Basketball: Theory and Practice

Second Wind

2010-05-11T16:49:00.000-05:00

There seems to be no consensus to the exact meaning of "second wind," as a visit to wikipedia will reveal, but in my experience, it is a very real, physical and psychological phenomenon. Here is the way that normal people can experience it. Begin jogging or running and go as far as you can at your current level of fitness. When your body cries out in pain for you to stop and you begin gasping for breath and feel you can't possibly take another step, you are almost there. Trust me. Just keep on putting one foot in front of the other. Find yourself gasping for breath and then, focus on expelling air as hard as you can, to remove carbon dioxide, and allow yourself to gasp in more oxygen, and keep going.
This is where mental toughness comes in. Your body says, "No," but your mind has to say, "Just a little more." Here is where I sing the chorus, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall rise up with wings, as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint. Teach me Lord, teach me Lord, to wait." [Robert M. Ridley put these words to music in the 60's on a tape he gave me as a wedding present.] You have to take it on faith that you will "run and not be weary," but keep going, just a little farther.
Depending on how out of shape you really are, and how mentally tough you really are, and whether or not you have a running coach or partner, you might not make it, this time. But try it again, in two days, and again, two days after that. Don't give up. You will find, once your body has gotten used to this treatment, and once your mind has gotten you to push a little farther, that you can cross this threshold, and then you can keep running. It will become easier, and your breathing will become slower and regular, instead of gasping, and then, you can keep running for any distance you want. You will have gotten your second wind!
As you persist in your training, you will find that the second wind comes at a predictable time. For me, it has been somewhere between the two and three mile mark. Once you have achieved your second wind, you are somehow more coordinated, your can sense more of the world around you, and you can focus better.
Basketball players should run and get their second wind, and then go practice, scrimmage, or play. You will find your passes are more crisp. You can see the court. You can focus on the goal. You lose the me-centered consciousness and can do more for your team. You can play a full forty minutes. You will really feel yourself rise up on wings as eagles.
Go for your second wind!

Faith and Basketball

2010-05-01T13:15:00.004-05:00

In Basketball, there is an elusive attribute called "confidence" that determines whether or not the player will succeed.

If two players take the same shot, the one who is sure it will go in will likely make it; the one who hopes it will go in, won't make it. Most every player experiences this confidence at some time in their life. They hit one, and then another, and then, get into "the zone," and it appears they can't miss from that point forward.

"Being in the zone" is a self-fulfilling prophecy that has more negative consequences than positive ones. For example, if a player misses his or her first shot, s/he will be more reluctant to shoot the second. If they miss their second shot, they assume they aren't in the zone, and will not be an effective shooter that night.

What is this confidence and can it be taught to a player?

The Bible contains a definition of faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1,2) It describes how believing (the verb form of the noun faith) takes hoped for things and materializes them. It changes an abstraction that is invisible and in the realm of hope into a concrete and substantial thing in the realm of present real life.

Some translations use the word assurance. It means being certain, being confident. When a basketball player stands at the foul line with faith, the shot will go in.

How do you teach faith? Real faith comes from doing your homework. When a student has to take a test, if he or she studies and does the homework problems, and rehearses the sample problems and teaches other students how to solve the problems, that student goes into a test with confidence.

In the same way, if a player has practiced and practiced and practiced the scenario before him or her to the point that it is a habit, he or she has confidence when the real game situation presents itself.

Faith is not a fluke of circumstance. Missing the first shot does not predestine you to be out of the zone. Sometimes, a miss is just a miss. Perhaps you didn't follow through; perhaps the defender distracted you. Just continue to do what you practiced and keep your confidence that if you do right, you will be rewarded. Keep the focus on doing everything you practiced and then, your faith will be rewarded.

You can make your own zone by having faith.

2009 MSU Men's Basketball

2009-11-20T11:59:00.002-06:00

MSU Men's basketball played SE Louisiana last night. The result was a win for the bulldogs, but a disappointment to an old coach's eyes. We do have some great talent--don't get me wrong--but what was missing is going to cost us championships.

For example, one of our top-rated players was winded after three trips up and down the court. As a forward, he should be leading the pack in defensive transition, so he should be the first man to defend the basket. But he waited at half court before he decided whether or not it would be worth his time to help his team defensively. This same star player had just about the same upper body and upper arm size he had at the end of last season.

In short, he demonstrated that he had not paid the price of greatness in the off season. It is quite a simple formula: if you don't pay the price of greatness, you will not be great. For basketball, the off season price consists of weight training and long distance running. The not-so-great players, instead, spend the off season only playing basketball, generally, half court, and generally, with opponents of their own skill level or less. As a result, they come to mid October's first practice as worse players than they were in their last game of March Madness.

