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  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!
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By Tom Nordland, Shooting Coach
Swish International, Inc.
Issue Number 119  --  July 2010
Tel:   888/SWISH-22  (888/79 4-7422)
               or 831/338-4647
Email:  Tom@swish22.com
              mailto:Tom@swish22.com
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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.

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.

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                IN THIS ISSUE
============================================

      1.  Welcome from the Coach
      2.  Purpose of this Newsletter
      3.  Open Letter to All Basketball Players – What’s Up with
Shooting?
      4.  Reaction from a Coach; My Reaction to the Reaction
      5.  New eBook for Coaching Swish Soon to be Released!
      6.  KIDS' KORNER
      7.  Shooting Clinics & Camps
      8.  Partnerships with Basketball Centers?
      9.  Print Out the Swish Flyer!
    10.  Please Bookmark this Website
    11.  How to Subscribe / Unsubscribe
    12.  Contact Information

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1.  Welcome from the Coach
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Welcome to my “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!

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2.  Purpose of this Newsletter
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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

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3.  Open Letter to All Basketball Players – What’s Up with Shooting?
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            (From notes after a Holiday Tournament last season)

Dear Players,

I just spent most of three days watching boy’s basketball.  A local
tournament brought together eight teams, so it was a chance of seeing a
diverse group of players under one roof.  I was struck, as I always am,
by the poor to mediocre shooting, with an occasional good shooter to be
seen.  Most have no clue.

I saw air balls all over the place, and sidespin, even dead balls.  Some
shot with two hands.  Most shots were flat to very flat, and some went
sky high (and often short because of it).  Many of the players squared
up to the basket, and there was a lot of wrist-flipping.  Some had the
ball on line with the eye, others did not.  You could see fear and doubt
written on the faces of many kids when they shot.  Missed Free Throws
were commonplace.  Of the 60-80 players I had a chance to see play in
the games, only a couple of them appeared to shoot the same.  It’s like
there isn’t a “standard” of how shooting can best be performed.  (And I
know there isn’t ... yet!)

My question:  What’s happening here?

What is everyone trying to do to control the flight of the ball?  Is
anyone paying attention to shooting technique, to the form?  Does anyone
make major improvement as the season progresses?

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
        What am I doing to ensure accuracy and control of distance?  Does it
work?
        Do I have a plan? ... or am I just guessing at how many muscles to use?
        Is there any consistency to what I’m doing?
        What kind of stance do I have, square or open?
        How high do my shots go above the rim typically?
        What kind of spin am I imparting to the ball?
        How do I release the ball (throw, flip, push, two-handed, etc.)?       
        Is the ball aligned with my shooting eye as I shoot?
        Is there a lot of variation in what I do?
        Am I shooting from leg power, or do I hesitate and use more upper body?
        Is there a “flow” to my shot, or am I jerky and tentative?
        Is my Follow Through focused and complete, or is it tentative or shaky?

The answers to these questions will lead you on a journey where you can
examine what you do and maybe start to improve.  You can do a lot just
by yourself, using your own attention to what you do.  Awareness leads
to learning, so your shooting will actually start to improve if you just
shine the light of awareness on it.  However, if you can also get some
good coaching and from it come to know what you need to become a shooter
(where you want to get), then you’ve really got something!  Learning
will be inevitable.

DON’T TRUST WHAT’S OUT THERE!
 Shooting is such a lost art that
even the coaching has gotten off track.  Coaches are eager to help you,
but not many of them were really good shooters themselves and it’s
difficult to teach something you couldn’t do yourself.  Even if they
do/did shoot well, to teach someone to do what you do is a very
different skill-set.  Just saying, “Do what I do” won’t get you there.
You need someone who’s broken it down into its basic pieces and then can
show you how to put it back together.

So beware of most coaching.  It’s easy to offer the “party line,” what
everyone else is saying, but the current state of shooting reveals that
the more typical and so-called “Fundamentals” of shooting being taught
aren’t working.  You need a quantum leap, a different approach from what
is mostly being taught these days.

