Phase One - Preliminary movements

Preliminary movements

Once the basketball free throw has been broken down in to phases the preliminary movement is the first point of importance. Preliminary movements or pre shot rituals are very individual, and slightly different for every player (Kelbick, 2007). Pre competitive routines or pre shot rituals are comprised of a combination of cognitive and behavioural strategies used before the execution of a motor skill (Cohn, Rotella & Lloyd, 1990). Players use these movements to mentally rehearse the shot they are about to take, it helps to release stress from the situation and act as a form of stimulus control throughout the motor movement. Pre shot routines help establish a sense of normality in an often unpredictable environment (Lidor & Singer, 2000).

Design of session

1. Practice throwing free throws from the line
2. Use different pre shot routines and play around to find something that works.
3. Once you feel comfortable pick a routine and stick to it
4. Every shot from now on must maintain the same pre shot routine
5. Shoot 20 free throws with new routine, then 20 shots without.
6. does this routine work? if not pick another routine, maybe make it simpler.

Sessions statistics

• Out of a total of forty free throw shots at the hoop twenty one were converted.
• Of these forty shots taken, twenty shots were taken randomly with no pre shot routine, converting 9/20
• The next twenty shots were completed with a pre shot routine, returning a conversion rate of 12/20 

Preliminary movements - My pre shot ritual

Above is the video of my pre shot routine. This routine is something that is new to me and I have only practiced a handful of times. Consistency of a pre shot routine has been shown to be closely related to performance, so I will continue to practice this ritual with each free throw shot I take.

Reflection 

Adhering to ones pre-performance routine has been associated with an increase in successful performance, whilst failure to adhere to a routine has been found to have a relationship with a less successful performance (Gardner, Gooding, 2009).

After playing around for a while shooting hoops from the line I was able to establish a pre shot routine that I felt very comfortable with. I then incorporated this ritual in to my free throw shot and compared it against shooting with no pre routine. The statistics show that using a preshot routine proves to be more successful than when not using one.

References

Kelbick, D. (2007, September 10). Basketball Fundamentals - Free Throw Shooting. Breakthrough Basketball - Hundreds of FREE Basketball Coaching Drills, Plays, Tips, Offenses, Defenses & Resources. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/foulshooting.htm

Cohn, P.J., Rotella, R.J., & Lloyd, J.W. (1990). Effects of cognitive-behavioral intervention 

on the pre-shot routine and performance in golf. The Sport Psychologist, 4, 33–47.

Lidor, R., & Singer, R. (2000). Teaching preperformance routines to beginners. Journal of 

Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 71, 34–52.

Gardner, F., Gooding, A., (2009) An Investigation of The Relationship Between Mindfulness, Preshot Routine, and Basketball Free Throw Percentage. The Journal Of Clinical Sports Psychology, Human kinetics inc. 4. 303-319

My First Free Throw

Practice session one - My First Free Throw

Basketball background

My experience within the game of basketball is very limited, I have never played the sport competitively and have no desire to do so. I enjoy watching the NBA and have a great appreciation for the level of skill each player has. Every now and again I will go down to Unipol and throw the ball round for fun with some friends, but thats about it.

Throughout this movement analysis and skill acquisition paper i hope to improve my skills on the court, looking especially at the free throw. 

First practice session

In today's session I wasn't looking to make improvements in my free throwing ability, I was merely looking at my technique as is, to assess myself at a baseline level. This will give me something to work from and improve on throughout my 12 sessions. Kelbick (2007) Says free throw shooting is a very personal process and everyone has their own style. However, there should be some common elements, and, since shooting free throws is a repetitive process, each free throw should be the same, shot after shot.

Today I filmed myself shooting free throws to assess my consistency and to see whether there is a change in my shot pattern from shot to shot.

My first free throw - baseline assessment

Reflection

After reviewing the literature on how to take a proper basketball free throw shot, and then assessing my baseline videos I realise there is a lot of technique work and practice that has to be done. Next session I will be working through my first phase of the free throw action the "preliminary movements"

References

Kelbick, D. (2007, September 10). Basketball Fundamentals - Free Throw Shooting. Breakthrough Basketball - Hundreds of FREE Basketball Coaching Drills, Plays, Tips, Offenses, Defenses & Resources. Retrieved May 20, 2013, from http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/foulshooting.html

MASA 2013 Hamish learns to shoot hoops

Introduction

The activity I have chosen to pursue for this 12 week movement analysis and skill acquisition assessment is the basket ball free throw. I have little to no prior knowledge of the free throw. I play basketball socially for a run around from time to time. I am hoping this will increase my shooting percentages from not just the line but all over the court.

About The Free Throw

In the game of Basketball the free throw is the single most important shot. Close too twenty percent of all points scored in a basketball game at college level or above are from the free throw line (Kozar, Vaughan, Lord, Whitfield, & Dve, 1994). The free throw shot becomes more important as the game goes on with a significantly greater percentage of total points scored by both winning and losing teams in the last 5 minutes compared to the first 35 minutes from the line (Kozar,. et al 1994).

The free throw is said to be the easiest shot in basketball, with no defensive players in the way or close distractions to put you off, it is just you, the player and the hoop in front of you standing 15 feet away. All you have to do is take aim, cock the ball and shoot.

Successful free throw shooting requires good concentration, but most importantly good shot mechanics. However good shot mechanics alone cannot account for a greater shooting average. Kozar, Vaughan, Lord, & Whitfield (1995) reported that practice free throw percentage for all free throws was significantly higher than game free throw percentage.

There are two different free throw shooting techniques, the underhand loop shot and the over hand push shot. I will be studying the overhand push shot, the reason for this is that with he underhand loop shot there is no carry over in to the game of basketball other than the free throw, while the overhand push shot is used in all areas of the game.

Free throw: The breakdown 

1. Preliminary movements
2. Backswing
3. Force producing movements
4. Critical instant
5. Arch of the shot
6. Follow through

Michael Jordan on free throw shooting

Planning

I will now undertake 12 sessions of free throw shooting to assess and change my technique in the hope of increasing my shot percentage from the line. These sessions will be planned around the fundamental movements i have mentioned above, each having its own focus. I will use video analysis and shot charts to examine my performance throughout.

I will attempt to complete three free throw practice sessions per week

1. blogging and writing about my experiences
2. What i did during each individual session
3. upload video, stats and data about training
4. reflection after each training session

Inspiration 

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, Ive been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed" Michael Jordan

Until next session... See you later

References

Kozar, B., Vaughn, R. E., Lord, R. H., Whitfield, K. E., & Dve, B. (1994). Importance of free throws at various stages of basketball games. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78(1), 243-248

Kozar, B., Vaughn, R. E., Lord, R. H., & Whitfield, K. E. (1995). Basketball free-throw performance: practice implications. Journal of Sport Behavior, 18(2), 123-129