30 minute segment of WC2010-B2, 30 minute segment of WC2010-B3, 30 minute segment of WC2010-B4, 30 minute segment of WC2010-B2, done at 80-85% max effort rate in terms of attempts per hour

All variants done today are described in the July 8 log entry.

Today for the first time while doing the WC2010-B series, during the practice I concentrated on maximizing the number of runs that were perfect. This entailed taking certain risks, which resulted in somewhat of an increased failure rate. I was able to relax and enjoy myself despite my concentration on achieving perfection. When aiming for perfection, more energy is expended per run.

WC2010-B2 was the 1st segment; done for 30 mins without a break. There were (previous practice at the YMCA results for this variant in parentheses) 20 (21) two-star successes, & and 8 (9) one-star successes. I counted 8 (8) of the 2-star successes & 1 (0) of the 1 star successes as perfect.

WC2010-B3 was the 2nd segment; done for 30 mins without a break. There were (previous practice results doing this variant at the YMCA in parentheses) [rate per 30 mins in brackets] 20 ([22]) two-star successes, & and 7 ([12]) one-star successes. I counted 10 ([2]) of the 2-star successes and 3 ([2]) of the 1-star successes as perfect.

WC2010-B4 was the 3rd segment; done for 30 mins without a break. There were (previous practice results in parentheses) 17 (18) two-star successes, & and 8 (12) one-star successes. I counted 10 (9) of the two-star runs, and 3 (1) of the one-star runs, as perfect.

WC2010-B2 was the 4th segment; done for 30 mins without a break. There were (previous practice at the YMCA results for this variant in parentheses) 21 (20) two-star successes, & and 3 (8) one-star successes. I counted 16 (8) of the 2-star successes & 1 (1) of the 1 star successes as perfect.

Last time at the Y Thursday July 29 (scores are higher indoors at the Y), the rate of perfects per minute was 0.18. Today Aug 2 at the Y, the rate of perfects was 0.37 per minute. According to the calculation in the July 29 entry based on my improvement rate outdoors, continuing the outdoors improvement rate of the past few days, I should have been at 0.30 perfects per minute by today, but I achieved 0.37 perfects per minute today. The skill will undoubtedly be mastered when my perfect rate is at around 1.0 per minute.

Fact is, that I am also in the process of mastering the art of: 1) kicking the ball about 12 feet; 2) on the second kick, making ONE 90 degree turn to the left with the left foot for another 8 feet; 3) and then on the 3rd kick shooting the ball straight ahead, left, or right--all without the ball touching the ground, at high speed with the ball kept close to the body. This despite the fact that nowadays I am not awarding myself any stars unless I make TWO consecutive 90 degree turns to the left in a row with the left foot now.

This follows the principle that practices without a defender involved should be more difficult than what is done when a defender is present. The ability to kick the ball 12 feet, make a 90 degree turn to the left using the left foot, and then after the ball has traveled another 8 feet shoot straight ahead or sideways left or right, all at high speed with the ball kept off the ground and close to the body, is in and of itself formidable.

If I was aiming to quickly achieve star status I would work on the one 90 degree turn to the left with the left foot followed by a shot, and one 90 degree turn to the right with the left foot followed by a shot, get both these skills, with the ball kept off the ground, up to a level applicable in games. But so far I've chosen the long slow path to super-stardom, which involves first mastering the art of two consecutive 90 degree turns to the left with the left foot, and then based on what is learned from this, going on to master the art of two consecutive 90 degree turns to the right with the right foot (air-dribble, ball kept off ground).

There are at Y's always these sleepy confident black guys wearing staff shirts, who make me wonder what mystery of Egyptian magic I need to master in order to be like them, a Y-staffer. One of these guys, a bespectacled one, spoke with me during the practice. He wanted to know why I was shooting the ball at the curtain.

I told him that I had a plan for getting my soccer skills up to a high level. I told him that there is less running around retrieving the ball when shooting the ball at the curtain.

He thought I should be shooting the ball at the wall, because running around retrieving the ball would be good for my health and endurance. I told him that I spent a whole year ignoring soccer ball skills, running and walking six miles in a row wearing body weights. I felt like a tire that has been punctured and is losing air when he asked me these questions.

I felt as if it should be self evident why I am doing what I am doing given the great runs I have been performing with the ball in the air and never touching the ground, the ball kept close to the body, and lots of sharp turns made and long distances covered at high speed. So it depressed me that he would want ask me, why I was doing the soccer drills that I was doing.

30 minute segment of WC2010-B3, 30 minute segment of WC2010-B4, 30 minute segment of WC2010-B2, done at 80-85% max effort rate in terms of attempts per hour

All variants done today are described in the July 8 log entry.

Today again, during the practice I concentrated on maximizing the number of runs that were perfect.

WC2010-B3 was the 1st segment; done for 30 mins without a break. There were (previous practice results doing this variant at the YMCA in parentheses) 18 (20) two-star successes, & and 3 (7) one-star successes. I counted 12 (10) of the 2-star successes and 2 (3) of the 1-star successes as perfect.

WC2010-B4 was the 2nd segment; done for 30 mins not counting breaks. There were (previous practice results in parentheses) 22 (17) two-star successes, & and 7 (8) one-star successes. I counted 12 (10) of the two-star runs, and 5 (3) of the one-star runs, as perfect.

WC2010-B2 was the 3rd segment; done for 30 mins without a break. There were (previous practice at the YMCA results for this variant in parentheses) 20 (21) two-star successes, & and 7 (3) one-star successes. I counted 14 (16) of the 2-star successes & 2 (1) of the 1 star successes as perfect.

Overall the number of two star runs counted as perfect was up to 0.42 per minute today; and the number of one-star runs counted as perfect was up to 0.10 per minute today. Thus the total number of runs counted as perfect was up to 0.52 per minute today. The one-star runs were it seemed better than ever. The shots at the end of the run on the fourth touch of the run (T6) seemed more powerful and accurate than ever.

Yesterday the rate of perfects was 0.37 per minute for two-star runs, and 0.07 per minute for one star runs. The total for two-star and one-star perfects per minute was 0.52 today, and 0.44 yesterday. At this rate the arithmetic projection would be that I'll be up to 0.90 per minute total for perfect one and two star runs, in just five days. Meaning that the last few days of practice, with all the scheming and record-keeping and diary-entry-making and analyzing, have evinced an acceleration in the improvement rate.

For about three days in a row now I have been expecting the practice day to show a decline in performance, due to the fatigue of so many days in a row of herculean achievements. But that day has not yet materialized.

I ran into Biro (previous encounter described in June 30 entry) in the locker room prior to the start of the B4 segment. He was saying crazy stuff, like "you could'nt hit the wall (with a shot with a ball) if your life depended on it". I was shocked. I estimated that such is his idea of humor, saying insulting things that are not true. It reminded me of how in the Proverbs of Solomon in the Bible, men who say things that are not true and then later say there were just 'jesting' are likened to men throwing firebombs here and there.

When Biro had watched me the first time June 30, I had taken two shots in front of him and they were both good shots. First half of the B4 segment I did very well, despite Biro's outrageous talk prior to the start of the B4 segment. Then Biro came out and interrupted me in the middle of the B4 segment. He and his Spanish friend took some shots at the mats on the wall that are roughly the shape and size of a soccer goal, kicking bouncing balls at the goal from ten meters away from the goal. The shots were accurate.

Biro seemed to think simply shooting a bouncing ball is more honorable and important than air-dribbling ten yards and then shooting the ball after a bounce (because he can do the simple shoot but not the air dribble and shoot?). Biro seemed to think that shooting at the goal from 10 meters away was the important test of shooting (because he can shoot from 10 meters not 17 meters, the distance from which I took two shots in front of him on June 30?).

Biro somehow misremembered that regarding the previous time he had watched me shoot the ball, I had told him that when I almost hit the corner of the goal I was aiming for some other corner of the goal, which is not correct. Actually I never told Biro that when I almost hit the upper right corner of the goal, I was aiming for some other corner. In reality on that shot, I almost hit the corner that I was aiming for.

Biro and his friend today, were interested in shooting a ball after it had bounced once, from a standing position after stationary juggling, at the goal size and goal shaped target ten meters away. The velocity of the shots of Biro and his friend when they came out to shoot with me for a few minutes, was about half the velocity of my shots, I can tell that from so much experience timing shot with a stopwatch. Their shots were accurate. My shots were accurate and fast despite not having practiced shooting for weeks (no use explaining to Biro that I had not been practicing shooting for weeks).