For example, I find that the greatest shooters have relaxed wrists and
hands (the hands flop in the Follow Through), and they have open
stances.  They shoot on the way up, not at the top of the jump.  Their
elbows are NOT directly under the ball.  They dip the ball for greater
accuracy (and it’s done “on line” with eye and basket).
       
MY WEBSITE CAN START TO CLEAR THE AIR!
Visit my website (http://www.swish22.com) and read the articles,
testimonials, newsletters, endorsements and video reviews (I have two
top-rated “Swish” videos), and view the remarkable video clips on the
“Shooting Gallery” page.  This is a Method anyone can learn and perfect
to a fair degree.  The great news is that it’s simple, it’s
uncomplicated, and for most shots does not need exceptional athletic
skill!!!

THINGS DO MATTER!      
You’ll start to see in your exploration that there are things that
matter:
        •  Stance matters –it affects power and alignment
        •  How you use the body’s power matters – you want to shoot from big
                muscles not small muscles
        •  Alignment of the ball matters – direction is much easier if aligned
with eye
        •  Spin matters – it shows what your wrist and hand are up to
        •  When you shoot in your down-up or jumping motion matters – for
stability!
        •  How you release the ball matters A LOT!  It’s the “Delivery System!”
        •  How your arm, wrist and hand function (supported by the energy
supplied
                by the lower/middle bodies) determines ball flight.    
        •   The Follow Through matters – focused attention on the target during
and         
                after the shot affects the “connection” to where you’re going
        •   And, of course, Confidence and Concentration matter.   If
you’re filled
                with fear and doubt, any possibility for sustained confidence and
                performance flies out the window.

THERE IS CAUSE FOR HOPE!
What I’ve realized in my research, my own shooting, and my coaching of
the skill is that there are some simple principles that can make a huge
difference.  Understand and apply them and shooting will no longer be
the mystery it is now for so many players.  If what I’m saying interests
you, check me out and get my videos.  There is an answer and you can
begin to master shooting like few people have!  You could soon be the
best shooter in your group, and then who knows where that will lead?

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4.  Reaction from a Coach; My Reaction to the Reaction
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 I recently got three short replies to my YouTube videos that I want to
share with you.  In order, here’s what the coach said:

“1) I don't care who she is, if you don't shoot above your head, sooner
or later someone will make you eat it!!!
“GET THE BALL ABOVE YOUR HEAD TO SHOOT!!!”

Three minutes later came this one:
“2) Shooting should come from your fingers, hand, wrist, forearm, etc.
and most likely in that very order. Remember.....SHOOT IT ! DON'T THROW
IT!”

And four minutes later, this:

“3) You need 3 things for a good shot: Rotation, Arc, Follow through”


===============================
MY REACTION, IN BRACKETS <<< ALL CAPS  >>>

“1) I don't care who she is, if you don't shoot above your head, sooner
or later someone will make you eat it!!!
GET THE BALL ABOVE YOUR HEAD TO SHOOT!!!”

<<<  ABOVE THE HEAD (AND IN LINE WITH EYE AND BASKET) IS THE PREFERRED
POSITION SO IT’S HARDER TO BLOCK AND YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING SO WELL
(HAND, BALL, TARGET), AT LEAST IN YOUR PERIPHERY VISION.  BUT YOUNG KIDS
CAN’T SHOOT FROM THERE!  THEY DON’T HAVE THE UPPER BODY STRENGTH.  DON’T
MAKE THAT A RULE!  >>>

“2) Shooting should come from your fingers, hand, wrist, forearm, etc.
and most likely in that very order. Remember.....SHOOT IT ! DON'T THROW
IT!”

