Rex Harris – Steph Curry’s Shot

My good friend from Indianapolis, Rex Harris, just recently sent me this remarkable video clip of Steph Curry shooting in slow motion.  It's the best take on Steph's form we've yet seen, and is exactly what we've been preaching and demonstrating for 25 years.

The Joy of Sports and Basketball

Basketball and other physical sports have the possibility of transforming us. It all depends on how you play the game, of course! A couple years ago I attended a pre-season game in the town of Los Gatos, near where I live in northern California. As usual at these games, half time was a crazy time when kids are welcome to go out on the court and shoot around. Kids of all sizes show up and shoot and share the balls. If you make a shot, you are rewarded by getting the ball back for another shot until you miss. If you miss and don't get the rebound, you have to wait your turn for the next shot.

There is a kind of democracy going on, where each kid has a chance to retrieve a missed shot and then go out and create his or her own shot ... until s/he misses. I imagine these little kids dream of being bigger kids and performing well in games. The basket is a tremendous "possibility" of success. A long swish shot is a valued thing.

What was most memorable this particular evening was a small, slender and very pretty girl of 7 or 8 who came humbly out to have her chance to shoot some shots. She was sweet and patient. It appeared no one was noticing her, except me from my vantage point under the basket. When she did get a ball, she cradled it in her arms and carefully approached the basket to about 3-4 feet away where she would have a chance to get the big ball (regulation size) up to 10 feet. She did so beautifully, swishing most of her shots. If she made it, she was right there to claim the prize, back out carefully so as not to get hit by other players or balls, and then move in again for another shot. If she missed, she was alert to get another chance.

In that little montage of moments I saw the beauty of the game. Anyone can participate in the half time shoot-around. There is sharing, usually, and once players have a ball, the others let them shoot. They get their chance to go for the brass ring, to go for a "Swish." And the reward of a made shot is instantaneous. Make it and you get another chance. Miss it and you have to fight for the ball (or wait for a lucky bounce). Everyone understands those rules. I can only imagine what these young kids were thinking, but I'll bet it was much like my own dreams of success when I was their age.

Tom Nordland is a shooting expert and coach from California via Minnesota. His videos, coaching and writings are inspiring a Renaissance (a rebirth, a revival) in shooting around the world as players and coaches are taught the things that really matter in shooting. A great shooter as a youth, Tom was given a gift of seeing shooting like few have ever seen it. He sees the “essence” of great shooting and how to get there. The good news is that it’s very simple. The few great shooters of today and yesterday mastered simple things, not complicated motions. Improved shooting is now possible for everybody in the game, and mastery is available to those who sincerely dedicate themselves to it. Visit Tom’s Facebook (Swish International) to read of his background and his articles and newsletters, and to view the remarkable endorsements and amazing testimonials for this approach to shooting.

Thoughts on Controlling Distance in Basketball Shooting

It's my theory that the few great shooters the game of basketball has had control distance by varying the arch (trajectory) of the shot rather than varying the Release or the timing of the shot.

MANY THINK THERE'S ONE ARCH THAT WORKS BEST...

In conversations I've had with the older boys in my clinics, most of them think they should learn to have the same trajectory every time and vary the Release or timing to do that. There is even a machine that will track your angle of release for you and tell you what it is. It's an amazing technology for learning about the height of your shots. It will track a certain number of shots, too, like 25, and then display each arch, the mean average, etc.

But I feel to think there's a perfect arch for a basketball shot is an incorrect conclusion. Varying the Arch is what I call "The easy way to control distance!"

WHEN YOU VARY ARCH, YOU CAN "LET IT FLY!"

When you simply vary the arch at the last instance, you can then really let it go when you shoot and just make that simple, instinctive adjustment and, voilà, the distance is achieved. I can shoot at several baskets of different heights and, with little practice, if any, swish shot after shot at different heights simply by adjusting the angle of my Release as I shoot the ball. To control such shots by varying the speed of the Release would be very difficult.

In my clinics, when we've had one or more baskets with a lower height, my students could easily adjust to the different height and keep on swishing shots.

TRY IT...

As with all of my coaching, I invite you to "try" this way of controlling distance. First, try to keep the same trajectory with shots from different spots, shots with different amounts of leg energy, and see what happens. Then, fire off your Release action the same each time and adjust for different shots by varying the angle of your arm at the moment of Release, thus varying height or trajectory. Which is the easiest to learn and sustain? I think you'll see it's the Varying the Arch approach.

Tom Nordland is a shooting expert and coach from California via Minnesota. His videos, coaching and writings are inspiring a Renaissance (a rebirth, a revival) in shooting around the world as players and coaches are taught the things that really matter in shooting. A great shooter as a youth, Tom was given a gift of seeing shooting like few have ever seen it. He sees the “essence” of great shooting and how to get there. The good news is that it’s very simple. The few great shooters of today and yesterday mastered simple things, not complicated motions. Improved shooting is now possible for everybody in the game, and mastery is available to those who sincerely dedicate themselves to it. Visit Tom’s website (http://www.swish22.com/) to read of his background and his articles and newsletters, and to view the remarkable endorsements and amazing testimonials for this approach to shooting.