At one point Biro told me to just kick the ball that was lying there. I shot it with my right foot (I am left footed), of course it hit the goal target just ten meters away, at a speed much faster than the speed of the shots of Biro and his friend. Biro looked shocked, wide-eyed when he saw this shot. He said, "you looked like the gold shoes guy, Forlan, when you took that shot" (see 'Forlan Bags Second Euro Golden Shoe'). So Biro ended up his comedic routine for the day the complete opposite of how he started it. Biro wants me to join him and his friends in a soccer game.

I get the feeling that in me Biro sees a star he'd like to befriend, that he's afraid somehow I'll scorn him or turn against him, and he thinks that scoffing at me will work the magic of impressing me catching my attention and winning my friendship.

Biro said that his (German) company has had alot of business lately and that he's had alot of overtime work, therefore he has not been at the Y much. Imagine, his company now has lots of work because he was mentioned in the June 30 entry of my soccer log, yet in his words he scoffs at me.

30 minute segment of WC2010-B3, 30 minute segment of WC2010-B4, 30 minute segment of WC2010-B2, done at 80-85% max effort rate in terms of attempts per hour; last 11 minutes in air-conditioned aerobics room, achieved 0.91 perfects per minute rate

All variants done today are described in the July 8 log entry.

Today again, during the practice I concentrated on maximizing the number of runs that were perfect.

WC2010-B3 was the 1st segment; done for 30 mins not counting breaks. There were (previous practice results doing this variant at the YMCA in parentheses) 19 (18) two-star successes, & and 3 (3) one-star successes. I counted 10 (12) of the 2-star successes and 1 (2) of the 1-star successes as perfect.

WC2010-B4 was the 2nd segment; done for 30 mins not counting breaks. There were (previous practice results in parentheses) 22 (17) two-star successes, & and 7 (8) one-star successes. I counted 11 (12) of the two-star runs, and 1 (5) of the one-star runs, as perfect. The first 23 minutes were done in on the indoor basketball court, hot and humid. Then due to the unscheduled appearance of a full court basketball game (they told me that they are now officially scheduled), my time on the indoor basketball court came to an end. The last 7 minutes of the 30 minutes was done in the cool air-conditioned aerobics room, first time I have done this drill in a cool air-conditioned place. In the seven minutes in the aerobics room doing the B4 variant, there were [rate per 30 minutes in brackets] 6 [26] 2-star successes, 3 [13] of which were perfect, and 0 1-star succcesses. This segment involves me starting the run by first flipping up the ball with the right foot and then kicking it with the right foot, even though I am left-footed. This segment I felt psychologically overwhelmed by the difficulty of achieving lots of perfects when starting with the off-foot the right foot.

WC2010-B2 was the 3rd segment; done for 41 mins not counting 2 mins break-time; this entire segment was done in the air-conditioned aerobics room. There were (previous practice at the YMCA results for this variant in parentheses) [rate per 30 mins in brackets] 34 [25] (25 [25]) two-star successes, & and 7 [5] (4 [4]) one-star successes. I counted 22 [16] (14 [14]) of the 2-star successes & 7 [5] (2 [2]) of the 1 star successes as perfect. This was my first full segment ever in a cool air-conditioned indoor place. Overall the rate of perfects for one and two star runs was 0.70 per minute. The last 11 minutes the perfects rate was 0.64 per minute for two-star runs, and 0.27 per minute for one-star runs, total, 0.91 per minute. During these lst 11 minutes I finally achieved the rate of perfects which is good enough for me to consider the skill to have been mastered. Seems that the coolness of the air-conditioned environment relaxed me and energized me. This combined with the fact that I slowed down the speed and reduced the distances of the runs due to a desire not to cause any damage to the aerobics room, seems to have resulted in me achieving a high rate of perfects once I got used to the new environment.

The significant thing today, was the 48 minutes done in the cool air-conditioned aerobics room. One of the basketballers who took over the gym suggested I use it, and the white guy on duty (who looks one of my tens of thousands of 2nd and 3rd cousins) let me in to it to use it. I feel as if, if all my life I had had access to a cool air conditioned indoor place to practice soccer, I would be about 50% better a player than I am now (if the typical white basketball player and I exert ourselves equally in the gym, afterwards I will be soaked in sweat and the typical will barely have broken a sweat). I felt as if I could have gone on all day in the cool air conditioned aerobics room. I felt as if I had been given a peek at the advantage that privileged persons who can practice in air conditioned places have.

But even the cool aerobics room took some time to get used to. Inside the aerobics room there are mirrors and lights and windows and electronic musical equipment, and the ceiling is just 9 feet high. I took steps to protect the musical equipment and the mirrors and the lights; although the mirrors and the lights seemed to be fairly tough re being hit by a ball I felt somewhat inhibited, the speed and the distances covered during the runs was somewhat reduced.

After the practice I felt very hungry and went to a restaurant to get some food. While I was making my order and asking questions about it, the manager was present, a heavy-set clean-shaven young white man with normal length wavy light brown hair, who answered some of my questions. He was like a nonstop sympathetic soundbite machine, seemed he could read my mind. He was saying "the people at the Y are losers...you're good...they do...". It was not the first time I've heard the Y being accused of being a bunch of losers. After the practice I had felt weary and discouraged, because it seemed to me that since the Y deliberately hires losers, no matter how much you improve yourself, you don't improve your chances of getting a job with them.

Still I admire the Y for the fact that when a long time ago, I got into some minor trouble with a couple of universities which interfered with my using their gyms (due to them over-reacting to minor matters), the Y did not imitate them. There have been no problems with me at the Y over the many years that I have used their facilities.

30 minute segment of WC2010-B3, 30 minute segment of WC2010-B4, 45 minute segment of WC2010-B2, done at 80-85% max effort rate in terms of attempts per hour

All variants done today are described in the July 8 log entry.

Today again, during the practice I concentrated on maximizing the number of runs that were perfect.

WC2010-B3 was the 1st segment; done for 30 mins not counting 3 min break. There were (previous practice results doing this variant at the YMCA in parentheses) 16 (19) two-star successes, & and 10 (3) one-star successes. I counted 8 (10) of the 2-star successes and 5 (1) of the 1-star successes as perfect. This segment featured fast well aimed first kicks, followed by fast well-angled second kicks that were a little too hot to handle on the third kick, end result run did not score even one star, end result also being very impressive up to the third touch of the run.

WC2010-B4 was the 2nd segment; done for 30 mins without a break. There were (previous practice results in parentheses) 20 (22) two-star successes, & and 6 (7) one-star successes. I counted 12 (11) of the two-star runs, and 4 (1) of the one-star runs, as perfect.

WC2010-B2 was the 3rd segment; done for 45 mins without breaks. There were (previous practice at the YMCA results for this variant in parentheses) [rate per 30 mins in brackets] 28 [19] ([25]) two-star successes, & and 7 [5] ([5]) one-star successes. I counted 18 [12] ([16]) of the 2-star successes & 3 [2] ([5]) of the 1 star successes as perfect. This segment was done in the hot humid gym today, whereas it was done in the cool air conditioned aerobics room yesterday.

Overall today in total, the rate of perfect two-star successes was 0.36 per minute, and the rate of perfect one-star successes was 0.11 per minute.

Looks like today the long awaited day featuring no progress compared to previous days, finally arrived. Perhaps I could have used the cool aerobics room but I chose to use the hot humid gym. The hot humid gym is big and so I don't feel inhibited into slowing down and shortening my runs, and I like that. The pressure to achieve high scores has not killed off within me, the spirit of delighting in long fast difficult runs.

In the gym I can finish the runs with a hard shot into the curtain on the 4th touch (T6), which I cannot do in the little aerobics room.

The main problems as of now: lack of horizontal movement of the ball on the second touch (T4) of the run and on the third touch (T5) of the run; ball kicked too low on the second touch (T4) of the run. By lack of horizontal movement I mean, I kick the ball and it goes straight up a few feet and then straight down; this happens even though the ball was moving horizontally before I kicked it.

The lack of horizontal movement on the ball, might be a result of a fear of kicking the ball too far in terms of horizontal ball movement, which could be related to the constant keeping score re the outcome of the runs.

