, coaches who see themselves as character educators can make a life lesson out of it.
“Sports soars when worthy opponents compete and it takes their best to win. Mismatches happen, so coaches must prepare their teams to play weak opponents with class, just as they prepare them to play tough opponents with determination.
“Otherwise, why not schedule against a kindergarten team and go for 500 points?”
-- Jim Thompson, Founder and Executive Director, Positive Coaching Alliance
P.S. from Tom: I read that the winners put pressure on the overmatched opponents, maybe all or most of the game. The article said the winners “pressured” them until the 100 points was in sight, and they would steal the ball at half court and get a layup, over and over and over. If that’s true, wow, what a misplaced sense of values! Humiliating those inexperienced girls so you can win by a bigger score. I’m sure you all have thoughts about how this game violated your principles and ways it could have been played. I saw an interview of the losing team and they seemed to have weathered it well. Their coaches taught them some great values of the game. It’s a learning lesson for us all. The “winning” coach was deservedly fired.
--------------------------------------- 5. Video Clips from Swish 2 ---------------------------------------
I’m learning how to create video clips from any source, but most specifically from Swish 2 to give people a multli-hued taste of what’s in it. Here is a bunch of short clips for your viewing. They’re mostly 15-30 seconds long so as to keep file sizes down.
Let me know what you think of them. They’re of pretty good quality, unlike most of the YouTube clips you see. If you have ideas about how I can market effectively with clips such as these, let me know please. I did get a “digital watermark” on them, so wherever they’re copied and/or shown, my website is promoted.
Flight of Ball: The key with “Swish” is how and where the ball flies!
Grip #1: The grip is your connection with the ball
Grip #2: More information about the grip
Stance #1: Different ways to stand
Stance #2: We recommend an Open Stance
Wrist cock: How much should the wrist cock?
Wrist cock: It can be too much!
Hand alignment in the setting of the ball:
Newton’s First Law of Motion (Law of “Inertia”) applied to basketball:
Dipping is important if you catch the ball high!
Different ways to release the ball:
Varying arch is the easy way to control distance:
The “Bottom Line” is the flight of the ball:
Check the Set Point:
------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Practice Principles ------------------------------------------------------------
A few years ago I met a coach in Rockville, Maryland, named Mark Jacobs. He is/was with five-star basketball and wrote a great article on Practice Principles. I thought you might like it.
------------------------------------------------------------ 7. More Testimonials ------------------------------------------------------------
“Hey Tom! I bought the Swish 2 dvd off you and I am loving it, the simplicity of the shot is brilliant, seems strange to think that this isn't the way that everyone shoots!
“I've watched the dvd over several times but its one thing to listen and watch, its a completely different thing to implement them by urself. I am having some problems which is only natural! The direction of the ball is a problem quite often which leads me to believe that i am using the muscles in my fingers to try direct it but i am not 100% Some days i am so on its scary but then someone will watch me shoot and it all goes to pot!Inconsistency! I find it hard to bring my steady shooting from practice into a game, like i said its hard to teach yourself a new shot by yourself! Nevertheless i intend to keep trying to implement the basic fundamentals and principles describe in your excellent dvd.
“I know that looks like its all doom and gloom but my free throw percentage has rocketed! in practice i achieved 9 out of 10 and in a game in which i played tonight i achieved 75% Probably a daft thing to ask but you don't run any shooting courses over here in the UK or more specifically Scotland do you?
“Many thanks again for your time and excellent dvd.”
-- Chris B., U.K. ---------------------------------------
“Dear Tom, Thank you so much for all the work that you've put in to create great shooters! I came to one of your clinics in Monticello, MN a few years ago and was the lone Canadian. It was the best money I've ever spent! Before I went, I was a good, but not great shooter. I was about a 60% free throw shooter and a very streaky three point shooter.
“After your clinic and hours of practicing your technique, I shot around 85-90% free throws and a much more consistent shooter. Now that my high school career is over, I coach two different junior high teams. One thing i stress is correct form. If I can teach them young enough, they'll be set for life! One of my guys came and told me that at first he didn't think it was going to work, but as he was shooting he noticed he was hitting a lot more a lot easier. My team as a whole shot much better than any other team we played and we went undefeated! Thanks again so much! God Bless.”
