SWENSDAY STUFF

Wyatt and the Peach Basket
(sequel to last week’s posting, Checklists are Cool)
Swen Nater

In last Wednesday’s blog posting, I addressed the value of checklists. Well, I practiced what I preached. One of Costco’s executives (I work for Costco) asked me to spend an hour with his grandson, Wyatt (age 12), on the outside court here at work, and teach him some things. We met last Wednesday at 4:30. That kid was quick, I tell you! He was so quick I believe he could have played tennis against himself. In fact, he was so fast, when he dribbled full speed to the basket to make a lay-up, he couldn’t make the shot. So I slowed him down a bit, worked on the fundamentals and on taking dead aim for that spot on the backboard, and, with a little practice he was just fine.

Then we began working on his set shot and I noticed some common things many pre-teen players need to correct. Those errors are rooted in how they learned to shoot when they were younger. When children don’t have the arm power to get the ball above a ten-foot basket, they will twist their bodies to get torque, push their elbows way out to the side, shoot with two hands, and  twist their bodies back 180 degrees to launch the ball, much like a shot putter. All of those things are “No Nos” for consistent and accurate shooting.  (All movements in shooting should be in line with the direction of the shot.) Wyatt was older so he didn’t do some of those things but he still shot with two hands and his elbow was out. 

It was time to give Wyatt the checklist for the set shot. I got him in balanced position, put his right hand behind the ball and his left hand to the other side so it would not take part in the propulsion, and gave him the checklist, one step at a time.
1. Elbow above the knee at start
2. Elbow keeps moving up during shot
3. Elbow above the ear at finish
4. Reach in the basket (I was tempted to say “peach basket” but Wyatt would have changed my label from “old school” to “ancient school.”) This is also known as the follow-through.

The first three I learned from Coach Wooden. The last one is a secret taught to me by Dr. Tom Amberry, world record holder for consecutive free throws made at 2,750.

Wyatt probably shot 250 shots that day, interrupted by me giving brief explanations, demonstrations, and corrections. Each time Wyatt shot the ball he said, out loud, the four parts of the checklist. He had the most trouble with the peach basket…err…Reach in the Basket part. But in time, the proper method became more natural for him and he started knocking shots down. At one point, he made five in a row. The checklist was working right there in front of my eyes.

That’s when I saw a slight smile on his face although he was trying to hide it. Too late, Wyatt! I caught you having fun and I caught you with your hand in the peach basket.