Practise session 11 - Having fun and putting it all together!

For this practise session i wanted to have a fun session with a friend so i could try put it all together. We started off by having a game of 21 from the free throw line (1st one to 21 points win). I had to try remember everything i had learnt over my practise sessions so i could put it all together in order to see a huge improvement.

Because i had never done much basketball before this i already knew i had gained a lot of confidence when i was standing on the line and i knew that confidence is very important when it comes to making shots.

Just by viewing videos and pictures of myself i knew as well that my form had improved a lot. It helped me to search tips and watch videos on the internet and then compare the elite basketball players to my own form.

I had a lot of fun learning the dynamics of a basket ball free throw shot and breaking it down into different practise sessions. I knew because i was now confident on the line i could go and play basketball with my friends and not embarrass myself!

Below is 2 videos from the 1st practise session and from the last practise session:

Practise session 10 - Fixing errors.

Another factor that can cause the ball to miss the basket is poor angle of release due to a poor posture angle.
If my trunk is not straight up and down and is on a angle either forwards or backwards it will cause the ball to be released on the wrong angle

As you can see in the image above my trunk is relatively straight however i have a slight arch in my back. This arch could have caused me to miss a lot of shots short due to me releasing the ball slightly leaned back. If my back was straight while shooting it would have come out at the correct angle and would have been easier for me to judge the distance needed.

Information collected:

20 shots put up, 9 successful
25 minute practise session
Of the 11 shots missed, 6 missed short, 4 missed left, and 1 missed long.

Reflection:

It was good to have a practise session where i could see the image of myself with an arched back so i knew what i needed to improve on in order to have a more successful shot. I improved my trunks angle over this practise session.

Practise session 9 - Fixing errors

For this practise session i wanted to work on having a full follow through after release. To do this i told myself i should finish with my hand pointing directly to where i wanted the ball to go (basket) and my arm pointing to the ceiling.

I felt in previous session i had become lazy and to eager to see where the ball was going as soon as it had left my hand rather than continuing on with my follow through. This caused problems such as; the ball coming up short due to a deceleration in my shooting arm or the ball leaving my hand on the wrong angle and either missing left or right.

Another reason i wanted to have a full follow through is because a full extension in the shoulder provides a lot of force for the shot.

When i put it all together i wanted to see my fingers and wrist both pointing at the basket with my arm being as high as possible.

The picture above was taken after i have released the ball. The errors in it are that my elbow is not fully extended resulting in less power and my fingers are not pointing at my target. However my hand is pointing at the target.

Information collected:

20 shots put up 9 successful.
30 minute practise session.
Of the 11 shots missed 5 missed short, 2 missed long 3 missed left and 1 missed right.

Reflection:

I felt a lot of improvement was gained in this session as i really focused on getting my hand pointing towards the target and my elbow to fully extend.

Practise session 8 - fixing errors.

For this practise session i wanted to improve on the arc on my ball flight when i shoot the ball.
My arc in my previous practise sessions was too low causing the ball to hit the front rim of the hoop and come up short.
 Dr. John Fontanella wrote in his book 'the physics of shooting' "The higher the arc, the larger the target.  In theory it makes sense to shoot with an exaggerated high arc, thereby increasing the size of your target.  However, higher arc requires more force at the time of release to propel the basketball higher" (secrets of shooting, 2008).
Because it takes more power to get the ball on a higher arc i wanted to work on providing more force with my legs (knees and hips) in order to get the desired power. To do this i over exaggerated a bend in my knees to power the ball upwards as you can see in the photo below. The arrow shows which way the force i am providing will go.

Information collected:

20 shots put up, 9 successful.
30 minute practise session.
Of the 11 shots missed 6 missed long, 3 missed left, 1 missed right and 1 missed short.

Reflection:

Even though i missed a lot of shots long i knew this was because i was over exaggerating the power drive from my legs. I felt a lot of improvement with this practise session because i felt like i knew how much power i had to provide from my legs.

References:
The Physics of Shooting | Secrets of Shooting. (n.d.). Secrets of Shooting | Revealing new information on basketball shooting.. Retrieved June 6, 2013, from http://www.secretsofshooting.com/the-physics-of-shooting/

Practise session 7 - fixing errors

For this practise session I focused on an error I knew I had been making in the previous practise sessions. This practise session I worked on improving my alignment.

When i was shooting i was not correctly lining up my hip, knee, shoulder and elbow. If even 1 of these was out of alignment i released the ball off line and it would miss the basket. In my practise session where i was working on the back swing phase of the shot i thought about my alignment but found it hard to have every joint lined up perfectly all at once. Therefore for this session i wanted to focus on every joints alignment, to do this i asked a friend to come along and to check my alignment while i was shooting and preparing to shoot. He also took a few photos so i could see for myself how much needed changing in my alignment.

As you can see from the picture below which was taken in my 2nd practise session, my shooting elbow (left) is not in line with my hip. It is not pointing straight at the camera and there is a gap between the lines I have drawn. This session was designed to improve on this

Information collected:

20 shots put up, 8 successful

25 minute practise session

of the 12 shots missed 3 were to the left, 3 were to the right, 4 were short and 2 were long.