The kick being too low on the second touch (T4) could be related to the thrill of going fast on every leg of the u-turn; when the ball is kept low on the second touch of the run, this results in an impressively fast speed for the straight-aways and the corners during the rest of the run. Other possibilities: the ball has been kicked too low due to the fear that if it is kicked too high the ball will get away, result zero stars awarded to run in score; the ball has been kicked too low because this requires less physical exertion.

I remember previously I finally succeeded in mastering a skill of this type that had eluded mastery for a while, by ceasing to keep score, and increasing the duration of the practices. The ceasing to keep score relaxed me, and the increasing the duration of the practices resulted in fatigue which led to again relaxation.

Right now I feel as if the time has come for long duration unscored practices. I'm not saying I've erred by using the scored-practice approach. What I mean is, that the long unscored practices and the intense scored practices, are two types that complement each other and both approaches have different good and bad points to them.

The practices of the type I've been doing the past few days, involving every run getting either zero stars one star or two stars, and getting either a perfect or non-perfect rating, has produced a fast rate of improvement, and has resulted in a situation wherein the faults that are preventing the score from getting up near 1.0 perfects a minute, are approx only two different faults and can be clearly identified. Now I am in a position to know that the two major problems are the kicking the ball too low and the not kicking it sideways enough. As a result of skill improvement there are no other faults of comparable significance. This has all been achieved through intense physically and psychologically stressful scored practices. But now that I have zeroed in on the two faults, I believe that a few hours of unscored practice work targetting these faults that have been focused in on as a result of the scored practices, is the wise course of action for the immediate future.

If I keep score while concentrating on avoiding the lack of horizontal ball movement and avoiding kicking the ball too low, the desire to achieve a high score will interfere with developing the ability to overcome lack of horizontal ball movement and low ball altitude. For example the fear of the ball being kicked away resulting in the run not getting even one star, could conflict with the desire to develop the ability to achieve high ball altitudes while maximizing horizontal ball movement.

I feel that now I should on the second touch (T4) and the third touch (T5) concentrate on: avoiding a lack of horizontal movement of the ball; and kicking the ball so that it's apex reaches to at least waist height. I estimate that this will help me to get rid of the errors that are most common now, which are the lack of horizontal movement of the ball on some kicks, and the ball being kicked too low on some kicks.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week I've done about 1.5 hours at the Y in the evening: 
          
    Day: 2-star perfects per minute; 1-star perfects per minute; total perfects per minute.
    Monday: 0.31; 0.08; 0.39.
    Tuesday: 0.42; 0.10; 0.52.
    Wednesday: 0.43; 0.09; 0.52.
    Thursday: 0.36; 0.11; 0.47.
    

90 minute segment of WC2010-B3, Unscored, with experiment and observation, done at 80-85% max effort rate in terms of attempts per hour

The variant today is described in the July 8 log entry.

Today again, during the practice I focused on maximizing the number of runs that were perfect.

Today, I increased the distance between the marker cone marking the second touch of the run, and the marker cone marking the third touch of the run, from 9 to 11 feet, because I wanted to increase the height and distance of the the second kick of the run which sends the ball at a 90 degree angle to my left, after which it is kicked again at a 90 degree angle to the left on the third kick of the run.

I did the B3 variant the whole time without breaks so as to increase the concentration upon the matter at hand, which was to intentionally increase the distance and velocity on the second (T4) and third (T5) kicks of the run. The previous entry this log, discusses some of the evidence and reasoning re why there should now be emphasis on long and high kicks on the second and third touches of the run.

I started out at first today: not mentally focusing on maximizing the use of any particular part of the body, on the second and third kicks of the run; trying to achieve long and high kicks on the second and third kicks of the run which both propel the ball at a 90 degree angle to my left; for now I label this style, style A.

Then, for a while I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my ankle, and sending the ball long and high, on the second and third kicks of the run; I label this style B.

Then, for a while I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my leg, and sending the ball long and high, on the second and third kicks of the run. I label this style C.

Then, for a while I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my body, and sending the ball long and high, on the second and third kicks of the run. I label this style D.

Then, for a while I returned to style A, already described. Such was roughly speaking, the pattern of the practice.

I found that styles C and D worked the best, they produced excellent performance. With both styles C and D there were streaks featuring skill-mastered-already level of performance, at the same time the level of stress and fatigue involved was minimal.

Style B did not produce performance of as high a quality as styles C and D. Style B produced a level of performance better than style A was when style A was first done. However at the end of the practice when style A was done again, it had improved alot. Seemed doing styles B C and D before doing style A a second time, produced a high level of performance with style A the second time style A was used. Style A the second time it was done was about equal to style B. Style A the first time it was done was much worse than style B, style C, style D, or style A the second time it was done.

I now feel that for the past few weeks I have: sort of gotten into a rut involving too many rigidly scored practices and too few practices of the unscored experiment and observation type such as today's practice; become too much a creature of habit and tradition (as it seems are and have been lots of Americans); become too conservative in the sense of being too much someone who is not different today compared to what he was yesterday.

90 minute segment of WC2010-B3, Unscored, with experiment and observation, done at 80-85% max effort rate in terms of attempts per hour

The variant today is described in the July 8 log entry.

You can assume today's practice, unless mentioned otherwise, was like yesterday's practice.

First segment today, for 20 mins I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my ankle, and sending the ball long and high, on the second and third kicks of the run; I label this style B. This was the best segment today, taking into account that it was the first segment. The performance applying style B first segment today, was excellent. The kicks sent the ball long and high, the runs were well angled, I was relaxed, the level of stress and effort was low relative to the level of achievement.

Then, 2nd segment, for 20 mins I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my leg, and sending the ball long and high, on the second and third kicks of the run. I label this style C. The ball was lower, the runs faster and shorter, with style C compared to style B which I opened with. I noted a tendency towards being hyper-strict re minimizing use of ankle when applying this style, style C--this resulted in impaired performance. Performance was not as good as style B first segment. But there is a charm and elegance to style C--sometimes I feel like I am just sort of pushing buttons with my toe with my leg straight, effortlessly producing the 90 degree turns. This style, style C, works better on the second touch of the run (T4) compared to the third touch of the run (T5) because of differences in terms of the angle of the body relative to the direction the ball is kicked.

Then, 3rd segment, for 20 mins, I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my body, and sending the ball long and high, on the second and third kicks of the run. I label this style D. The performance this segment was about equal to the performance of style C 2nd segment. I noted that everything can be much easier and less stressful, when the style one is applying, involves mentally focusing on maximizing the use of the ankle or the leg or the body. I found that it is hard to remember, to both maximize the use of a body part and also hit the ball long and high, one tends to remember and execute one of the two tasks instead of both.

4th segment today: 30 mins not mentally focusing on maximizing the use of any particular part of the body on the second and third kicks of the run, while trying to achieve long and high kicks on the second and third kicks of the run; for now I label this style, style A. The performance of style A today was better than it was yesterday, when it was the first segment done. I estimate that today style A was better than styles C and D but not as good as style B.

Seems the ideal order should be: first style B maximize ankle use; then style A no part of body emphasized; then style C maximize leg use; then style D maximize body use. Comparing today to yesterday, it seems that styles C and D produce better performance when there has been more time warming up using other styles prior to implementing styles C and D.

Again today, the four cones marking the four touches of the run were set out in a square pattern, each cone approx 11 feet from the cones closest to it. Thus on-target from touch one to touch four covered about 26 feet as the target spot for the kicks is closer to the center of the square than the cones marking the outside of the perimeter.

26 feet is 2 feet further from the basketball basket than the pro-distance basketball 3-point line. Several times today, this 26-foot distance and longer distances were covered with speed, with the ball well angled in terms of being kicked at almost exactly a 90 degree angle to the left on the second and third touches of the run; all of course with the ball kept off the ground and close to the body and the prescribed and intended footwork pattern maintained, but with a lengthening of each step in the footwork pattern (very dramatic impressive world-class looking runs, accomplished with a low level of mental and physical stress).

Today as yesterday on the final fourth touch of the run (T6) I shot the ball straight ahead instead of 90 degrees to the left. This allowed me to concentrate a greater proportion of my energy on the second and third touch 90 degree turns to the left. Also this allowed for me to be kicking the ball towards a fence on the second and also on the third touches of the run (I was in a corner of a fenced in area), which reduced the tendency to be inhibited and kick the ball too low and not far enough.

When I started the practice, about 40 yards away at the corner of Newton and Clinton about 20 Spanish folks were having a barbecue on the porches and lawn of this yellow house. They were watching throughout the entire 90 minutes especially the first 60 minutes. Spanish people have a long attention span with regards to watching soccer. They can tell the difference between an important and unimportant skill being practiced. They can tell when someone is manifesting an extreme level of skill.

