Sunday, July 22, 2018

Basketball: What's New? Homecourt, the Shot Tracker

Kobe Bryant took 1000 shots a day for 100 days in the summer. Larry Bird took 500 free throws before school. Bill Bradley practiced for three hours a day as a child except on weekends when he did more. 

There's a new app, Homecourt, for your smartphone, to track shooting. Naturally, it's 'free' with in-app purchases. Shooting is a perishable skill and repetition makes reputation. The Wall Street Journal recently profiled Homecourt. This app is going to make its founders financially secure. 




I don't know if it's unbelievably great, but even if it's only "really good" then it can help our players. 

We perform to the level of our training. 

Lagniappe:


No gym time. That doesn't stymie us. Don't let what you can't do interfere with what you can. Some thoughts (not all from the video):

  • Dribbling. You've all seen The Pistol (haven't you) about young Pete Maravich. We can always do more to work on our handle.
  • Conditioning. Many coaches tell their teams, "we'll be in better shape than all our opponents." I'm guessing that's mathematically impossible. 
  • Pivoting. Grab a pillow or stuffed animal and work on your footwork (without breaking every lamp in the house). Make pivoting off either foot natural. 
  • Flips. Form shooting matters. Elbows in. "Ring the bell and drop the parachute (follow through)."
  • Study film. No, don't watch film; study film. Pick a topic like moving without the ball, reading screens, or zone offense and learn the details. 
  • Develop your mind. I found the free course Learning How to Learn at Coursera.org very thought provoking and filled with tools that can help serious students improve.