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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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- By Tom Nordland, Shooting Coach Swish International, Inc. Issue Number 106 -- February 2008 Tel: 888/SWISH-22 (888/794-7422) or 831/338-4647 Email: Tom@swish22.com
============================================ IN THIS ISSUE ============================================
1. Welcome from the Coach 2. Purpose of this Newsletter 3. Washington State 4A Tournament 4. My “Niche” is the Flight of the Ball! 5. The “Myth” of Form Shooting! 6. Beware of Video Games for Shooting Form! 7. More Testimonials 8. KIDS’ KORNER 9. Shooting Clinics & Camps 10. You Can Republish Articles I’ve Written 11. Get the Swish Videos 12. Some Powerful Testimonials/Photos/Videoclips for Swish 13. Please Bookmark this Website 14. How to Subscribe / Unsubscribe 15. Contact Information
************************************************* PLEASE NOTE: For these archived Newsletters, I'm just including the heart of the Newsletter, those sections that are instructional, not contact information, outdated clinic info, etc. *************************************************
------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Welcome from the Coach ------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to my free Monthly “Swish Release” Basketball Shooting Newsletter. Each month 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. Washington State 4A Tournament ------------------------------------------------------------
I just returned from a six-day trip to Seattle where I got to spend time with a widely respected and long time (over 40 years) coach, Al Gleich, and attend the 4A State Championship games in Tacoma. Al has coached at all levels of the game, girls and boys, from peewee’s to professionals, including the WNBA Seattle Storm, the Cincinnati Stuff of the IBL Pro League, and overseas with the German National Junior Boys’ Team. See his testimonial in the Testimonial section.
The 4A tournament was in a huge domed structure (called, cleverly, the “Tacoma Dome”) that is so big it can have football games played in it. In this case, there were two basketball games going on simultaneously, one for the girls, one for the boys, with a huge curtain between them. It was pretty noisy, but if you sat sort of in the middle on the side, you could view two games at once by looking left and right.
I was especially interested, as you might assume, in the shooters, and Al could see that the better shooters were shooting the way I coach it, and the lesser shooters were shooting a different way. The latter were mostly doing the square up, flip the wrist, reach in the cookie jar school of shooting, with a graduate degree in hesitating and shooting at the top of the jump (or after stopping the body, as with free throws). One of the teams that lost to the eventual boys’ champion didn’t have any shooters and was doomed from the start, even though they were very talented and gave it great effort. When they were blocked from driving to the basket, their point total stayed pretty stagnant while their opponent’s score kept rising.
Two girls caught my eye especially, Kristi Kingma from Jackson High in Mill Creek, and Ashley Corral from Prairie High in Battle Ground. Kristi set a record with 43 points in one game, breaking Joyce Walker’s record, and Ashley must have averaged in the mid to high 20’s. They had great strokes, with their elbows locking and their hands relaxed and flopping. They didn’t win the Championship but it was wonderful to watch them shoot.
Congratulations to Lewis & Clark High School, on the girls’ side, on their THIRD Championship in a row (Wow!), and Ferris High School, for their SECOND straight title for the boys (also Wow!). They were awesome teams, both from Spokane (a basketball hot spot, obviously, with these schools and Gonzaga).
(A collegiate note: The University of Washington lost to Stanford 82-79 at Stanford while I was there, and I read in the paper the following day that the Huskies made only 7 of 16 free throws, 44%!!! Let’s see ... lose by three points, miss nine free throws, could there be a connection there? I’d love to teach the UW coaches how to teach shooting. Maybe it will happen. I actually met Coach Romar at one of the sessions and had a chance to give him my Swish 2 video. Now if he’ll only watch it and, perhaps, be impressed...)
------------------------------------------------------------ 4. My “Niche” is the Flight of the Ball! ------------------------------------------------------------
In conversations with my host in Seattle, Al Gleich, and some of his longtime coach friends (some retired, several of whom teach shooting), I realized more than ever that my “niche” in this passion of mine is the “Flight of the Ball.” It’s about the shooting, and specifically it’s about the final action, the Release.
THE RELEASE CONTROLS BALL FLIGHT The “Release” is the action of the upper body (shoulder, arm, wrist, hand and fingers) to power the ball and, hopefully, send it exactly toward and into the basket. The lower and middle bodies can do various things to help this process, for example by footwork to face the basket and provide the major power to shoot from, but it’s the Release that ultimately controls the flight of the ball.