There was also out on the playground, watching me while playing with his toddler sons, a black man, who was wearing a black short with a gold cross around his neck.

110 minute segment of WC2010-B3, Unscored, with experiment and observation re styles A B C and D, done at 85% max effort rate in terms of attempts per hour; almost normal level of performance despite lower back being very stiff and sore prior to practice.

The variant today is described in the July 8 log entry.

You can assume today's practice, unless mentioned otherwise, was like yesterday's practice.

First segment today, for 45 mins I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my ankle, and sending the ball long and high, on the second and third kicks of the run; I label this style B. The first 30 minutes, I was inhibited by the fear of straining my lower back, which had been stiff and sore prior to the start of the practice. After 30 mins this fear subsided, but the performance was stilled impaired. This was the worst segment today.

2nd segment today: 25 mins not mentally focusing on maximizing the use of any particular part of the body on the second and third kicks of the run, while trying to achieve long and high kicks on the second and third kicks of the run; for now I label this style, style A. The performance of style A today was a little better than style B which was done the first segment. Techniques that produced good results this segment: foot hooked but not flicked, combined with body swivel; body lean and leg movement without ankle hook or any ankle movement; left straight foot hooked, no ankle flip movement; body, leg, foot hook, and foot flick all involved.

Then, 3rd segment, for 20 mins I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my leg, and sending the ball long and high, on the second and third kicks of the run. I label this style C. I noted on one occasion the natural footwork was two RL skips before T6 (fourth touch shot) with the right foot, instead of the prescribed RL and then the shot. This segment produced a high level of quantity and quality in terms of 'perfection'. Performance was better than the first two segments. The runs featured grace and mental and physical economy of effort.

Then, 4th segment, for 20 mins, I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my body, and sending the ball long and high, on the second and third kicks of the run. I label this style D. I noted that when things work out well with style D, my arms are straight and pointed ahead, at approx a 45 degree angle downwards. When things work out well with style C my arms are straight and separated, left pointing left and right pointing right, and higher. When style D works out well, the body leans back and to the side. This segment style D produced runs that were less classic in terms of form and result at their best, but more consistent than style C the third segment. The performance was approx equal to that in the 3rd segment using style C. Style D done this segment seemed closest to what is successful, natural and intuitive for me when I am not concentrating on using any one part of my body.

Today I woke up late, during the night, and from the time I got out of bed approx 4 PM to the time practice started at 750 PM, my lower back was stiff and sore. It was so stiff and sore that I had difficulty just going to the bathroom and making coffee (not to even consider world class soccer stunts). Despite this, for the entire practice the performance was at least as good as it was a few days ago. After the first 70 minutes of practice I was at an almost normal level of performance.

132 minutes of: WC2010-B3, Unscored, with experiment and observation re styles B, A, D, and C, done at 80-85% max effort rate in terms of attempts per hour; lower back a little stiff/sore prior to start of practice.

The variant done today is described in the July 8 log entry.

You can assume today's practice, unless mentioned otherwise, was like yesterday's practice.

1st segment today: 42 mins not mentally focusing on maximizing the use of any particular part of the body on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run, while trying to achieve long and high kicks on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run; for now I label this style, style A. I Did not achieve the first successful run until 740 PM 7 mins after practice started. My lower back was again stiff and sore from the time I woke up until practice, but this problem was much less severe compared to previous practice August 9. After 20 minutes today, I lost the fear of straining my lower back.

Prior to the August 9 practice, I had done a back-stretching exercise which I had found to be helpful with regards to the stiffness and soreness in the lower back. What I had done, was to to hold on to an approx waist high bar in front of me that I could lean on to help support myself, while moving my upper body down and up in a bowing motion similar to an actor taking a bow after a show. Today I did this exercise in-between runs a few times with my hands on a table so as to support myself (instead of holding a bar) during the first segment and found that this resulted in an immediate dramatic improvement in performance.

Doing only the B3 variant during a practice has allowed me to intellectually focus on and get more deeply into certain aspects. Today I found that a certain footwork pattern prior to the 1st touch, dramatically improved the quality of the kick made on the 1st touch. This pattern involves: starting with the right foot approx 4.5 feet behind the ball and in front of the left foot; taking a short step with the left; then taking a short step with the right; then taking a short step with the left, rolling the ball back with the left and flipping it up with the left; then kicking the ball with the right; and, this all done with all the steps taken at a rhythm similar to the steady beat of a metronome.

Prior to today usually the start would be: start with left foot behind right foot and right foot approx 1.5 feet behind ball; step forward with left foot, roll ball back with left foot, flip ball up with left foot, kick ball forward with right foot.

I realize that there are advantages to taking less steps before the first touch. I estimate that doing high quality kicks on the first touch with lots of steps prior to the first touch, will eventually result in improvement of the quality of the first kick on the 1st touch when less steps are taken before the 1st touch. As of now what I need is high quality kicks on the 1st touch so as to be able to perfect the 90 degree turns to the left made with left footed kicks on the 2nd and 3rd touches.

For about 10 minutes towards the end of this segment using style A the performance was at an excellent this-skill-is mastered level.

2nd segment today, for 30 mins I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my ankle, and sending the ball long and high on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run; I label this style B. During this segment I noted that ankle movement screws up the 1st kick of the run. The 1st kick should be done with minimal ankle movement during the kick.

I noted that this style B emphasizing ankle movement during the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run, works better when I keep my right foot on the ground while I kick the ball with my left foot. Previously during the most recent outdoors practice during which I did very well using style B, I had kept my right foot on the ground when I kicked the ball with my left foot. But in subsequent practices I developed the habit of lifting my right foot a little above the ground when kicking the ball with my left foot when using style B.

Today style B was overall better than style A, but style A at its best was better than style B at its best.

Then, 3rd segment, for 30 mins, I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my body, and sending the ball long and high on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run. I label this style D.

When I began the practice I had drawn the curtain that hangs from the ceiling and separates the two halves of the gym, out half way across the width of the gym, so as to shoot at the curtain on the 4th and final touch of the run, shooting sideways to the left with my right foot (during the most recent outdoors practices I had been shooting straight ahead on the final touch to conserve energy). Then while I took a short break outside the gym, somebody, maybe one of the 3 young men playing half-court basketball on the other side of the gym pulled this curtain back so it only stuck out about five meters from the wall on the side. This was not the first time someone at the Y had manifested a preference for having the curtain pulled back. So instead of pulling the curtain out to half way across the width of the gym again, I let the curtain stay where it was in the position which they had put it in, pulled almost all the way to the side-wall. This way I could see the 3 basketball players (a white, a light-skinned black, and a black) and they could see me. I found that I was able to aim the shots on the final touch well enough to hit the curtain even though its width had been reduced. I must admit, things can get slightly lonely isolated and boring, hidden from everyone else behind a curtain.

During this segment I noticed that: my shot on the final 4th touch of the runs has improved alot in terms of accuracy and power; my quickness in terms of being able to get my body in position for an accurate powerful shot on the 4th and final touch of the run has improved; my ability to shoot the ball at a seven 0'clock angle relative to the direction I am facing is way up (shooting the ball to seven O'clock means given twelve O'clock as the direction I am facing on the imaginary clock, the ball travels in the seven O'clock direction almost straight backwards, at a 150 degree angle sideways and backwards to my left); all this despite the bummed out feeling that progress is slow. This segment using style D was better than the first two segments using styles A and B. It was more competent than the style D segment previous practice. The performance was at a level getting close to mastery of the skill. The runs were slightly too short in length.

Then, 4th segment, for 30 mins I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my leg, and sending the ball long and high, on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run. I label this style C. During this segment I continued to notice my improvement in terms of shooting the ball with accuracy and power at angles up to almost straight backwards on the fourth and final touch of the run. This skill has to do with the angle of the foot relative to the leg at the time of ball contact, but a flick of the foot during ball contact is not involved. Often a glancing as opposed to direct contact with the ball which nevertheless produced accuracy and power is involved.

During this style C segment I noted that: the style C method is Peter-Pan-like in terms of the high level of perfection that is often effortlessy and gracefully achieved; the style C method today was approx equal in performance level to style D today; seems that once I get used to style C it will be better performance wise than style D; moving the ball using style C reminds me of moving objects on a table using my hand with my arm kept straight; an advantage of style D is that the ball is kept closer to the body with style D compared to said distance with style C; style C involves effortlessly covering ground because the left foot lands farther away from the right foot after the kick with the left foot, compared to the situation with style D.