The only reason a team like ours doesn't get totally humiliated at the beginning of the season is because the other teams follow the same pattern. They are starting over each season, just like we are.

From time to time, a truly great player comes along. He has a great work ethic (as it is called) and does his physical training and conditioning on his own time and spends the team practice sessions working on basketball. His passes are crisp and his turnovers are low because he has energy and is in shape.

Unfortunately, I did not see him last night.

Jump Shot Consistency

2009-10-05T11:15:00.002-05:00

You might notice that when you get in games your 3-point percentage is a lot less than when we practice.

It is just that your body reverts to the (some bad) habits you have done most and you are going to have to work on mental toughness to force yourself to do what we practice:

1. Complete stop of body lateral motion,
2. Jump vertically (do not lean forwards or backwards),
3. Release the shot at the top of the jump (just before you start back down)
4. Follow through: Arm extended vertically, wrist snapped down (not out).

If you do these things consistently, you can hit 90% or more. It is just physics! It takes mental toughness to force your body to do what your mind knows to do. And practice so much that it becomes your strongest habit.

See you,
Bill

Fouls.

2008-07-31T19:30:00.004-05:00

It's important to remember that you have 5 fouls in a game. If you can space out your 40 minutes and give 5 fouls during that time, you see an average of every 8 minutes you can foul. So plan is to use your fouls wisely. You want to keep people from making those easy points, so make your fouls count.

You want to find the balance between an intentional foul and a valid attempt to make them think about the pain the next time they try the same thing. Never knowingly do something that could injure the opponent, but try to get the full value for your foul. You want him to be distracted, whether he is in pain, or just out for vengeance. Either way, he will not be 100% focused, and you have won the mental game.

Don't waste the foul. A wasted foul means they got an opportunity to go to the line and shoot an uncontested shot, when they weren't already about to make a good play, i.e., an assist to an open player, or an open shot. A foul out front when they were just dribbling, for example, is a wasted foul.

You also waste your fouls if you have more than one or two left over at the end of the game. You do need to save some for overtime if the game is close, but you don't need to save them if your team is behind, and you've got to make a difference.

Unless the player is "in the zone" and has been popping 3-point shots all night, never foul outside the arc. Use distraction, instead.

listen

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Confidence.

2008-07-31T15:58:00.003-05:00

Confidence. The most important part of any sport, basketball in particular, is confidence. If you stand at the line, if you think you can get that ball in, it will go in. If you're not confident, it will not go in. Confidence somehow makes things work. There is a way to build confidence. It comes from doing your homework. listen

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Homework.

2008-07-31T15:50:00.003-05:00

Homework. The homework that allows you to have confidence that what you're going to do will work is called practice. If you have practiced over and over and over under the same stressful conditions that you'll see in the game, you will succeed. Confidence comes from practice, practice, practice. Practice is just the art of instilling a habit. listen

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Paying the price.

2008-07-31T14:17:00.002-05:00

Paying the price. A lot of times players have lots of ability, but they don't want to pay the price, in order to great. They are better than everybody else just because of their ability. But they are not great, because they don't pay the price. When I was scrimmaging with people, I would have to pay the price before I'd let myself get out and play, i.e., I would have to go run a mile. When I had run my mile and paid my price, then I was able to scrimmage. In the same way, long distance running is the price that good players have to pay in order to become great. Until you can run for one hour continuously, you are not ready to run for two halves of a basketball game. Are you willing to pay the price? listen

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Stop Hitting my Hands Part 2

2008-07-30T07:37:00.003-05:00

Stop Hitting my Hands Part 2. So, say when you as a defender keep the other person from thinking about the goal, you've have succeeded; you have a victory over him in his thoughts and when you have a victory over his thoughts you have a victory over his body as well. "The hand is part of the ball," is what the rules say; therefore, hit him on the hands continuously when he has the ball. listen

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Stop hitting my hands....

2008-07-30T07:34:00.003-05:00

"Stop hitting my hands." This is what one young man told me when in a pick-up game, "Stop hitting my hands; stop hitting my hands; you're hurting me." Well, what was he thinking about when we were playing basketball? He was thinking about his hands; he was thinking about the pain in his hands, which means he wasn't thinking about the goal; he wasn't thinking about what he was supposed to be doing. I had scored a victory. He then started trying to get even, by fouling me. In a real game, the referee would have intervened, and his anger would have gotten the best of him and gotten him fouled out. It's tougher in a pick-up game. :) listen

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When playing basketball...