OTHER ACTIONS ARE IMPORTANT... AND GENERALLY WELL TAUGHT Other offensive skills in basketball that precede shooting are important, like how you move to get open, dribble moves to get separation, fakes and screens and picks, and what you can do to receive the ball to shoot more quickly. BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU GET THE OPENING, WHAT YOU CAN DO TO MAKE SHOTS GO IN MORE CONSISTENTLY! That’s where the big failure in the game is happening. Missed free throws. Missed open jumpers.
Coaches generally teach the “other skills” in basketball well. They know so much more than I do about teaching them (I never coached a team), I have to defer to them on those subjects. I try to teach an elementary approach to movement and receiving passes to get open, but generally I just encourage my students to work on their own to figure out how best to do things. They can learn a lot through awareness of what they’re doing and what works (playing by oneself at local courts and gyms is how most great players learned the basics, the fundamentals), and then they can ask their coaches for more advanced help. But with the “Release,” that’s another story.
RELEASE A LOST ART! The motion that puts the ball into the basket -- the Release -- has become a lost act, a lost art. That’s where my coaching can make a difference! I see powerful ways to generate and use power, ways to align the ball for the greatest accuracy, and ways to set and release the ball so it flies true to the center of the basket, even under great pressure.
TAKE WHAT YOU KNOW AND ADD THIS... This can be a process of “addition” with minimal “subtraction.” See what it is you do (or coach), and then consider shifting the final action, the Release, when the player goes to shoot.
“FACING THE BASKET” CAN BE DIFFERENT FROM “SQUARING UP” Maybe you do or coach the idea of “Facing the basket” in your footwork, with the body slightly open. In that case you might adjust it and open the stance a bit more and see how that affects alignment, power, the Release, etc.
See if my understandings can help. If the Release is more of a pushing action upward and forward, as opposed to the flip or snap of the wrist, you’ll find the action simpler and more predictable. If you relax the wrist and hand (make those muscles more passive, just keeping the ball on line), the shot becomes more repeatable and can go on “automatic.” Controlling distance by varying the angle of Release is a lot easier than changing the Release action or the timing of when you shoot in the jump. Try the different ways and let your experience be the judge.
CHECK ME OUT If you think you or your team(s) could use a more effective release of the ball, then check me out, check out my website (www.swish22.com), view my videos, attend a clinic. I’ll be developing materials to help players and coaches understand how to use the Swish videos. The videos clips show you 20+ kids whom I’ve coached shooting lights out. You’ll note they all look pretty much the same. Technique and form do matter! And they look the way the better shooters have always looked, because it’s simple and the principles are universal -- anyone can learn to shoot like this.
I’m not teaching the way Kobe often shoots, you know, fading away, elevating over people, etc. Those shots are for the elite in the game. But to stand there and make free throws or to get an open jump or set shot and knock it down, that’s where I can help you.
------------------------------------------------------------ 5. The “Myth” of Form Shooting! ------------------------------------------------------------
I do not advocate Form Shooting. Let me tell you why.
The idea of Form Shooting is taught by a lot of coaches. I read about it all the time in various shooting instruction on the Web and see and hear it in some shooting videos. To me it’s too little, it doesn’t teach much, and some of what it teaches is counterproductive. First let me describe what it is:
WHAT IS FORM SHOOTING? Here are the general instructions I’ve seen on what’s called “Form Shooting.” The idea is have good, solid “form,” a key element in being a good shooter. To do this, you work in close to the basket.
Stand just 2-3 feet from basket at first.
Some say to point and center the strong foot with the basket.
The other foot can be parallel to the strong foot or slightly back, feet shoulder width apart.
Bend the knees, some say as much as 45 degrees.
Hold the ball in just your shooting hand, palm facing up, other arm just relaxed and hanging down or held behind the back (most instruction I’ve seen emphasizes just working with one arm, at first).
Now raise the arm to the shooting position (I guess this is above the eyes, but note that younger kids should not shoot from such a high Set Point), still just using one hand, with the palm is facing up. The arm will form a 90 degree angle (the “L” shape). If you add the wrist/hand to the geometry, the upper arm, lower arm and wrist/hand form a “U” or a “Reverse C.” (As you look at your right arm, it would be a “C,” and if someone else looks at you from your right, it’s a reverse “C.” For the “U” idea, it would be a U lying on its side.)
The upper arm is roughly parallel to the floor, some say the elbow and arm should be over (and in line with) the strong leg.
Bend the shooting wrist back with fingers spread wide. Some say ball is on finger pads. Some say it’s on finger tips. Some say the elbow needs to be “in,” meaning under the ball, I think.
Some say the index finger should be in center of the ball, others say the two longest fingers center over the inflation hole (center of the ball).