-- Cody W., Canada ---------------------------------------
“Mr. Nordland: I am so impressed with your website and the material you have presented. Our daughter, Sydney, is 11 and has been playing basketball since she was 7. She has been on a traveling team for the past two years and absolutely loves the game! She has been a natural at defense - aggressive and seemed to just know how to do that from the first time she stepped on the court. Her shooting, however has been on and off.
“I watched your video clips and immediately picked up several things that she wasn't doing correctly or consistently. We watched the videos together, and she started implementing just those things - WOW! What a difference! I am amazed at how consistent her shooting is now.
“I would love for her to attend one of your camps, but we live in Western North Carolina. Please let us know if you ever get closer so Sydney can participate. Thanks for all the great information!”
-- Kim S., North Carolina ---------------------------------------
“Tom- when I first got the two dvd's I was really fired up after viewing them. The physical positions discussed and demonstrated in the video were really similar to what I have taught, but presented in a very simple and easy to understand way. In my 32 years of coaching, I have had the opportunity to work at a lot of camps with some very good coaches. But in questioning them about theories of shooting, they all seemed to have either differing opinions or language that a kid would need an interpreter to understand it!
“The simplicity of your technique is easy to understand (and teach!), and should be part of every coaches video instruction library, especially young coaches just starting out. I especially appreciated seeing the sections on shooting with the "up force" (or as I used to call it, on the way up), and the reasoning behind allowing your feet to stagger a little to open up the shooting side of the body. Great stuff!!
“thanks for everything, can't wait for October to get here!”
-- Steve D., New Braunfels, Tx ---------------------------------------
“Dear Tom, I’m a youth coach who has always been interested in shooting. When I was young I shot very well at times but I also had long shooting slumps and I really never understood why. Since becoming a coach I have tried to ‘disect’ different shooting styles, trying them myself and trying to understand what factors that decide if the ball goes into the basket or not.
“By chance I stumbled across your method on the internet. After a while I ordered Swish 1 and was thrilled. Everything you said made sense to me and I started to teach the method to my players. Even if I felt that I had learned a lot from your first video, I still felt that something was missing. I ordered swish 2 and looked at it over and over again to find out what I was missing. After viewing the video for the fifth time I finally got it!
“It was all in the delivery as you say yourself. In order to get the pure pushing action, you obviously have get under the ball and not behind it. When I lifted the ball to the setting point I started the movement with my underarm and halfway up I began moving my upper arm until I the ball was at the set point. This made it for me! Suddenly I was always under the ball and I felt like I couldn´t miss. Before I had had more of a throwing motion even if I didn´t understand it at the time.
“Another thing that I picked up from the video was the hand position. In the video you say that as much as possible of the hand should be facing the basket when having the hand in front of your shooting eye. It worked just fine for me and my shot got even better. Everything would be perfect if it wasn´t for one thing : At times my wrist is hurting when shooting and afterwards. Is this something that you´ve heard of before ? The only reason,technically that I can come up with is the angle of the fingers. What I mean is that perhaps I misunderstood what you meant by having the hand facing the basket. If you bring the ball up into the shooting position in what many people call the waiter position the natural position for the fingers is pointing to the right of the head and not straight back. What I´ve been doing is letting the fingers point straight back and this causes a tension in the tendons of the wrist. Do you thing that this could be the reason? I guess that another question that I´m wondering about is if the hand should be in a non-straining position during all times or if the fingers actually should be pointing straight back at the setting point.
“I find it difficult to describe the mechanics in my shot in writing but I hope that I´m making some sense to you. If you could answer my questions here I would be very grateful to you. Your method is the best there is. I know because I have tried most of the systems out there.”
-- Regards, Lars C., Stockholm,Sweden
------------------------------------------------------------ 8. Free DVD’s for a Coach ------------------------------------------------------------
I was a demonstrator at the big “We Play Hard” Coaches’ Clinic in Ventura, California in 2006. There were five main speakers, and then I was part of an afternoon of “hands-on” clinics, my subject being, of course, shooting.
