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to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber
and respect your privacy. 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! 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. ------------------------------------------------------------
For players and for coaches, work to get yourself (or your players) "curious" about your shooting. For your players, it's in their own awareness of differences that the learning will occur, not by your good words but in their focus and feedback they generate. Once they "get" that this method is really terrific and works all the time, they should be hooked enough to put in the awareness work. ASK FOR HELP NOT ALL INSTRUCTION IS EQUAL I feel that's what's been happening with basketball shooting the last 20-25 years. And once a skill becomes a "Lost Art," then players who couldn't do it well themselves become coaches who perpetuate the problem. A lot of coaches know they don't know and thus don't even try much to coach it. That's probably better than trying to coach it when you don't know of which you speak. My Mission is to shift the way shooting is taught everywhere. If you like what I'm saying and doing, help me get the word out. Read the amazing testimonials I'm getting.). Tell others about my website and the two Swish videos. Tell them of your experience with the Method. Let's get the Renaissance in Shooting in full swing! Get truly "curious" and you're apt to find the solutions you are seeking. ------------------------------------------------------------
Last month I first mentioned this wonderful football coach, Joe Ehrmann, and how his life's work has become teaching boys to be men. Somewhere on his website or in an article I found about him, I saw this description: HOW TO BE A BETTER MAN · Recognize the "three
lies of false masculinity." · Allow yourself to love and
be loved. · Accept responsibility, lead
courageously and enact justice on behalf of others. · Learn the importance of serving
others. · Develop a cause beyond yourself. What a great message this is, to get outside yourself and find ways to help others. I know most of my life has been about "me." I've thought of giving service to others a lot the last 20-30 years, but I haven't really done that much. My coaching of life skills (awareness, learning, trust, focus, teamwork, etc.) through basketball shooting finally gives me a career I can be proud of, and I'm very grateful that has been given to me late in my life. If I had had a mentor like Joe when I was younger, who knows what other wonderful twists and turns my life might have had? How many "others" could I have made a difference with? The website for Joe and his wife, Paula:
Building
Men and Women for Others URL to Parade
magazine article: ------------------------------------------------------------
Here's an interesting exercise: Observe how you shoot! Observe, really, what it is you do when you go to take a shot, be it a Free Throw, jumper, set shot or any shot. Shoot some shots and see what you do to... MENTALLY THERE'S AN INTENTION If it's a Free Throw, you're just standing there, or maybe you're wide open for a jumper and have the ball (or it's coming to you). Perhaps you see a pick or screen coming that will get you open for enough time to shoot. The thought that you're going to shoot (or you're ready to shoot) triggers some physical response. The mental stuff can affect how well you're going to shoot. See if you can identify your "mental" process. Is there fear or doubt in your head as you take the shot? Or is there confidence? Is there calm, or are you anxious? Do you "expect" to succeed or to fail? If you lose the "inner game" (the game inside your head) while you do this "outer game," even great technique can't save you*. But if you can learn great technique (and I think I offer that), then the mental stuff will stop being so negative and interfering with the outside game. Then true mastery is possible. THE PHYSICAL STUFF And how do you bring the ball up to your
Set Point (the place from which the release action starts)?
If you align with the eye and basket, when is the ball first
so aligned? Do you bring it up on line for a long time, or is
the ball brought up "off" line and only "in"
line at the last moment? Observe your hand position. Is the hand/palm facing directly in line with the basket or do you have to rotate or twist the hand to get it lined up during the shot? How do you "release" the ball? (It's a great word: you release the ball upward on its flight to the basket so it can come down, hopefully softly, dead center, swish.) Is your Release a Throw, a Sling, a Flip or a Push (see Item 6 below in this Newsletter)? Are your wrist and hand tight or relaxed? Where does the hand point in the Follow Through ... down, up, left, right? Mentally, are you "connected" to the target throughout the motion, or do you take your eyes off the basket. Is your mind filled with thoughts, worries, doubts? Are you worried about who's watching? Do you go "blank?" THIS STUFF MATTERS! As a great voice coach by the name of Arthur
Joseph says in his wonderful CD "Vocal Power," In this case Power applies to being a high-performing shooter. Knowing how you do things leads to a "Letting Go" of the fears, doubts, anxiety so you can perform more effectively. Letting Go leads to a sense of Freedom, freedom to play, to experiment, to choose what works, and the resulting Freedom leads to Power, be it vocal power of expression or the power and skill of putting a basketball into a basket at will and even under great pressure. Try this on for size and let me know if you have any special discoveries. I'll share them with all of my readers in a future Newsletter. *The Inner Game stuff comes from Tim Gallwey's great series of books and teachings, including "The Inner Game of Tennis," "Inner Tennis," and "Inner Golf." ------------------------------------------------------------