<<<  ARE YOU SUGGESTING WE PUT CONTROL INTO THE SMALLEST MUSCLES IN THE
CHAIN?  I DON’T THINK THAT’S EFFECTIVE.  THE BETTER SHOOTERS I’VE SEEN
(MULLIN, HORNAEK, TAURASI, HAMMON, KERR, CURRY, ETC.) ALL HAVE RELAXED
WRISTS AND HANDS (THE HAND ACTUALLY  BOUNCES IN THE FOLLOW THROUGH).  NO
HAND ACTION IN THE SHOT MAKES THE RELEASE MOTION “REPEATABLE!”  AND I
DON’T ADVOCATE “THROWING” THE BALL.  I RECOMMEND AN UPWARD “PUSHING”
ACTION TO THE END OF THE ARM, FULL EXTENSION, AT THE SAME SPEED EVERY
TIME SO IT BECOMES PREDICTABLE AND RELIABLE.  THE PUSH IS AIMED HIGH SO
GRAVITY HAS A CHANCE TO SLOW IT DOWN AND THE TARGET GETS BIGGER.  >>>

“3) You need 3 things for a good shot: Rotation, Arc, Follow through”

<<<  HOW ABOUT DIRECTION CONTROL?  ISN’T THAT PRETTY IMPORTANT?  HOW
ABOUT A SIMPLE WAY TO CONTROL DISTANCE?  CONTROL OF DIRECTION AND
DISTANCE SAY IT BETTER THAN JUST “ROTATION, ARC AND FOLLOW THROUGH.” THE
LATTER ARE BY-PRODUCTS OF A GREAT RELEASE DRIVEN BY THE BIG LEG MUSCLES.

Can you see how rules like the above just don’t cut it?  And some of the
rules don’t even make sense.  Beware of what people tell you.   

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5.  New eBook for Coaching Swish Soon to be Released!
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For coaches and serious basketball players, my new eBook on how to coach
the Swish approach to shooting is just about ready.  It’s going to be
released as part of an eCourse on Shooting.  The eCourse will describe
how to approach the eBook so you get the most out of it.

We’re working out the details at this time.  The eBook is 58 pages long
and has 33 video clips that help explain and demonstrate what the text
talks about.  If you’re “On Line” as you view it, the short video clips
will play to illustrate the words.

This eCourse/eBook package, along with the Swish videos, will give a
coach all she or he needs to start to coach excellent shooting.  It
could even be a career for those who are most sincere and dedicated.
       
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6.  KIDS' KORNER
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THE L-E-P TRIANGLE  (Learning, Enjoyment and Performance)

One of my great mentors, Tim Gallwey (read his books, including the
classic “The Inner Game of Tennis”), says this about the whole idea of
practicing to get better:

You want a balance between Learning, Enjoyment and Performance.  Think
of them as a triangle.  They’re all important.  If you focus on one of
the three too much, you get out of balance.  For example, if all you do
is play games, game after game after game, and you don’t allow time for
learning or for fun, you get stale.  Performance will actually start to
decline.

If all you do is goof off and have fun, then you don’t make any progress
in developing a skill, you don’t learn much more than freedom and
playfulness.

And if you’re always practicing and rarely, if ever, playing games to
test yourself, or spending time being silly or playful, then your play
will become boring, less fun, and your performance under pressure will
not develop.

So, my dear young friends, have a balance when you play and practice the
game.  Goof off, then get serious for awhile with awareness and
learning, and then test yourself in games.  Then repeat.  You’ll have a
healthier game from it.

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7.  Shooting Clinics & Camps
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SHOOTING CLINICS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

SAN CARLOS, CALIF. – We’ll be doing clinics all through the fall and
winter.
BOULDER CREEK, CALIF. – I’ll have occasional clinics here in my home
town.