Look at rim and shoot with the one hand, keeping the off hand away, to get the idea of the perfect form. Some say at this time to bring the off hand into the picture, helping balance the ball.
The release action is called “Lock and Snap” by some, “Reach and Snap” by others.
Use legs, at end of shot be on toes.
Hold the Follow Through. Shoot with good backspin. Some say “Aim for swishes” to practice effective technique.
Repeat. Some say to make the form perfect (whatever that is).
Some say to stay at the 2 foot distance, others say to start there and move back slowly, keeping the same form.
---------------------------- WHY DOESN’T THIS WORK? So what doesn’t work with this common shooting instruction?
First, there’s no mention of how strongly to shoot or how high to shoot above the rim. I guess the idea is to just come over the front rim and swish the ball. What comes to mind is the idea of “muscle memory,” where you want to train yourself to shoot a shot over and over so the body gets some kind of “memory” going. I don’t like that idea because it implies you will have to memorize the amount of muscle action from every distance -- 2 feet, 3 feet, 4 feet, 5 feet, etc. It will take you forever to memorize the actions from all those different distances.
I don’t preach muscle memory. I advocate the learning of ONE RELEASE THAT FITS ALL DISTANCES. With my Swish Method, the legs provide the variable power source and the Release is a constant, automatic, forward-and-upward action delivering the ball to the basket. With a constant Release, you vary the arch to control distance, not the Release action or the timing with the leg power.
TEACHING A VARIABLE MOTION It seems to me that Form Shooting is teaching a variable release motion and a tight wrist and hand. The instructions to “reach the hand into the cookie jar” and “gooseneck” might also be added, thus further ingraining a motion controlled by the smaller muscles of the wrist, hand and fingers.
IT’S TEACHING A VERTICAL ACTION OF THE ARM It’s also asking you to lift or reach the arm almost straight up, the “Reach and Snap” instruction I’m hearing. Thus the arm is not supplying much or any horizontal motion to the ball (not at all at first in close, and then only partially as you move back) and it’s left to the wrist snap to accomplish that. But that is, again, encouraging control by small, fast-twitch muscles. Under pressure they get more difficult to predict and control. It also flattens the shot as the wrist-hand action from a vertical forearm is horizontal.
COCKING THE HAND BACK TOO FAR Another criticism of this approach is that, by using only one arm, in order to hold the ball with that one hand before shooting, you have to cock the wrist and hand way back (for the hand to face vertically upward). This encourages (even requires) at least a small “wrist flip” to get the ball moving forward. For most people doing this exercise, the intent is to flip or (snap) the wrist, so this is engagement of small muscles is not noticed. However from my point of view, it’s more effective to NOT flip the wrist at all in order to make the whole release motion more simple and “repeatable.” I recommend you not bring the hand back more than 70-80 degrees from vertical so the pushing action of the hand/arm can be directly forward and upward with no flipping needed.
Form Shooting sounds great, but in reality it isn’t teaching much that’s helpful. Having the success of making a lot of shots is, of course, valuable, but it’s teaching tension and flipping in the wrist, hand and fingers, and to me this is not the way to shoot. Watch the best shooters shoot (try to get slow motion replays) to see what they’re doing. Are their arm motions aiming vertical or are they pushing out and up to drive the ball forward. Are the wrist and hand relaxed? I think so.
------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Beware of Video Games for Shooting Form! ------------------------------------------------------------
(This note from a 12 year old “basketball fanatic” mentions how the shooting form shown on video games probably isn’t the best model and maybe should not be copied. I haven’t had a chance to view any such game, but since shooting is so poorly understood everywhere, I can imagine the programmers are having the players do the things that are normally taught -- flipping their wrists, squaring up, shooting at the top of the jump, etc. Of course in a video game you can make the shots all go in, but in real life it takes more than a slogan or a myth to get the ball to go in consistently.)
“Coach Nordland, Something you could put in your newsletter:
“If anyone out there wants to get better at shooting, I've got something NOT to do. One of my favorite games is NBA Live '08 on XBOX 360. Lately, I've spent time closely watching the movement of the virtual basketball players. My dad has also seen the players' movements and he also thinks that they are inaccurate -- the players have wrong shooting stances, wrong arm movement, wrong leg movement, etc. etc. etc. I figured that if any developing basketball players went by the video game, they'd have it all wrong. Wrong footwork, wrong motions, and everything else would be incorrect. You should post this in your Swish newsletter because it's a fair warning to those who do learn by how the virtual Tim Duncan, Yao Ming, and LeBron James play on a video game. ”
- - Ben Tribble Age 12 Basketball Fanatic
----------------------------------------------------------- 7. More Testimonials ------------------------------------------------------------
“Tom, What a fantastic week of basketball. Watching 32 teams at the 4A State Tournament, talking basketball with old coaching buddies, and best of all, hosting you for 6 days in my house and getting to privately discuss “How to Teach Shooting” - It just doesn't get any better.