I was watching Kobe Bryant shoot free throws
this week and wanted to comment on how he shoots. In my research
I see four distinct ways to propel a basketball toward a target: THROW: A throw involves all the muscles of shoulder, arm, wrist and hand. It's like you would throw a baseball or football. It can generate a lot of power, but there are a lot of muscles working to accomplish the action. SLING/CATAPULT: This motion includes a sort of "freezing" of the upper arm and the shot being all or mostly the action of the the forearm, wrist and hand propelling the ball forward and upward. It's like Patrick Ewing shot, and it's how Kobe does his Free Throws. FLIP: This is the most common way of shooting today due to the coaching that's been going on for eons ... "Flip your wrist!" The arm might do a little action of the Release, but it's mostly powered by the wrist, hand and, maybe even, the fingers. The body is not usually relied on much with this type of shot. In fact you'll see many really strong players freeze their bodies as they try to just use the smaller muscles of wrist, hand and fingers. PUSH: This is an upward arm-straightening action where the elbow rises as the arm goes to full extension. (If the elbow is basically stationary, it would be more of a sling or catapult.) This can be done with or without the Flipping motion described above. My feeling is that a stroke becomes much more "repeatable" if the smaller muscles of the wrist and hand are passive, not adding power or even guidance. In my study of this way of shooting, I feel the main Release power can be this pushing action, and the job of the wrist and hand can become just to "keep the ball on line." KOBE IS A SCORER, NOT A SHOOTER! If you shoot late like that, you've missed the wonderful, powerful and stabilizing energy of the legs. Most great shooters I've seen shoot quickly, on the way up. You'll see that in Jason Kapono of the Heat, Kurt Heinrich of the Bulls, Andres Nocioni of the Bulls, and the other "always on" shooters in the NBA and college. Watch how quickly Cottino Mobley of the Clippers gets his shots off. (Kobe and Tracy are what I would call "Scorers," not the best pure "Shooters." They are geniuses at what they do, but I think they would rarely win a 3-Pt Championship against great pure shooters with the upper-body-driven, flat strokes they have.) WATCH HOW YOU SHOOT (OR YOUR TEAM) ADDENDUM: I saw Kobe play again today and I can see that he has different shots for different needs. If he has to jump over people, which is his great, awesome move, then he does use the Sling/Flip action to get the ball to the basket. When he is wide open and at the Free Throw line, he seems to shoot a little quicker and his wrist and hand seem a little more relaxed. What do you see in his shot? ------------------------------------------------------------
"I had read many articles on shooting by Coach Tom Nordland for many years and purchased the SWISH video last year. As I read the articles, I applied the techniques to my own shooting. One powerful way to reinforce the principles is to shoot with your off hand. I was amazed at how I could sink shots with my left hand. Since that time I have held many clinics to help improve the shooting ability of all our local teams (6th grade through High School). "My usual approach is to always offer my services when the opportunity arises. This is usually at the beginning of the basketball season and, since I'm the JV Boys coach, normally the boys' teams take me up on this offer. I follow the format and suggestions from the video and the articles by Tom. One suggestion that I have found to be very powerful is the use of the coach in helping to reinforce the principles. "Here is how it goes - near the end of the clinic I tell the coach that he/she will be going to the free throw line and shooting with their off hand. I tell them that they are to "throw" the ball at the rim and then wait for the kids to "coach" them on one improvement at a time. At the end of the clinic, I have the kids line up on both sides of the lane for their coach to shoot foul shots. I stress that we are having the coach shoot with the off hand. The coach throws the ball at the rim and I assist the kids in making one suggestion to the coach to improve the shot. "Normally the first thing the kids comment on is how the shot was thrown at the rim and not released upward. We ask the coach to make one correction and observe. The kids continue to make one comment at a time and the coach makes that correction. The kids naturally follow the progression on how they learned and instruct the coach to use more leg power, use a constant release motion, and put the upforce and release to for a smooth shot. Usually within four or five attempts the shot is sailing through the rim with ease (or very close). The reason I find this to be so helpful is, 1) the coach is now a true believer in
the technique and will be more likely to use the principles after