After the practice John Rogers, this white guy with a mustache, struck up a conversation with me. He suggested that I visit the Boston Meditation Group 'Self Realization Fellowship'. He said he thought such would be helpful because I seemed to "have issues" because I "talk to myself" in the locker room. I was thinking that I don't talk to myself that much in the locker room.

Overall today all segments were better than the previous practice and all segments showed signs of me mastering the skill being practiced.

115 minutes of: WC2010-B3, Unscored, with experiment and observation re styles A, B, C, and D, done at 85% max effort rate in terms of attempts per hour; and a new drill I've named B3-TU.

The B3 variant done today is described in the July 8 log entry. Also today a new drill, which for now I name B3-Tight Unlimited (B3-TU) was introduced.

Today's practice, unless mentioned otherwise, was like yesterday's practice.

1st segment today: 20 mins not mentally focusing on maximizing the use of any particular part of the body on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run, while trying to achieve long and high kicks on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run; for now I label this style, style A. From the start, there was a high level of consistency in the sense that a large proportion of the runs were what I have in the past rated as 'two-star' runs. However they were imperfect in the sense of: being off-marker (the ball kicked at a spot too far from spots near one of the four cone markers which mark the start, first turn, second turn and end of the u-turn); a little short in distance, and with the angles not exactly at 90 degrees. But these runs were quick and tightly controlled.

2nd segment today, for 20 mins I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my ankle, and sending the ball long and high on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run; I label this style B. The first 5 minutes I was 'off' the performance level was low; but overall the performance was OK this segment, better than the first segment using style A. Compared to the first segment, the 2nd 3rd and 4th kicks of the run were made closer to the exact point where they are supposed to be made, the runs were longer, the ball was sent higher. This method does not seem to work so well in situations where the 2nd kick of the run, which is supposed to produce a 90 degree turn, sends the ball just up and down with no sideways movement, necessitating a second attempt at sending the ball sideways. My experience this segment validated the thesis that the right foot should be kept on the ground when the left foot kicks the ball with an ankle flip.

3rd segment, for 25 mins I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my leg, and sending the ball long and high, on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run. I label this style C. I noted that today: this style worked better than style B when the ball by mistake was kicked so it went up and down instead of sideways, necessitating a second kick to move the ball sideways; the performance was good after the first 5 mins; the runs were faster compared to the previous segment with style B; the runs were long accurate and on-marker (ball kicked close to exact spot where it is supposed to be kicked during u-turn); the start of the segment performance was better than style B. The number of acceptable quality runs was about the same as previous segment but the quality of the runs was better this segment.

4th segment, for 25 mins, I mentally focused on maximizing the use of my body, and sending the ball long and high on the 2nd and 3rd kicks of the run. I label this style D. The percent of the runs that were of acceptable quality was the same as previous segment, but the quality of the runs was better during the previous segment using style C.

5th & last segment, for 25 mins I did a new drill I've invented, first time I've done this drill. This drill involves: same as other B3 variants up to the second kick of the run, and then after this: kick ball sideways to left with left foot & step with right foot, repeated until loss of control over the ball, with ball never further than four feet from the right foot. I name this drill, B3-Tight Unlimited (B3TU).

Some time this week I had a dream that I was doing a drill which I have tried to imitate in the B3-TU drill; in the dream it was daylight and I could clearly see the ball; not sure but I think I was using a black and white ball each little panel either black or white, not the Jabulani. This dream seemed brighter and more positive than another dream I had this week, during which I saw these rectangles which represented my path during the u-turn type B3 runs, drawn with slightly irregular lines in various colors on a black background, about 30 yards below me.

In another dream this week: I had mastered the skill of turning to the left at 90 degrees with the left foot, and gone on to working on doing this with the right foot; the ball I was using at this point was a color like a blend between crimson and purple. I looked up the color purple on the internet: it is supposed to represent royalty; deep purple is supposed to represent riches. But when awake I have not been feeling like royalty.

Overall the failure rate today was significantly higher than yesterday.

Reporting on the Aug 6 Practice I wrote: "Today, I increased the distance between the marker cone marking the second touch of the run, and the marker cone marking the third touch of the run, from 9 to 11 feet, because I wanted to increase the height and distance of the the second kick of the run which sends the ball at a 90 degree angle to my left, after which it is kicked again at a 90 degree angle to the left on the third kick of the run". This increased distance has been in effect since the Aug 6 practice.

August 15, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

R1 means, the first touch of the run with the right foot; L2 means, the second touch of the run, made with the left foot; R3 means, the third touch of the run made with the right foot; L4 means, the fourth touch of the run, made with the left foot; R5 means, the fifth touch of the run, made with the right foot. On every run I started by flipping the ball up with the left foot and then kicking the ball with the right foot for R1. On every run the ball was touched on every step. On every run, the foot after touching the ball skipped, meaning the foot hit the ground, and then immediately afterwards hit the ground again after taking a little step. The object of the runs was to move across the floor with the ball touched on every step, and with the ball kept off the ground and close to the body. The drills are shown in order of difficulty from P1 the easiest to P7 the hardest.

Previously after the 2006 World Cup, I had developed a drill inspired by the 2006 World Cup, which I named the WC06. This drill involved moving forwards in a straight line, keeping the ball off the ground but close to the body, touching the ball on every step, and skipping after every touch on the ball. At the time it did not even occur to me that this same type of movement could be accomplished with deliberate changes of direction created by every touch or every other touch on the ball. However my success with the drills of the type done the past few weeks, reminded me that perhaps the WC06 could be done with changes of direction. I felt as if I would be a fool to fail to stop and explore the possibility that the WC06 could be done with changes of direction. I wanted to experiment with some new drills that combined elements of the WC06, with elements of the drills I've been doing recently inspired by the 2010 World Cup.

Previous references in the soccer log to WC06, and to mutations of WC06 that I developed, can be found in page 2, page 12, and page 13 of this log. Using a toolbar that has hilite and word search capability just look for WC06 in these pages.

When I put up the first version of the diagram to the left, the diagram had a couple of defects which I've now corrected. One, P2 was drawn with right angle turns on every turn, which made it seem that P2 is the same as P4; actually, the angles on P2 are about 30 degree angles and the angles on P4 are sharper 90 degree right-angle turns. Second, similarly P5 was drawn with sharp 90 degree right-angle turns which made it look the same as P6; actually, the angles on P5 are about 30 degree angles and the angles on P6 are sharper 90 degree right-angle turns.

Looking at the diagram to the left, the drills I experimented with today are shown in order from P1 the easiest to P7 the hardest.

Today the drill I did first was P1. This involves the ball touched on every step, the route followed being like the cirfumference of a circle run in a counter-clockwise direction. I concluded that P1, which moves the ball in a curving pattern can be mastered.

The second drill I did today was P3. This involves the ball touched on every step, straight ahead on the touches with the right foot, but a 90 degree turn to the left on the touches with the left foot. I think it also can be mastered.

The third drill done today was P5. P5 involves the ball touched on each step, approx a 30 degree turn to the left on touches with the left foot, and a 30 degree turn to the right on touches with the right foot. I think it also can be mastered.

The fourth drill done today was P6.P6 involves the ball touched on each step, approx a 90 degree turn to the left on touches with the left foot, and approx a 90 degree turn to the right on touches with the right foot. I think it also can be mastered.

The fifth drill done today was P2. This involes the ball touched on each step, approx a 30 degree turn to the right on touches with the left foot, and a 30 degree turn to the left on touches with the right foot. I think it also can be mastered.

The sixth drill done today was P4. This involves the ball touched on each step, approx a 90 degree turn to the right on touches with the left foot, and a 90 degree turn to the left on touches with the right foot. I think it also can be mastered.

The seventh and last drill done today was P7. P7 in the diagram to the left is not drawn exactly as it is done. It involves a kick backwards over the head at a 180 degree angle with the left foot, a skip with the left foot combined with turning around, then a kick backwards over the head with the right foot, a skip with the right foot combined with turning around, then a kick backwards over the head with the left foot, and so forth for up to five touches. This drill will be very difficult to master; but in the past skills that once seemed impossible have been mastered.

I was able to succeed at least once with the ball touched at least five times during the run, with all the drills done today except P7. With P7 I was able a couple of times to do it up to the fourth touch on the ball with the fourth touch on the ball being erroneous.

