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