2008-07-27T01:03:00.002-05:00

When playing basketball one must be centered on the game of basketball. Nothing else should interfere. 100% basketball. When practicing, 100% basketball. Don't waste time complaining. Don't waste time telling the other people how bad they're doing. Ask yourself, "Will what I am doing at this moment help me reach the goal of being in the championship game?" If not, stop wasting your time. listen

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NCAA Championship lost at line

2008-07-26T20:57:00.002-05:00

The physics of foul shooting was shown in the NCAA Tournament game, this year, and lack of applying the principles cost Memphis the game. Memphis' star put one foot on the line and another foot behind him. He had, therefore, no standard for perpendicularity and he couldn't shoot a high percentage. You've got to let go of bad habits before you leave high school if you want to have consistent free throws and if you want to win against SEC opponents in the SEC. listen

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Two toes on the foul line

2008-07-26T20:52:00.002-05:00

The NCAA tournament game was lost because one player had never learned to put two toes on the foul line.

Instant Jott listen

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free throws

2008-04-07T19:15:00.002-05:00

We are in the NCAA National Championship for 2008. I have been watching and seeing that these kids, just like those of my generation, do not know how to shoot free throws.

I am going to let you know the secret of teaching foul shooting.

Part I. Physics

Look at the places in the body, from the floor to the release point, where motion (variation) can take place:

1. toes/toe joints (up to 30 points)
2. ankles (2)
3. knees (2)
4. hips (3)
5. shoulder (1 or 2)
6. elbow (1 or 2)
7. wrist (1 or 2)
8. fingers/finger joints (15 to 30)

The main point, from the point of view of physics, is to reduce the variation at as many as possible of these joints. The problem with most players who have troubles with consistency in free throws is that they learned how to shoot before they were full-grown. In order for kids to get the ball above the basket, they have to use their legs. They just don't have the arm strength to do it any other way.

Unfortunately, old habits die hard. They go on to college (or even the pros) and still habitually use their legs to push the ball up and, as a result, add several points of variation to their free throws, yielding inconsistency.

My goal in re-training these athletes to be more consistent in free throws, is to get them to make every joint from the floor to the shoulder to be almost rigid. That means the joints from the shoulders to fingertips are the only moving parts in the basket-shooting machine. Everything else should be constant.

Part II. The mind.

Many athletes have some weird ideas about shooting free throws, bordering on superstition. Getting control of the mind is at least 80% of the battle to get consistency in free throws.

The first thing I do with an athlete who wants to improve his free throw percentage is to ask him or her to go to the line and take a shot, while I watch what they do. Most of them, knowing I am going to try to teach them what is wrong with their shot, will put all their concentration into it, and make it.

That is what I am hoping for. I say, "OK, you don't need a shot coach. Just do that same thing every time you stand at the line." I ask them to take another shot. Most seem to miss this one. Sometimes, they hit it, and I ask for another, and another, until they miss.

When they miss, I ask them what they did differently, that time.

They never know. But I do. You see, after years of observing young athletes shooting free throws, I am able to see what they do differently from one time to another.

They may breathe differently. They may bounce the ball a different number of times, or not bounce it at all. They may "dance" before they shoot, i.e., step from side to side, or bounce their weight from one leg to another. They may dip their knees or extend their toes. There are literally hundreds of things they can do differently from one time to the next.

It is true that if they do everything exactly the way they did it when it went in, it will go in, again.

There is a very small percentage chance that something else can affect their shot: the air conditioner may go on or off and change the wind resistance; a butterfly may flap its wings in Japan, and that gust of air can move molecules that move molecules that move molecules that ... move molecules that go through the open door to the gym and cause the shot to be blown off course. That is only a possibility, but it is why I do not think it is possible to shoot 100% free throw percentage. As a matter of fact, I only set the bar that I expect from my shooters to be 95%.

There are some things which are not under control of the shooter, but these are few in number, and include differences in the environment. For example, a different kind of backboard or goal than what one is accustomed to, a hostile crowd, etc., or other differences, can affect some shooters. But these things can be zoned out by concentration.

So getting the athlete to learn to concentrate and focus only on the goal and to control the physics of his or her shot, is the key to shooting three throws.

Coaching Basketball

2007-06-19T18:00:00.000-05:00

I have a passion for coaching basketball and it is just another manifestation of the teaching gift that has been given to me. That passion to teach, when it comes to a sport, is a passion to coach.

The big lesson coaches must first learn is that it doesn't matter how good of a player they are or were. That will earn you some respect when you are an unknown quantity as a coach, but, when your team is on the floor, the only thing that matters is what they can do, right now, not what you were, back then.