The basketball players came in as usual early, and as usual took over the gym before they were scheduled to, at 8:45 AM, whereas they were scheduled to take over the gym at 9:00 AM. So I spent the last 15 minutes practicing in the parking lot outside the gym with an eye out for careless drivers.

While I was doing P4, there was one run that adhered to pattern perfectly for six touches. I covered about 24 feet (at a high speed given the difficulties of this technique) making right-angle 90 degree turns on each step with both feet on this run. I was proud of the run. After I finished it I looked at the basketballers sitting on the benches. Tada! Judging from where they were looking, not one of them saw the run.

While doing the drills done today, which I have named WC06/10-P1 to WC06/10-P7, I noticed that the kind of moves practiced in this drill, have a great potential for fakery, in the sense of pretending to be about to kick the ball to the left but kicking it to the right instead and vice versa. This potential for fakery exists both in the sense of preplanned deliberate fakery, and also in the sense of last-fraction-of-a-second changing my mind re what direction I am going to go.

The earlier WC06 drill that the drills done today are related to, is a drill that impressed the people watching at the playground alot. I still remember the people in the car that parked next to the playground, how they watched me do the WC06 for half an hour without getting bored.

Strange thing is that today and yesterday before the practice, I tried doing the skipping movements without the ball being involved, and found these movements to be tiring, difficult, and clumsy, with my body feeling heavy, stiff and sore while doing them; but when I did the same movements with the ball involved, my body felt light, I felt untired, the movements did not seem difficult, I was quick and fast, and I felt no soreness or stiffness.

I started out with 20 minutes of WC06/10-P1. 13 minutes after starting I did a complete circle, involving about 9 touches on the ball without the ball touching the ground, ball touched on every step. The performance was much better today, a major reason for this was that today unlike yesterday, after the first kick with the right foot, I skipped with the right foot; this seemed to get me in the proper rhythm for the rest of the touches of the run which all involved skipping after touching/kicking the ball. The plurality of the runs involved about 6 touches, with about half of a circle covered in the run.

Next I did 20 minutes of WC06/10-P2 for 20 minutes. 4 minutes after starting there was a long run of 24 feet involving about seven touches on the ball. There were lots of 21-24 foot runs involving 6-7 touches on the ball. I noted that over the past few weeks I've learned to keep the runs going despite the ball hitting my chest in between touches with the foot. There were a few runs involving unusually long distances between touches resulting in the fourth touch on the ball being made at a point 17 feet from the first touch on the ball (approx 6 feet between touches with the foot). There was an 8 touch 24 foot run. The performance with this variant was also much better than yesterday; again I skipped with the right foot after the first touch with the right foot.

Next I did WC06/10-P3, for 20 minutes. I succeeded eight times during the 20 minutes (20 mins includes time setting up the marker cones). The performance was again much better than yesterday; again a major factor in the improvement was skipping with the right foot after the first kick with the right foot. At 6:57, 6:58, and 6:59 AM, there were three excellent runs. Then this tall gray haired woman came in to the gym and started talking to me. I could not hear her, pulled my ear-plug out. She was saying that the swimming pool had been closed due to the thunder.

Next I did WC06/10-P4, for 28 minutes not counting about 5 minutes of breaks for various reasons. I succeeded 8 times in keeping the run going on pattern with the ball off the ground and under control up to the 5th touch. Again the skipping after the first touch with the right foot improved things. The summer camp leader came in with the kids about 7:30 AM, he said he had to take over the gym at 7:50 AM, because of bad weather outside. So I left at 7:50 AM, showered and dressed up in street clothes. As I was leaving the Y, I noticed that the gym which I had vacated was for them was now completely empty.

When I say how many minutes I practiced a variant, I as of now am including about 3 minutes spent re-setting the marker cones for the particular variant, as part of the practice time and not classifying it as break time.

I noted today that in general I am much better than I was about a month ago, in terms of during the runs kicking the ball at the exact spots where I am supposed to kick the ball.

Today on the typical run the distance between touches on the ball was about 4.5 feet.

I've come to realize that the WC2010-B2, B3 and B4 variants that I've been doing prior to yesterday, are very tiring, even though I have not been feeling tired until after the practice is done. The not feeling tired during the practice has to do with the magical effect working with a ball has on me, in terms of taking away feelings of fatigue. The B2 B3 and B4 practices have been involving about 1000 yards covered running with the ball kept in the air during each practice. These have not been straight ahead runs which can depend upon momentum, but runs featuring sharp turns every 3 yards. The runs have been executed at a fast pace. Alot of energy has been going into the shots on the fourth touch of the run. Running keeping the ball off the ground and close to the body is more tiring than simply running with out a ball. The physical movements involved have been unusual and new. For all these reasons I've become exhausted and I've been thinking that a good idea is to shift over to different drills for a while. I've heard that a characteristic of successful men is resting from one type of activity by engaging in another type of activity. The P1-P7 drills I've been doing yesterday and today, involve more skill-work, more touches on the ball, per unit of energy expended and per step taken, compared to the B2, B3 and B4 drills.

There seems to be something magical and Peter-Pan like about the P1-P6 variants; similarly I noted something magical and Peter-Pan like about the B3 done with emphasis on the use of the leg. Perhaps this is because I have special talent for certain types of air-dribbles.

I started out with 55 minutes (not counting 5 mins of breaks) of WC06/10-P5 (described in Aug 15 entry). This segment I used style A, meaning there was not an attempt to emphasize the use of any particular part of the body. I succeeded in adhering to the pattern for 5 touches on the ball 20 times. In this pattern there are supposed to be turns to the left on touches with the left foot and turns to the right on touches with the right foot. I counted a run as a success if there were no more than two touches on the ball re which there was doubt as to whether the ball was kicked straight ahead or in the prescribed intended direction towards the side. The successful runs ranged in distance from 17 to 37 feet with the ball kicked 5-10 times over the course of the run, with ball touched on every step and never hitting the ground. The average run was 28 feet in length.

I noted that a style that works well involves: the foot set at a right angle relative to the shin when the ball is kicked; foot movement dependent on body movement; strong use of the body as opposed to leg or ankle. I label this style style D-ARA (D stands for body emphasis, ARA stands for ankle at right angle relative to shin). This style worked well with the ball reaching an apex of approx stomach to chest height between touches. This style worked well with both ankle flip involvement in imparting force to the ball, and also a lack thereof. It worked well with the body in a somewhat crouched position. This style allows for sharply angled turns of up to approx 120 degrees to left or right.

During the unscored portion of the practice I experimented with emphasizing the use of the ankle (style B), emphasizing the use of the leg (style C), and emphasizing the use of the body (style D).

Style B featuring emphasis on the use of flipping the ankle in imparting force to the ball, sometimes produced good results but is generally inconsistent, there were large numbers of failures. I found I was able to produce sharp turns of up to approx 135 degrees.

Style C featuring emphasis on the use of the leg in imparting force to the ball, produced results similar to the results with style B: sometimes good results but generally inconsistent, there were large numbers of failures. I found I was able to produce sharp turns of up to approx 180 degrees to the left or right.

Style D featuring emphasis on the use of the body in imparting force to the ball, produced results far superior to style B or style C. Although the angles of the turns were not as sharp as with style B and style C, there were a few runs featuring two or more sharp turns in a row, with angle of turn 120-150 degrees.

At this point I am not sure if style A (no emphasis on any particular part of the body being used, no emphasis on the body as a whole) or style D (emphasis on the body as a whole as opposed to ankle or leg ) will produce the best results.

Overall the performance with P5 today was far superior to the performance August 15. By the end of the practice I was much better than I was at the beginning of the practice.

Towards the end of the practice there were several impressive runs involving about 7-8 touches on the ball, during which there were more than a couple of touches in a row featuring angles of turn that were at least 120 degrees.

What I achieved today was important as it shows me being near mastery of sharp turns to the left with the left foot and sharp turns to the right with the right foot, despite the difficulty of kicking the ball on every step with alternating left and right feet.

As of now my theory is this: even if performance is impaired during the time segments when I emphasize use of flipping the ankle or use of the leg in imparting momentum to the ball when I kick the ball, nevertheless, time invested in such types of practice, results in improved use of the ankle and leg during when the use of the ankle and leg is not emphasized. Even when there is no special emphasis on the use of the ankle-flip or the leg in terms of imparting momentum to the ball, the ankle and leg are still of course in use to some extent.