“After 40+ years teaching “Form Shooting”, basically the “BEEF” method, you have convinced me of the value of your “SWISH” method of teaching shooting.
“What I observed from watching you teach a private 3 hour lesson to three 7th grade girls, and then conducting a 2 hour introductory clinic for 24 players and 12+ coaches at North Mason High School, has totally changed how I will teach shooting.
“The testimonial from Joe B. of Lake St. Louis, MO (see next testimonial), says it all. Awareness is the key. If you can get you players to be AWARE of how they shoot now and then show them the “SWISH” Method -- and let them play with your method, I am convinced that anyone can learn to be a good shooter.
“I would highly recommend that coaches get your videos and, if at all possible, have you put on a clinic for their coaching staff and their players. It was watching you in person teaching your method to our players that truly showed me the value of the SWISH method.”
- - Coach Al Gleich, North Mason High School, Seattle
------------------------ “Tom, I have not emailed you in a bit, hopefully things are going well. I wanted to let you know that I recently started as an assistant girls varsity basketball coach with a local private school, to help with their post players. One thing I immediate noticed, even though this team is ranked in the state, that their post players are struggling shooting free throws. In fact the combined 5 post players, are shooting 29% from the line!! I’ve started talking to these girls about the concepts that you teach.
“The first thing I’ve been trying to do is get them aware of how they are shooting now. It’s only been a few practices, but they are becoming aware and with a few slight adjustments, like opening their stance, I can already see a difference. They are relaxed, confident and actually look like they are having fun shooting free throws. I will follow back with you towards the end of the season to let you know how much they have improved!
“Thanks for all you help. I really enjoy getting your monthly newsletters.”
- - Joe B., Lake St. Louis, MO
------------------------ A second email from Joe, a couple hours later:
“Tom, Initially I am focusing on them being aware of their shot as it exists today. To increase their awareness, I have asked them questions about release (arm, hand, set point etc), what's powering their shot ( upforce or hand/arm ), stance (open/closed) and what the feel. (ie stress, comfortable, relaxed etc). Trying to keep the questions open ended, so they come to the conclusion and I am not telling them.
“Opening them up have been the only mechanics that I have asked them to change/try.
“Micro free throws are next. I am going to bring them into their pure release distance and start talking to them about the repeatable "swish" release. I needed to gain some trust with them first and that is why I did not jump right into changing them.
“These are a great group of girls, I have no doubt that I can make significant progress with them. I will keep you updated.
- - Joe B. ---------------------------------------
(When a coach named Greg from Michigan asked me about the “Form Shooting” critique I had been saying I was going to write (see above), I told him the following.)
“Hi Greg, I'm working on it. It'll be in next month's Newsletter.
“Basically I'll be saying the "Form Shooting" teaches a varying Release for different distances, one way to shoot, of course. I think it also teaches a tight wrist and hand, much too mechanical a motion. The "L," the "Reverse C," all that stuff teach tightness.
“A much more powerful way to shoot is to develop "One Release that fits all.’ Groove and then master a Release that's the same speed and force every time, and then simply adjust for distance by varying the height of the shot, not the Release. That's the EASY way to shoot. That's what the great shooters have figured out.
“Let me know your thoughts on it. Go out and try it both ways and let me know the results.”
Cheers, Tom
------------------------ Greg’s reply:
“Super! I agree 100% and that is the way I teach (learning much from you). Form Shooting as I teach it now for my girls (HS varsity team) means to start up close, get the feel for your shot, make sure your mechanics are correct (stance, grip, open stance, finger pads, roll the shot up and keep your release the same for each shot). Adjust your length and arch from your legs by shooting earlier in your release as you move back and sideways from your original Form Spot.
“The release is the same for all shots (jump, free throw, set).
“The girls must make three swishes in a row before they can more spots or farther out.
“I have attended some shooting camps for my kids and coaches over the years. I also have purchased videos (including Swish 1 & 2). I have adapted what I consider the best of each, and I must tell you your technique is the overwhelming favorite.
“Thanks so much.”
- - Greg C., Woodhaven, MI ---------------------------------------
“Hi Tom, I bought your Swish DVD's two years ago.
