Thursday, May 10, 2007

It's Easier Than You Think

Have you ever played the party game,

'He Who Knows, And Knows He Knows'?

It's a bit of a mysterious game and has to be
done in a quiet room. The ringleader starts it
off without much explanation and announces:

'He who knows, and knows he knows, please
leave the room!'

Before long someone who is in on it gets up and
leaves the room. The moderator then singles
out one person. Usually someone left in the
room but it could be the guesser too. The
missing person is expected to come back and
and pick out the person who was singled out.

Those in the 'know' can get it right 100% of the
time. The others sit there frustrated, trying to
figure out the trick - what signal is being sent,
what the triggering event is, or what the heck
is going on, period.

People will think they have it figured out and
volunteer to leave the room, come back and try
out their ideas. Usually without success, till
suddenly they figure it out, and after that
they're in on it forever.

I won't tell you the trick in case you ever get
to play the game, but I will tell you once you
figure it out, it's so incredibly simple you have
to laugh.

Shooting is that way too.

Ed Palubinskas originally from Australia who
played at LSU is one of the greatest shooters
and shooting coaches in the world.

He missed three freethrows in shooting
competitions over a 15 year period once, holds
several Guinness world records, and averages
over 99% from the line and 92% from the
3-point arc still today.

Ed talks about 'Mastering The Shooting
Moment'. I talk a lot about concentration, and
from the feedback I've gotten some people are
misunderstanding the concept. They think it's
something like being in a trance for a half hour.
Or it's racheting up your willpower to crazy
levels.

It's not at all. Concentration is a relaxation
which lets things that lets everything that
doesn't matter to your current task fall away.
It's the opposite of trying too hard. It's trying
easy.

Once you know the trick to shooting - Once
you've figured it out. Once you've found that
groove, shooting almost becomes easy. Where
that place is there's a natural relaxation and it
feels right.

Now get this. Ed told me you really only need
to concentrate for about 5/100's of a second.

The 5/100's of a second during the release of
the basketball.

That's how a good shooter can come down the
court with chaos all around him and still get
off a sweet shot. He doesn't need to concentrate
for 20 seconds. He just has to find that rim, be
in balance, relaxed, and concentrate for the split
second of the release.

Of course learning the best mechanics will give
you a way to achieve that concentrated
relaxation at the right time. Put it together
and it is well within your power to get into the
90th percentile from the free throw stripe.

Shoot For The Stars,

Coach Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Stan Kellner teaches much the same idea
in his shooting cybernetics DVD when he has
you focus on the word 'Feel'. That means both
the release feels right, and you also already
feel the ball going into the hoop.

Learn how to let your mind become a
targeting machine today at:

http://www.deandelker.com/kellner_order.html

P.S.S. Ed has his wonderful shooting program on
VHS tape which is a classic. I hope he'd re-issues
it in DVD soon and gives me permission to carry it.
Till then you can find it all at:

http://www.freethrowmaster.com/Freethrow/

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Thursday, May 03, 2007

Dittos Rush

If you're working to make the playing field fair
and level you're working for the wrong reasons.
Work to take the opportunities that arise and
use your individual talents to excel at those
opportunities.

- Rush Limbaugh

Success leaves clues, and if you are smart you
listen to successful people wherever you find
them. Regardless of what you might think of
his politics there's no denying Rush Limbaugh
is one of the most successful people ever in
radio, and Rush is a huge sports fan.

Don't be a bigot on this one. Listen to what he
has to say about what it takes to be a winner.

'Before away games, the great Boston Celtic
Larry Bird used to arrive exceptionally early at
the other team's home stadium ... to study the
floor.

Hours ahead of the Celtics' practice and warm-
up sessions, Bird would do an inch-by-inch
survey of the wood on the court. This involved
getting down on his hands and knees to check
out individual boards, dribbling over every
square foot at various speeds and angles,
analyzing the floor's effect on the basketball.