The past few weeks I've been so tired by the soccer practices that I've barely had any energy for anything else. Then Aug 14 and August 18 I went back to consuming the 'nutrients cocktail' that I had not consumed for I guess around a year. I found that this nutrients cocktail produced dramatic improvement in my energy level.

The nutrients cocktail consisted of: wheat germ oil + cod liver oil + hemp oil + organic orange juice + carrot/passion/apple juice + brewers yeast + potassium pills + carefully chosen mineral, vitamin A/D, vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin E pills.

August 19, Drill WC06/10-P3.1, Touch ball every step with changes of direction, new drill

L1 means, the first touch of the run with the left foot; R2 means, the second touch of the run, made with the right foot; L3 means, the third touch of the run made with the left foot; R4 means, the fourth touch of the run, made with the right foot; L5 means, the fifth touch of the run, made with the lft foot; and so forth. The run starts with the ball being flipped up with the left foot and kicked with the left foot. The ball is touched on every step. The foot that touches the ball, after touching the ball skips, two little steps in a row. The ball is kept off the ground and close to the body. First time this drill was done (today), there were usually about four to five feet between each touch on the ball.

The August 15 entry describes drill P3. Today I did a new drill, P3.1, which is similar to P3 and described in the graphic in this entry. I did this drill today because it combines 90 degree turns to the left with the left foot, with straight ahead kicks with the right, the result being that the speed is faster when the 90 degree turns are made with the left, compared to what would be the case if turns were made on touches with the right foot also. Looking back on yesterday's practice, I felt that alot of the touches were being made when the speed of the body and ball movement was relatively slow.

Today in 52 minutes I succeeded in executing the P3.1 pattern correctly up to the fifth touch 17 times. The number of touches on these successes ranged from 5 to 9. A 9 touch run involved covering the perimeter of the square completely.

A factor impairing performance was that P3.1 starts with the left foot making the first kick, whereas for a long time the drills I've been doing start with the right foot making the first kick.

When the basketballers came in to the gym, I asked them whether they played by college or pro rules when it comes to the 'travelling' rules. The first guy I asked did not know; he said they don't call traveling in games. The second guy I asked, the senior citizen of the group, did not know that college and pro rules differ with regards to travelling. The third guy, told me they play by college rules and that they are pretty strict about 'travelling'.

I felt almost shocked. To me it is unimaginable that I would be playing basketball several times a week, without knowing exactly how the people in the game called the travelling infraction. Knowing exactly how travelling infractions are called during the game, is a prerequisite for tactical competence, and for (for me) having fun while playing. Individual tactical success in basketball for me and for alot of other players (though they might not know this), comes down to mastering the ability to move around as much as possible without dribbling and without committing the 'travelling' infraction. This requires a certain amount of deep thought and an understanding of how travelling is being called in the games one plays in.

I succumbed to the temptation of dabbling in basketball today. I did some experimentation with moves involving the ball being dribbled once. I found that starting standing still, if I take two steps and jump forwards off the second step, my front foot can land up to 9 feet from the point at which I started the jump. I found that after landing, if I jump forward by moving my rear foot in front of my front foot and lifting the foot that used to be in front but now is behind off the ground, I can release the ball 10 feet in front of the point where my front foot was when I started the movement. The two movements combined comes to a total of 19 feet travelled using just one dribble.

Based on my interrogation of the basketballers yesterday, I concluded that when playing with them and people like them, I would have to play by high school and college rules not pro rules, in order to avoid being called for travelling.

The high school and college rules are more limiting than pro rules, in terms of the number of steps that can be taken, and also in terms of the extent to which mad-scientist type imagination can be exercised for coming up with cunning moves.

Analyzing the high school and college rules, I focused on key points: if I grab the ball with both feet off the ground and land with both feet hitting the ground at the same time, after I land, I can use the front foot as the pivot foot; using the front foot as the pivot foot, I can move the rear foot in front of the pivot foot and lift the rear pivot foot off the ground, so long as I pass/shoot before the pivot foot hits the ground again.

Based upon this understanding of the rules, I came up with four different moves shown in the table in this entry. These moves maximize the distance I can travel using just one dribble of the ball . I wanted to develop tactics that can be mastered and implemented without investment of large amounts of time.

My plan is to get to the point where I can in a game, mentally tell myself to do one of the four moves (left, right, fleft, fright) next time I have the ball, and then with minimal thought involved, execute the move that I have told myself that I will execute (similar to a football quarterback calling a set play and then having his team execute it).

When I tried these moves out today I found that: I can cover long distances quickly; a surprisingly high percentage of the shots taken at the end of the movement forwards off the one dribble, went into the basket.

There are of course variations that can be built upon the basic framework that is explained in the table in this entry. For example looking at the 'left' alternative, after the ball is caught, after the front left foot hits the ground the rear right foot can strike the ground for the first time after the ball has been caught, at a point in front of the left foot; the left foot can then be moved ahead of the right foot so long as the ball is released before the left foot hits the ground again. In this variation, both feet do not simultaneously hit the ground after the ball is caught.

But the pattern that is explained in the table in this entry is the most basic : it allows for either foot to be used as the pivot foot after the ball is caught; it allows for a pause during which developments can be assessed; it allows for a jump shot immediately after the ball is caught.

I found that basketball is like soccer tiring. Dabbling in basketball will significantly reduce my rate of progress in terms of soccer skill. However basketball games played once in a while could be a relatively enjoyable way of building up my level of physical endurance; sometimes people are better able to build their endurance when exercising with others as opposed to exercising alone. Simply having some fun with people (a change of pace compared to solitary soccer drills) could have positive mental effects that result in positive physical effects.

I figure I can just skip the text expatiating on how clever my tactics are compared to tactics employed by persons who spend 100 times more time than I do on basketball .

The graphic in the next entry, illustrates the same moves that are described in text in this entry.

August 21, High School & College Basketball Moves Graphic

The graphic to the left in this entry, shows the moves described using text in the previous entry.

L1, R1, L2, R2 etc., show steps with the feet. L1 means the first step of the move with the left foot, R2 means the second step of the move with the right foot, etc. L2 and R2 together indicate the left and the right feet hit the ground simultaneously. L4, R4 etc. in italics indicate that the ball is released before the foot hits the ground. The solid brown circle shows the basketball in the air after it has been bounced off the ground, at which time it is caught with the hands. The empty black circle shows the basketball being released as a shot or pass.

The first move is titled "Left". The right foot is planted behind and to the right of the ball (R1). The ball is jumped at and grabbed with the hands, while both feet are off the ground. Then both feet simultaneously land on the ground (L2 & R2), with the left foot landing ahead of the right foot. Then using the left foot (L2) as the pivot foot, the right foot is moved forwards and hits the ground (R3). Then the left foot is moved ahead of the right foot (L4), but does not hit the ground before the ball is released.

The second move is titled "Right". The left foot is planted behind and to the left of the ball (L1). The ball is jumped at and grabbed with the hands, while both feet are off the ground. Then both feet simultaneously land on the ground (L2 & R2), with the right foot landing ahead of the left foot. Then using the right foot (R2) as the pivot foot, the left foot is moved forwards and hits the ground (L3). Then the right foot is moved ahead of the left foot (R4), but does not hit the ground before the ball is released.

The third move is titled "Fleft", meaning Fake to left, go right. First the left foot hits the ground behind and to the right of the ball (R1), and the body is moved as if there is about to be a move to the left (dashed line). Then, the left foot is planted behind and to the left of the ball (L2). The ball is jumped at and grabbed with the hands, while both feet are off the ground. Then both feet simultaneously land on the ground (L3 & R3), with the right foot landing ahead of the left foot. Then using the right foot (R3) as the pivot foot, the left foot is moved forwards and hits the ground (L4). Then the rightfoot is moved ahead of the left foot (R5), but does not hit the ground before the ball is released.

The fourth move is titled "Fright", meaning Fake to right, go left. First the left foot hits the ground behind and to the left of the ball (L1), and the body is moved as if there is about to be a move to the right (dashed line). Then, the right foot is planted behind and to the right of the ball (R2). The ball is jumped at and grabbed with the hands, while both feet are off the ground. Then both feet simultaneously land on the ground (R3 & L3), with the left foot landing ahead of the right foot. Then using the left foot (L3) as the pivot foot, the right foot is moved forwards and hits the ground (R4). Then the left foot is moved ahead of the right foot (L5), but does not hit the ground before the ball is released.