The organizer and his staff prepared DVD’s of the five main presenters and sent them to all of the participants. I’m sure there’s some great stuff, but I’m not a coach of a team so they aren’t usable by me. I’ll give them to the first person who wants them and will pay for shipping (estimated at $3 Media Mail). Here is what you can have:
1) Stan Van Gundy, 3 DVD’s: Pick & Roll Offense I Pick & Roll Offense II Point Guard Development 2) Steve Hawkins, 3 DVD’s (Steve’s the coach at Western Michigan University) Rebounding Transition Game Transition Offense 3) Bob Kloppenburg, 3 DVD’s: (Long-time NBA coach and “defensive genius;” his SOS defense is amazing. I got worn out just watching the players go through the exercises at the Clinic.) SOS Defense I SOS Defense II SOS Defense III 4) George Karl, 2 DVD’s: Denver Nuggets Offense I Denver Nuggets Offense II 5) Van Chancellor, 2 DVD’s Zone “O” & Quick Hitters Quick Hitters I
Contact me and we can work it out: 888/SWISH-22 (888/794-7422)
------------------------------------------------------------ 9. KIDS' KORNER ------------------------------------------------------------ (Reprint from Feb. 2004)
DISCIPLINE -- how it can help you learn to shoot!
Here is a quote that Carlos Santana, the great musician and performer, gave in an interview for the March 30th, 2003 issue of Parade Magazine. He was asked for one of the "keys" to his success. He said it's DISCIPLINE.
"Teens don't want to hear that. They think they can just snap their fingers, and it’s done! But with discipline comes knowledge, coordination, balance, muscle memory, confidence -- things that make it possible to hit the bulls-eye three times in a row. But you must practice!"
This is a great description of one of the key things you need in order to develop your shooting skill. He was thinking of his craft, music, but the same things apply to other aspects of life, like learning to shoot a basketball. Your coaches, including me, can tell you to practice. We can guide you into various experiences and then ask that you practice the teachings, often on your own. Practice takes discipline and it takes time, but it's the only way you'll improve. Great things don't happen instantaneously. Maybe winning the Lottery does, for that one person in a million (or 5 million or 10 million). Do you realize that for every Lottery winner who gets the prize of, say, $20 million, that ~20 million people contributed $1 each for that to happen. Do you like those odds?
TO GROW YOU HAVE TO PRACTICE To practice shooting requires you go to a court and spend time going through the various steps of learning that you've been introduced to (or figured out on your own). I talk about "mastering" the release motion, something that's mostly done just 4-6 feet from the basket. If you go there for a couple minutes, make a couple shots and then move back to the three-point line, that ain't it! To exhibit a level of mastery takes a lot of time "disciplining" yourself to do the various exercises over and over and over and over, shooting with awareness and patience, exaggerating, experimenting, playing, testing, observing results ... and then repeating that process the next time you practice.
Carlos said it so well: "With discipline comes knowledge, coordination, balance, muscle memory, confidence!" Then, as he put it, you can hit the bulls-eye three times in a row (or 33 times or 133 times)! With the huge target we have in basketball, the 33 or 133 in a row is possible. But it takes practice.
WE ALL WANT INSTANT SUCCESS I know you want instant success. We all do! The culture programs us to think it's possible. TV programs are constantly feeding us images of success like that. Work for five minutes and then it's "Miller Time," open up a beer. But I hope you realize the odds are huge against you for such good fortune as winning the lottery. You may get lucky some time and make a 25-30 foot shot to win the game, but don't count on that stroke to work every time. I coached a boy (tried to coach a boy) near where I live some years ago. He had a very complicated, over the head, semi-two-handed throwing motion that could never be consistent, as I saw it. I offered my coaching to him but he wasn't interested. He had won ONE GAME the previous season with a last-second 25 footer. He was the "hero" and he was still living with that one-time success. I happened to watch his team play that whole season and saw him lose 3 or 4 games after that when he was throwing up his complicated prayer shot with time running out. Did he remember those multiple failures, losing games for his team while he was "trying" to be the hero? Probably not!
A DIFFERENT LEVEL So, please consider that you need a different level of discipline and practice and learning if you're going to achieve extraordinary things. Great, reliable and repeatable motions like the basketball shot take time to perfect and trust, but the rewards are great. Be in it for the long haul, not the quick fix, the instant success. You'll be glad you paid the price.