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SAN CARLOS
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At:  Paye's Place, 595 Industrial Road, Suite B,
      San Carlos, CA  94070

Clinic #1:  Sat., Sept. 11th, 10AM-2:30PM (with a break for lunch)      
             
Clinic #2:  Sun., Sept. 26th, 1-5PM

Max. participants:  25

Fees:  $75 - Regular enrollment, includes a Swish video
           $55 - For siblings where first pays full fee, also for
repeaters (no video)
           $50 - Coaches' price (includes Swish 2 video)
           $9.95 + tax - Separate Swish 2 video

Click here to enroll:  "San Carlos Clinics"
     http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1855699
    
 Just follow the prompts.

Click here to download a PDF Flyer for these two clinics:
     San Carlos Flyer:
http://www.swish22.com/assets/PayesPlaceFlyer-9_2010.pdf


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BOULDER CREEK
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At:  Boulder Creek Recreation Center, 13333 Middleton Road,
      Boulder Creek, CA  95006

Clinic #1:  Sun., Sept. 12th, 1-5PM                               
Clinic #2:  Sat., Sept. 25th, 1-5PM

Max. participants:  12

Fees:  $54 - Regular enrollment, includes a Swish video
           $44 - For siblings where first pays full fee, also for
repeaters (no video)
           $39 - Coaches' price (includes Swish 2 video)
          $9.95 + tax - Separate Swish 2 video

Click here to enroll:  " Boulder Creek Clinics"
     http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1855699

 Just follow the prompts.

Click here to download a PDF Flyer for these two clinics:
      Boulder Creek Flyer:
http://www.swish22.com/assets/BCFlyer-9_2010.pdf

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OTHER AREAS OF THE COUNTRY BEING CONSIDERED FOR THE FALL:
• Bay Area of California (other locations)
• Indiana --  in the timeframe of Sept. 30 – Oct. 4
• New England -- October or November
• New Jersey?

Stay in touch with my “Clinics & Camps” webpage for the latest:
     http://www.swish22.com/clinics
     

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8.  Partnerships with Basketball Centers?
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I’m still interested in establishing relationships with basketball
centers that have multiple courts and large databases of players and
coaches.  We can run joint shooting clinics and camps and share the
revenue.  You provide the court(s) and the players and I’ll provide the
coaching and training of coaches.  Your members and people on your
general databases will love to get coaching in the game’s most important
skill:  shooting!  We could do clinics throughout the year.

Northern California is my best option, but I’ll consider other venues as
well, traveling there periodically to train coaches.  My top
coach-in-training, Ernest Johnson, lives in Washington, D.C., and so if
you’re in that area, contact me and I’ll have Ernest contact you.

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9.  Print Out the Swish Flyer!
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See this color PDF that describes the “promise” of Swish.  There really
IS a big problem in the great game of basketball, and this new flyer of
ours describes the challenge and the opportunity my coaching offers.
Print it out (in color or not) and share it with your friends:

        Swish Flyer:  http://www.swish22.com/assets/SwishFlyer.pdf

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10.  Please Bookmark this Website
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I invite you to bookmark my Website (http://www.swish22.com) 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 and let them know there's a proven
method for powerful shooting. This great game of ours deserves a
Renaissance in shooting!

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11.  How to Subscribe / Unsubscribe
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To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter, click on the link below.

***Important: Please note that when you "subscribe," Topica, the company
that manages the free list for me, will send you a "confirmation" email
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The first option is to click on a link to Topica where they will ask you
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just want to subscribe to the newsletter. You do that most easily by the
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need to key anything.

Click on this email -- it will start the subscription process:
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          Remember to expect the Confirmation email.

To UNSUBSCRIBE from this Newsletter, just send a blank email to the
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12.  Contact Information
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Tom Nordland, Swish International, Inc.
325 Crows Nest Drive
Boulder Creek, CA  95006
Website:  http://www.swish22.com
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Tel:   888/SWISH-22  (888/794-7422)
         or 831/338-4647
Email:  mailto:Tom@swish22.com
Originator of the Official Swish Way of Shooting!
For a Basketball Shooting Renaissance!


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(c) Copyright 2010 Swish International, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
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