Reflection: 

I felt I made a lot of progress in this practise session and hopefully the end result will show a better alignment. It was easy to see the immediate improvement having correct alignment had on the angle of release. Even though i still missed 6 shots to the left or right they did not miss by as much as the previous practise sessions. 

Practise session 6 - Follow through

The final phase of a basketball shot is the follow through. During the follow through all your joints that have been used to take the shot (knees, hips, shoulder and wrists) should continue the entire way through there range of motion after the ball has left your hand. During the follow through my hip, trunk and shooting elbow should all still be pointing straight towards my target (the basket)

It is very important to keep moving my joints to their range of motion end point as it will ensure I do not stop them moving prior to releasing the ball which would decrease the balls velocity.

After I have released the ball my elbow and wrist should be fully extended as this is what applies upwards force to the ball. If I remember every time I shoot the ball to follow through with my wrist and elbow joint movements then I will apply enough upwards force to the ball in order to get it to the hoop with enough height and velocity.


As you can see in the picture below I have released the ball and I am in the follow through phase. My shooting wrist (left) is still fully extended which is good however my elbow is starting to bend as you can see by the angle. This shows I have not continued with my follow through after i have released the ball.

Information collected:

20 shots put up, 7 successful.
25 minute practise session.
Of the 13 shots missed, 8 were short, 1 was to the left, 1 was to the right and 3 were long.

Reflection:

A lot of my missed shots were short which could be due to me not fully finishing my follow through. I felt it was a good practise session and towards the end of the session I got used to the feeling of following through with my elbow and wrist.

Practise session 5 - Arch of the shot.

After I have projected the ball it is on a certain arc or pathway towards the hoop. The path it travels is determined by 2 main things; angle of release and velocity. The ball is going to travel to the hoop with an arch, the ball is able to go in the basket with a low arch or a high arch. The high arch has more chance of going in. 

 "The optimal vertical velocity for a basketball free throw is between 6.0 and 6.3 m/sec, depending on the height of release; with an angle of release of 50-55 degrees" (Brancazio, 1981).

A high arch is better because it means when the ball is coming down it has more basket to connect with. A low arch shot does not have much basket to connect with.

The ball is going to start on a higher, better arch if it starts higher in the air, in order to get this big arch and the ball starting high in the air I need to fully extend my shoulder and elbow.

As you can see from the picture above I have extended my elbow as far as i could in order to get the ball started on a high arch. You can just see the ball starting on a certain arch as i have released it.

Information collected:

20 shots put up, 8 successful.

30 minute practise session

Of the 12 shots missed, 4 had a low arch and ended up short (hit the rim and bounced back). 5 missed to either the left or right due to poor release angle. The other 3 missed long due to too much power.

Reflection:

I felt my arch was good apart from the 4 shots that came out too low and hit the rim. The ones that hit the rim and bounced back taught me just how important a high arch on the shot is.

References:

Brancazio, P. J. (1981). Physics of basketball. American Journal of Physics, 49(4).

Practise session 4 - critical instant

The critical instant of a free throw shot is the moment the basketball has left your shooting hand. There is nothing the shooter can do to change the path of the ball after the critical instant.

At the critical instant my knees, trunk and wrist should all be fully extended indicating that I have put as much power as possible into the shot. "It has been reported that a full range of elbow movement is related to greater success in the free throw of club level basketball players" (Stankovic, Simonovic, & Herodek, 2006). 

Another important factor i had to consider when working on the critical instant is timing of letting the ball go. If i let it go too late the ball would not have enough velocity as my joint movements (elbow and wrist) would be slowing down. If i let the ball go to early it would have too much velocity as my joints (elbow and wrist) would still be speeding up in order to create force. "Wrist flexion provides the final thrust for release of the ball and helps determine both the velocity and angle of projection of the ball" (Hess, 1980)

Design of session:

1. Practise elbow flexion to find the perfect moment to release the ball.

2. Practise wrist flexion to find the perfect moment to release the ball.

3. Practise a shot using only elbow and wrist flexion to power the ball to find the critical instant moment.

Information collected:

20 shots put up, 6 succesful.

30 minute practise session.

Of the 14 shots missed, 11 missed short and 3 missed long

Reflection:

Although I missed a lot of shots short I knew this was because i was practising with only my arms in order to find the critical instant. Because I only had my elbow and wrist joints to power the ball I did not have enough power to get the ball to the hoop. However I believe it was a successful practise session as I was shooting the ball on the correct angle because I knew the critical instant to let it go.

References:

Stankovic, R., Simonovic, C., & Herodek, K. (2006). Biomechanical analysis of free 

shooting technique in basketball in relation to precision and position of the 

players. Paper presented at the XXIV International Symposium on Biomechanics 

in Sports, Salzburg, Austria.

Hess, C. (1980). Analysis of the jump shot. Athletic Journal, 61(3),

Practise session 3 - Force producing movement:

The force producing movements are the movements of the body parts that produce upward and forward force to project the ball to the basket, these include leg and trunk extension as well as straightening the shooting arm.