------------------------------------------------------------ 10. Shooting Clinics & Camps ------------------------------------------------------------
THREE GENERAL OPTIONS AVAILABLE I’m now offering a choice (mix and match) of three clinic/camp formats:
HALF-DAY CLINICS: This is the “Signature” format as it gives me ample time to lead a slow, awareness-filled experience in learning. By the end, participants know fairly deeply what and how to practice and how to coach themselves. That’s the only way this coaching is really going to stick! These clinics are 4 hours long, and I can do one or two per day.
TWO-HOUR FREE THROW CLINICS This format is similar to the 4-day clinics, but serves more as an introduction to self-coaching. Its main focus is applying Swish principles to the Free Throw, including my latest discoveries about this simple, can-be-frustrating shot. The “Swish Free Throw” makes this shot easy, a sure thing! I can do 3-4 of these per day, or mix them in with the other formats.
TWO-DAY CAMPS: These are 7 hour, two-day experiences, with a suggested 3 1/2 hours the first day and 3 1/2 hours the second (other formats are also possible). The two-day experience gives the students an evening in between to watch the Swish DVDs, practice what they are learning, and develop questions to ask. The second day becomes magical as the kids get more deeply what’s possible and learn additional ways to practice it and play with it. I can do two of these Camp formats in a two-day period, with both a morning camp and an afternoon camp.
CLINICS THIS SPRING, SUMMER AND FALL? I expect to do a lot of travel this off season, starting now and extending through the spring, summer and fall. If you’d like to organize something, let me know. It can be an effective fundraiser for you while giving your kids the gift of shooting.
(See the “Clinics” page for the latest details and Guidelines)
------------------------------------------------------------ 11. Get the Swish Videos ------------------------------------------------------------
Let me again encourage you to get the Swish videos, if you haven't already. Swish 2 may deserve the “Academy Award” of shooting videos, as Coach Bill Dale put it in a recent Newsletter. These videos are poised to help shift the way shooting is taught everywhere. They reveal a very simple approach to shooting that can be seen to be the way the greatest shooters have always shot. They teach kids how to learn and practice, and HOW TO COACH THEMSELVES! That's Huge! They also, especially Swish 2, teach how to coach others in shooting excellence!
Get both Swish and Swish 2 with the discounted “package” price of $44.90 plus shipping (and tax if you're in Calif.). The original Swish is a “classic,” especially for younger players, well worth the price of $15 (half price, no extra shipping) it costs to get both. Swish 2, two-hours long, is my “masterpiece.”
As one coach put it, “The answer to the shooting woes is mechanical, not mysterious ... physical, not mental.” (Click here to see the whole quote "More Mechanical than Mysterious."
If you're a coach and want to coach shooting, I've got some special coaching tools I'll send you when you purchase Swish 2. There are also lesson plans and coaching stuff on the “For Coaches” page. Sign up on the Coaches’ Email List there. I’ll be developing more materials soon to help you view the videos and teach the Swish Method. I want to inform and empower YOU to coach this skill most effectively. We all need to work at this to “right the ship,” as it's said. Shooting is at such a low ebb, we need something different from what's been coached the last 20-25 years.
Click for more information and to order the videos. Swish Products
------------------------------------------------------------ 12. Please Bookmark this Website ------------------------------------------------------------
I invite you to bookmark my Website so you can go there easily to catch my latest comments on shooting. You can read about my videos there (including endorsements, testimonials, reviews and an overview of the videos), 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 videos. 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. This great game of ours deserves a Renaissance in shooting!
------------------------------------------------------------ 13. How to Subscribe / Unsubscribe ------------------------------------------------------------
To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter, click on the link below.
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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.
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------------------------------------------------------------ 14. Contact Information ------------------------------------------------------------ Tom Nordland, Swish International, Inc. 325 Crows Nest Drive Boulder Creek, CA 95006 Website: http://www.swish22.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Tel: 888/SWISH-22 (888/794-7422) or 831/338-4647 Originator of the Official Swish Method of Shooting! For a Basketball Shooting Renaissance!
------------------------------------------------------------ (c) Copyright 2009 Swish International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ------------------------------------------------------------ |
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