He scrutinized the lighting, familiarized himself
with the arena's atmosphere, learned the
idiosyncrasies of the court. He knew that the
knowledge advantage he had over the other
players could make the crucial difference at key
moments -- and could, in fact, determine the
outcome of the game.

This was a boring thing to do. In fact, it was so
boring no one else bothered to do it. But Larry
Bird's unparalleled record proves his approach
was right. It was his attention to detail, this
willingness to immerse himself in the nuts and
bolts of his profession when everyone else was
relaxing or doing something more enjoyable
that created his success.

Discipline is the hardest part of this process,
because it demands your time. It is not sexy,
it is not the part that gets you the limelight.
Discipline has no pizzazz.

Discipline is private -- it is the internal decision
to work on your skills no matter what. It's
what makes you get up in the morning to do it
all over again.

You do things you don't feel like doing when you
don't feel like doing them. Discipline is what you
do in spite of your desires. It is also what
separates the pros from the amateurs, and the
successful from everybody else.'

Larry Bird was also one of the great clutch
shooters of all time, and his discipline served him
well in that area too.

All it takes is a quality decision on your part. How
far are you willing to go to be a great shooter?

Only you can answer that.

Shoot For The Stars,

Coach Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Another area where discipline plays a huge
role is conditioning. If you have the desire Coach
Tony Alfonso has all the information you'll ever
need to stay in tip-top basketball shape. His
'CompleteBasketball Strength And Speed
Program" can be yours right now at:

http://www.deandelker.com/alfonso_order.html

Note: This entry is protected by copyright, but I
encourage you copy and share it freely. Please
just include the whole message including links and
my contact information. Thanks a ton.

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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

A Call To Arms

I just found another shooting enthusiast today.
Coach Herb Welling from Omaha, Nebraska
who's Central High team won the Class A State
Basketball Championship last month.

He sure needed some timely shooting when 4 out
of his top 6 players fouled out, and his team found
itself depending on 3 rarely used sophmores in a
hotly contested overtime. Not only that, but they
had to overcome a 39 point effort by the other
team's star player.

In his blog at:

http://herbwellingbasketball.blogspot.com/

Coach Welling also had this to say about Florida's
recent national championship team:

'Billy Donovan should get credit for his defense,
but his team's ability to hit open shots is attributed
to his great individual skill [development] program.
His team was really balanced offensively.

We as coaches have to stress and teach shooting.
There are plenty of good shooting DVD's [out there]
such as [those by] Dave Hopla, Hal Wissel, Andy
Enfield, Tom Nordland, Ed Palubinskas, and Duane
Lewis. Please teach and work on shooting.'

Thanks, Coach. That's exactly what I'm doing.

Football has it's position coaches, baseball it's
hitting coaches, and golf it's swing coaches, but
basketball has been slow to embrace shooting
coaches.

There are a host of good one's out there to learn
from.

And it's time to take up arms and start teaching
the next generation how to shoot like experts.

Shoot For The Stars,

Coach Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Many coaches are hesitant to change a
player's stroke. I understand the sentiment, but
I don't agree. It's true you have to do it with tact,
grace, and encouragement, but good shooting feels
good in the same way hitting the sweet spot on a
baseball bat or a tennis racket does.

Your players will get on board when you can show
them results.

P.S.S. Remind them Tiger Woods has reworked his
golf swing at least twice after people were already
calling him one of the greatest golfers ever. If
change is not too good for him, your players shouldn't
have a problem with it.

If you don't feel qualified to teach you can get up to
speed in a hurry. A good place to start is with my
product list at:

http://www.deandelker.com/products.html

Note: This email is protected by copyright, but I
encourage you copy and share it freely. Please just
include the whole message including links and my
contact information. Thanks a ton.

Copyright 2006,2007 Delker Enterprises, Inc.

Coach Dean Delker
8413 SW 4th Place
Gainesville, FL 32607
352-494-6572

dean@deandelker.com
www.deandelker.com

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