“I am working with youths for five years and never read or saw anything that could have helped me teaching how to get a decent shot. After looking at your DVD's I finally found (in my opinion) something that helps me (I was never taught how to shoot) teach teenagers how to shoot. I practiced it myself, sometimes regularly, but often with a pause, sometimes with success and a lot of breakdowns. I stuck to it and feel now more comfortable than ever in showing young or older people how to make more of their shots. Always relating to the SWISH METHOD. I know that my technique might not be the best, but I think I know (thanks to your DVD’s) what's important for learning the technique.
“I would like to get to know more about teaching the swish method. I am planing on a little shooting clinic for my own basketball club during the christmas holidays. If that works, maybe one/two more for our state basketball organisation (it is really small, we only have ~1000 members, already including youth, men and women, real tiny). I will appreciate any coaching ideas you can give me.”
- - Martin W., PSV Ribnitz-Damgarten, Germany
------------------------------------------------------------ 8. KIDS’ KORNER ------------------------------------------------------------ (A reprint from July, 2005)
BEING “RIGHT” ALL THE TIME AND THE VALUE OF MISTAKES
I just had a thought this morning. As a young player wanting to improve your skills, I imagine there is often a lot of doubt in your abilities. I know I had them when I was young, and I think it’s very normal in a young person. You’re trying to “find yourself,” as they say it, in life and, in this case, in basketball.
BEING “RIGHT” ALL THE TIME But let me encourage you to not get hooked on trying to do things “right” all the time. You need to make mistakes to learn. I just clipped out an article from an American Airlines In-Flight Magazine, July 15th issue, entitled “Celebrate Failure” by Samuel Greengard. It’s a marvelous article on the value of mistakes, and even on the necessity of mistakes. The CEO of Sygate Technologies, John De Santis, often tells his employees that he wants to see them making mistakes. In fact, he says he’s been known to tell them they’re not making mistakes fast enough.
The point is that without mistakes there is no learning. Resistance toward taking chances and making mistakes is often a recipe for disaster. “It’s impossible to build success without failure,” says De Santis.
In basketball or any sport or activity, if you are always playing competitive games and not allowing much time to just practice, to fool around, to try different things, to experiment, your game will be stunted. As I’ve said before, games demand the best performance you can generate. Mistakes aren’t welcome. But games, which can be very valuable in your overall development, need to be sandwiched in among lots of practice for the best overall learning and growth.
LEARNING TO SPEAK A FOREIGN LANGUAGE When I was in the Army stationed in West Germany in the early sixties, I had a German friend named Karsten. He wanted to learn English and I was trying to learn as much German as I could during my year and a half assignment there. He learned his target language much much faster than I did, and I could see the reason. He wasn’t afraid of mistakes; I was! He would just let it fly. In a word he was “Fearless.” He would clobber the grammar (“I see she coming this way.” “You helps me speaking English, okay?”) Even though he was making a lot of mistakes, he was still understandable and he learned by his mistakes. The “quantity” approach, rather than “quality,” was very effective. Learning and quality came quicker by the volume of communication.
I, meanwhile, was trying to say things “right” in German. It’s a difficult language. For example, I remember they have six different forms of the word “The.” As I remember, you have these choices: Der, Die, Das, Des, Den and Dem. Which one you use depends on the subject and object and tense, and this and that, etc., etc. That threw me for such a loop I never did end up saying, or learning, much. If I had just said whatever version of “the” came into my head, I could have gone on to speak other phrases and learn much more quickly.
DON’T BE AFRAID OF MISTAKES -- WELCOME THEM! Mistakes are inevitable and, as you can see from above, welcome! The main point is to learn from them, not just keep on making them. You have an amazing vehicle, the human body/brain nervous system. It’s the result of tremendous evolution. If you can simply learn to observe yourself shoot, observe exactly how you do things -- mistakes as well as great shots -- your shot (or whatever you’re focusing on) will start to change and develop. Awareness is like that. It just works! It’s how we learn a physical sport, not from words but from physical experience, from ALL experience.
And one final, important message I want to convey with this issue of KIDS KORNER is to TRUST YOURSELF! Trust that you are okay, trust that you will learn. Trust you don’t have to be Right all the time. In fact, you’re expected to be WRONG a lot! Mistakes are the way to breakthroughs. If you are fearful of making mistakes, you’ll miss the learning and breakthroughs that can come. Welcome mistakes, but learn from them. Making the same mistake over and over means you’re not paying attention.
************************************************* End of archived Newsletter *************************************************
(c) Copyright 2009 Swish International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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