That works both positively and negatively. A great player may make a poor coach and a poor player may make a great coach. Coaching and playing require different gifts and different skill sets.

self control

2007-06-19T17:58:00.001-05:00

One of the most important aspects of the basketball game is ball control. You want to be able to utilize the clock effectively, having the most of the shot-clock time available for your team on offence, but forcing the other team to have a minimum time to carry out their plan, when you are on defense.

That means that basketball needs to be played on the whole court all the time. If a team falls back on defense and waits for the other team to come leisurely down the court, call a play, and then run it, that is not basketball; that is half court game. You allow them to pit their strength against your defense.

No! Pressure them full court. Make them take all ten seconds to get the ball past half court. Then, they have two enemies, you and the shot clock. That puts the pressure on them, where it belongs. They are forced into something unplanned, not being able to run what they have practiced half court with full shot clock.

The key to ball control is self control. Each player must be in control of his thoughts, attitudes, and actions for the entire game. If you let a referee's call or a player's actions make you lose your temper, you have lost self control and you will lose ball control, because your concentration is divided.

This works both ways. Try to get into the opponent's head and make him mad. If he loses self control, he will foul you, lose concentration, and make mistakes.

This is part of the mental aspect of basketball. It is the meta game within the game. Determine to control the other team's thoughts and to cause their players to lose self control. And determine not to let the opponent cause you to lose your self control.

If you lose self control, you are, by definition, a loser.

peripheral vision

2007-06-19T17:56:00.001-05:00

All players need to develop their peripheral vision, but especially the guards. They need to be able to see cutters and even to sense when someone is behind their backs, e.g., when they only see eight others, it is likely someone is behind them.

You can develop peripheral vision. First, look straight ahead while clasping your hands with your arms perpendicular to your body. Now, release the hands and swing them apart in a wide arc, slowly, at the same rate of speed.

Your goal is to be able to see both hands at the same time, while they move farther and farther apart, even when they are extended to your sides.

With practice, you can develop this vision. You might need to wiggle the fingers to draw attention to them, but keep looking straight ahead. Try not to focus on anything in particular, but concentrate in your mind on seeing those hands.

When you have developed your peripheral vision, you will be able to see teammates making moves all down the court, and will be able to see that ninth player on the court behind you. You will learn to automatically count four of your players and five of theirs, and will develop the ability called "seeing the court."

Seeing is the first step in making an assist.

get your education

2007-06-19T17:50:00.000-05:00

During lunch, when our office was celebrating the birthday of one of our colleagues, a rather tall family came in and was seated at the adjoining table. I recognized them as the family of an NBA basketball player that had been drafted directly from high school, and mentioned that to the person on my right who is one of our newer faculty members. He asked, "Did he finish college?"

I said, "I don't know." In a few minutes, the player walked in and joined his family.

As we finished our party and were preparing to leave, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "What are you doing about your education? Are you going to try to get a degree?" (We had been introduced at a funeral, so he recognized me, so it wasn't just an out of the blue thing. His father and I have known each other for several years.) He said, "My mom wants me to." I said, "We do, too!" indicating that my colleagues at the university and I thought it was important.

I asked if he had looked into the online degree programs, and recommended he check them out as a way to reach the goal, even with an NBA schedule.

You see, a great deal of basketball is in your head. I have already mentioned the importance of self control, but basketball really is applied physics, which is applied math.

When you make a pass or a shot, the law of conservation of momentum dictates the velocity of the ball as it leaves your hands. Momentum IN = Momentum OUT. Momentum is mass times velocity. The momentum IN has to do with the mass and velocity of the whole system, i.e., you and the ball, but the momentum out is separated into the ball's mass and velocity, and your mass and velocity.

If it were possible for you to completely, instantaneously stop, but release the ball at that same instant, all your momentum would go into the ball. The ball weighs a little more than a pound (21 oz). If you weigh 200 pounds, and you released a one pound ball, the ball should leave your hands about 200 times faster than you were traveling while holding it.

Even though that isn't possible, you can still take advantage of the momentum rule by stepping forward while you are passing. We call that, "stepping into the ball." To put zip into your pass, put your body weight into the pass by stepping forward as you release the ball.

There are two other physics laws involved in passing, viz., acceleration and angular momentum, where you have a great deal of influence on the ball. We will talk about them, later.

Get educated before playing. If not, get educated. Your career only lasts until your next injury or someone smarter and quicker comes along.

Introduction

2007-06-17T00:13:00.000-05:00

My other blog, http://chapfam.blogspot.com, was too complicated and had too many topics.

I am separating basketball out by itself since the other topics have more in common with each other.

Basketball has been a love of mine since the tenth grade in high school when I fell in love with a star on the girls' team.

These comments are things I have learned in almost fifty years about winning basketball.