While I am producing the force needed to get the basketball to the hoop I need to keep the ball in front of my body with my left shooting hand directly behind the ball and my right hand on the side of the ball holding it in place. I will create the most force when my trunk, hip, knees, shoulder and wrist are fully extended. Timing is very important in order to create the power needed while keeping the ball on line.

In this first image you can see that my shooting elbow is bent at 90 degrees and my wrist is bent at 147 degrees, this is so I can then fully extend them both to produce the force needed.

In this second image you can see that I have fully extended my wrist (picture was not clear enough to have angle). I have also extended my elbow to 151 degrees (an increase of 61 degrees). This extension, as well as knee, hip and trunk extension is what provided the force needed to shoot the ball to the hoop.

Information collected:

20 shots put up, 7 successful.

25 minute practise session.

Of the 13 shots missed, 3 missed to the left, 3 missed to the right, 6 missed long and 1 missed short.


Reflection:

Due to practising the force producing movement over and over again I missed a lot of shots long and it took me a long time to work out how much force is exactly needed to put the ball in the hoop. The shots I missed to the left and the right could have been because I changed the angle the of my knee, hip or trunk while i was focusing on producing force.

Practise session 2 - Back swing phase of a basketball shot

"The back swing for the shot consists of the movements that occur during the
crouch and preparation for the shot" (mechanics of the basketball free-throw, 2012)

For the back swing phase of the basketball shot I wanted to work on 5 different techniques:

1. Knee extension

2. Keeping ball still

3. Angle between thigh and trunk

4. Body lined up vertically

5. Ball raised slowly. 

Knee extension: 

The bend and extension of your knee is where the power and upward angle come from when shooting the ball. I wanted to increase my knee extension to around 90 degrees so i could get as much power and drive as i could when i was shooting the ball.

Keeping ball still:

It is important to keep the ball still while bending knees and preparing to take the shot as it keeps your body in line and avoids creating a feeling of off balance.

Angle between thigh and trunk:

Because it is important to have the knees bent at around 90 degrees the angle between my thigh and trunk should be around 85 degrees. This angle is important to make sure my trunk is on the right angle to my legs in order to be well balanced.

Body lined up vertically:

My shoulder, hip, knee and ankle from the shooting side of my body (left) should all be lined up vertically. This is important because if one of these is not lined up the ball will not be going on the correct angle when i shoot it.

Ball raised up slowly:

It is important that the ball is raised up slowly when I am ready to take the shot, This is important because I need to keep trunk and knee flexion the same. If I raise the ball up quickly I could change the angle of my knee or trunk which would upset my balance and change the angle of release that the ball comes out at.

Information collected:

20 shots put up, 8 successful.

25 minute practise session.

Of the 12 shots missed, 3 were to the left, 1 was too the right, 6 were long and 2 were long.


Reflection:
The session went really well in terms of learning the impact the back swing has on the outcome of a shot. a lot of my shots ended up going to far, this could be because I was putting a lot of effort into the back swing phase as i was trying to improve it.


References:
mechanics of the basketball free throw. (n.d.). canadian sport center. Retrieved April 6, 2013, from http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/kinrec/research

Equiptment - Ball and basketball court

When learning to do a basketball free throw shot it is obviously very important to have a basketball and a court with a free throw line and a hoop. I will also need a camera so i can physically see my progress myself.

I have borrowed a basketball from a friend which is a regulation NBA basketball.
"The official ball is 29.5 inches in circumference, inflated to be between 7.5 and 8.5 psi, and weighs 22 oz. 

These dimensions are typically referred to as a "Size 7" ball. NBA basketballs are constructed of orange 

leather with black lettering" (basketball official size and weight, 2013).

The basketball court i will use is a brand new court at John Mcglashan college which has regulation free throw lines and basketball hoops.

"For all courts the “foul line” distance is 15 feet from the foul line to the front of the backboard" (Sports know how, 2012).

A basketball hoops dimensions:

"The regulation distance from the ground to the top of the rim is 10 feet for all levels of play. Regulation backboards are 6 feet wide (72 inches) by 42 inches tall. All basketball rims (hoops) are 18 inches in diameter. The inner square on the backboard is 24 inches wide by 18 inches tall" (Sports know how, 2012).

Camera:

The camera i will use is an iphone that i will get my friend to hold so he can take any videos or pictures while i am practising.

References:

Basketball Official Size & Weight | LIVESTRONG.COM. (n.d.).LIVESTRONG.COM - Lose Weight & Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools | LIVESTRONG.COM. Retrieved June 4, 2013, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/84284-basketball-official-size-weight/

Basketball Court Dimension Diagrams, Size, Measurements - SportsKnowHow.com. (n.d.). Court & Field Dimension Diagrams in 3D, History, Rules - SportsKnowHow.com. Retrieved June 4, 2013, from http://www.sportsknowhow.com/basketball/dimensions/basketball-court-dimensions-diagram.html