the clinic is over and I am gone; and "They also get a kick out of having their coach do what they say. Try this in your next clinic and help spread good shooting." - - J. Thomas - Rochester, NH ------------------------ "After watching them, my dad and I went to a high school near by and shot a few hoops. My dad was giving a bit of stick for using the DVDs and continued for the 1st 15 minutes. Until i swished 13 in a row. That shut him up. "I very much understand your concept of awareness as i was recently discovered while dribbling with my left hand (i'm right handed) and noticing how it was using different muscles in my hand and arm and also the way my hand and arm positioned themselves and how they worked together compared to my right side. I then tried to then improve my shot with awareness as i did with my ball handling but was never sure on what was right or wrong as i became confused with what felt right and good to what coach kept telling me. As is have alot of respect for him. "Now your method has taught me how to properly use awareness, not only with my shooting but also in every other aspect of basketball and life. Which is what ball is about, isn't it, teaching good life skills and habits? I have started using the push and snap action when practicing one handed passes of the dribble and standing. The results are incredible!!! My power and accuracy soared within literally half a min. "I have only been out to shoot hoops twice as have family around and i cant concentrate with my little cousins wanting to play. I have been noticing that i am finding it difficult to keep everything on line and with the hoop. for when i extend my arm towards the hoop it is not in line with my eye and hoop. Though at my set point the ball and my eye are in line. Also remembering all the fundamental as i shoot. often i concentrate on one fundamental, like aiming under the ball with my right eye, and then i forget to keep my extended arm in line. i'm sure after watching the DVDs a few more times and going out more will fix that. "I just wanted to let you know how the DVDs have helped me and just to say thanks. Will keep you posted on my progress. i really needed this as i will be starting for my division 1 high school team this season. and i wanna show coach how much i have been working to replace the point guard and "go to man" as i was the only "freshman" last year. so i wanna show him that i'm not just the lil man with heart and potential." - - Mike F., Wellington, New Zealand ------------------------------------------------------------ DRIVEN BY THE LEGS Just a quick note to instruct you in one aspect of shooting: Let the shot be driven BY THE LEGS! I was reminded of this key aspect of what I coach when watching a game on TV recently. The TV analyst working the game was Rick Majerus, a great coach and colorful basketball personality. I got to hear him speak this last fall in southern California. Butler University was playing someone and a beautiful, long-range shot was made. Coach Majerus commented, "Quick Release, All Legs!" That was his way of describing a powerful way to shoot, and it's the way I coach it. I call it "Shooting FROM the UpForce," but it means the same thing. There are other ways to shoot (like at or near the top of the jump, or half way up, or even, not recommended, on the way down), but shooting quickly and high, driven by the legs, is a great way. YOUR HOMEWORK Try all the variations you can think of and notice how learning happens. When you "know," then you have a choice. No awareness = no discrimination, no choice. If you're shooting well, this exercise will just increase your awareness of the effective things you do. If you're not a good shooter, this exercise will start you on the path to improving your shooting. Apply this observation, play and experiment with all aspects of your game, and you'll just start getting to be a better and better shooter. It's inevitable. ------------------------------------------------------------ Let me again encourage you to get the Swish videos, if you haven't already. They're 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 shooting excellence! Get both Swish and Swish 2 with the discounted "package" price of $15 off ($44.90 plus shipping, tax in Calif.). The original Swish is a "classic," well worth the extra $15 (half price, no extra shipping) it costs to get both. Swish 2, two-hours long, is my "masterpiece." If you're a coach and want to coach shooting, I've got some special coaching tools I'll send you when you buy Swish 2. There are also lesson plans and coaching stuff on the "For Coaches" page: http://www.swish22.com/forcoaches.html I want to educate and empower YOU to coach shooting 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. ------------------------------------------------------------ I invite you to bookmark my Swish 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 (swish22.com) and let them know there's a proven method for powerful shooting. This great game of ours deserves a Renaissance in shooting! NOTE: I have a 2 1/2 minute sample clip from Swish 2 available in Flash technology (streaming video of high quality). Go to the video clips page (see below) and click on the link for Swish 2. It will give a taste of the quality of shooting that's possible with this simple, powerful approach to shooting. There's a six minute flash clip from the original Swish video there, too. Some of the direct links to my webpage: ------------------------------------------------------------ CLINICS THIS SEASON (Stay in touch with Tom's "Clinics" page for details of clinics in the future (Clinics and Camps). Tom will be doing a couple clinics in the Chicago/Milwaukee areas during the last week of March but they are closed to outsiders. In planning stage, not confirmed: SHOOTING COACH IN RESIDENCE, THE SWISH
TOUR 2007? GENERAL SHOOTING CLINICS/CAMPS WANT TO LEARN TO COACH THE SWISH METHOD? SPECIAL COACHING DOCUMENT AVAILABLE FOR
SWISH 2 OWNERS! To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter, click
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