One aspect of these moves that stands out, is the faking left going right, and vice versa, done without the ball even being touched. This compared to what is usually taught and practiced, which combines touching the ball with faking left and right. I suspect that my soccer background is significant with regards to this kind of fakery.

August 22, Drill WC06/10-P3.2, Touch ball every step with 90 degree turn to right on right footed touches, new drill

R1 means, the first touch of the run with the right foot; L2 means, the second touch of the run, made with the left foot; R3 means, the third touch of the run made with the right foot; L4 means, the fourth touch of the run, made with the left foot; R5 means, the fifth touch of the run, made with the right foot; and so forth. The run starts with the ball being flipped up with the left foot and kicked with the right foot. The ball is touched on every step. The foot that touches the ball, after touching the ball skips, two little steps in a row. The ball is kept off the ground and close to the body. First time this drill was done (today), there were usually about four to five feet between each touch on the ball.

The August 19 entry describes drill P3.1; . Today I did a new drill, P3.2, which is similar to P3.1 and described in the graphic in this entry. This drill combines 90 degree turns to the right with the right foot, with straight ahead kicks with the left, the result being that the speed is faster when the 90 degree turns are made with the right, compared to what would be the case if turns were made on touches with the left foot also.

Today in 68 minutes I succeeded in executing the P3.2 pattern correctly up to at least the fifth touch 40 times, 0.59 times per minute. The number of touches on these successes ranged from 5 to 11, the average was 7.15 touches per successful run. A 9 touch run involved covering the perimeter of the square completely. Once the perimeter was covered completely I just kept going trying to get as far as possible covering the perimeter a second time. The runs came to an end when the ball hit the ground.

The first 42 minutes, there were 0.38 successes per minute, success being defined as the pattern properly adhered to and the ball kept off the ground for at least five touches; the average number of touches on the ball per successful run was 6.4. The last 26 minutes, there were 0.92 successes per minute; the average number of touches on the ball per successful run was 7.75. Obviously after the first 42 minutes the performance improved dramatically.

During the practice I noted that: the ball has to go higher on the turns; a ball apex height of about mid-thigh level works well; it is difficult to kick the ball to an apex height that is higher on the touches involving turns and lower on the touches not involving turns-- it is easier to kick the ball to approx the same apex height on each touch. Once or twice there were successful runs during which I did not skip after kicking the ball I counted these as successes anyway.

I noted that on most of these skill drills (including P3.2 done today), I have not mastered the skill involved, but at the same time the skill level is not hopelessly incompetent. This feels somewhat like the worst situation possible in a sense. If the skill involved were mastered, I could relax. If the situation was hopelessly incompetent, I could give up on the given skill. But no, I am sort of stuck between heaven and earth.

Thursday August 19, I did P3.1, which is the same as P3.2, except with left and right feet and directions reversed. When I did P3.1, there were 0.33 successful runs (on pattern, at least 5 touches) per minute, and the number of touches per successful run (at least five touches with the ball not touching the ground and footwork pattern adhered to) was 6.1. Thus I was better today doing P3.2 involving turns to the right with the right foot, than I was August 19 doing P3.1 involving turns to the left with the left foot, despite the fact that I am left-footed, and despite the fact that recently I've been emphasing practicing turns to the left with the left foot whereas before that I was emphasizing turns to the right with the right foot.

Today was an important practice in that I showed that despite being left-footed, I am on the verge of mastering the 90 degree turns to the right with the right foot, at least when using the skipping style of movement. When the 90 degree turns to the right with the right foot, and the 90 degree turns to the left with the left foot are mastered, all that remains are the 180 degree turns, which I've found are, surprisingly, not as difficult as the 90 degree turns. Then when the 180 degree turns are mastered I will be at a best-in-the-world level skill wise, and the only thing left will be improving my level of physical endurance (I suspect this improvement can in large measure easily be accomplished simply by losing weight).

At 8:36 AM, I stopped keeping score because the basketball players entered the gym and were about to start their games; after 4 minutes of unscored practice at 8:40 I ended the practice.

Remembering Sunday of a week ago, there was one thing I forgot to mention. When I went outside into the parking lot after the basketballers took over the gym, at one point the ball got away from me and bounced and rolled towards some scary looking bushes. I sprinted after the ball to recover it. After chasing down the ball, I noticed that my sprinting speed in terms of acceleration at the beginning of the sprint, and the strength of the muscles involved in this, is better than it has ever been, better than it was during the years when supposedly I was physically in the prime of my life. I attribute this to the plyometrics-like effect of the ball control drills I have been doing. Plyometric drills are a known method for improving sprinting speed; what plyometrics and the ball control drills I have been doing have in common is muscles being used in many different ways (this I suspect is related to how exercise with free weights builds up muscle size more than exercise using machines because with free weights every repetition is slightly different).

According to the official schedule, the gym was supposed to remain open until 9:00 AM, at which point the basketball was supposed to start. But like last week, the basketball players started early, cutting into my practice time. It's no big deal to me personally, I was the only person using the gym before they started to use it; however, the problem is that if the schedule is not adhered to, persons who use the Y cannot count on the gym being available for their use at the time when it is supposed to be available for their use.

I felt like doing nothing but the soccer skill drills as exercise, was in a sense screwing me up with regards to things like: how I felt physically and mentally when not exercising; sleep pattern; sleep quality. The soccer skill drills are stressful, and involve high levels of mental and physical precision, yet they do not provide the relaxation effects produced by other workouts. Thus I resolved on doing swimming jogging or weightlifting. It had seemed to me in the past that of these swimming provided the most physical and mental benefits. So I vetoed my fear of the chlorine they use to treat the swimming pool water and went swimming. I estimate that, whatever negative health effect is caused by what they use to purify the swimming pool water, can be significantly reduced simply by reducing the number of hours per week spent in the swimming pool.

In the locker room before swimming, the waistcord on my racing swimming suit, came out of the swimsuit. I used another bulkier swimsuit. They no longer provide or demand swimming caps in the swimming pool. My hair thus ended up getting in my eyes.

While swimming, I alternated between 25 yards freestyle crawl, and 25 yards breaststroke. I found that with the crawl, it took 7 cycles of breathing every three armstrokes, to complete the 25 yards, after pushing off the side of the pool and and gliding under water at the start. In the breaststroke, I needed 8 breastroke armstrokes to complete the 25 yards after pushing off the side and gliding underwater at the start.

There have been heavy rains nonstop where I live, from the time I went swimming Sunday evening, until today Wednesday morning as I write this; such rainfall around here is rare.

Monday morning I felt much improved spiritually. Monday and Tuesday I dealt with problems I'd been procrastinating such as: electric company bill & bank account problems; buying a needed watch; haircut (I had to deal with the goofy way my hair was looking in the pool); fixing the racing swimsuit the waistcord had gotten separated from. I attribute these improvements to the effect of the swimming.

I discovered an easy and simple way of producing an excellent haircut: wet a comb; comb the hair forwards down past the eyes; cut the hair in an arc extending from the middle of the ear to the corner of the eyebrow to the middle of the forehead. This is very simple yet it produces a classic looking hairstyles, one of the most attractive hairstyles.

The waistcord problem was solved by: using a bamboo skewer, blunt end forward; bending the front of the waistcord around the front of the bamboo skewer; taping the waistcord to the bamboo skewer with electric tape; pushing the bamboo skewer through the tube in the cloth of the swimsuit that contains the cord. I estimate I saved myself $30 through this repair.

Drill WC06/10-P3.1, Touch ball every step with changes of direction, new drill

L1 means, the first touch of the run with the left foot; R2 means, the second touch of the run, made with the right foot; L3 means, the third touch of the run made with the left foot; R4 means, the fourth touch of the run, made with the right foot; L5 means, the fifth touch of the run, made with the lft foot; and so forth. The run starts with the ball being flipped up with the left foot and kicked with the left foot. The ball is touched on every step. The foot that touches the ball, after touching the ball skips, two little steps in a row. The ball is kept off the ground and close to the body. First time this drill was done (today), there were usually about four to five feet between each touch on the ball.

I started doing some experiments re basketball dribbling from 740 PM to 832 PM. Starting 832 PM I did drill P3.1; last time I did P3.1 was five days ago, Thursday August 19. P3.1 is described in the Aug 19 entry and in the graphic this entry.

Thursday August 19, in 52 minutes I succeeded in executing the P3.1 pattern correctly up to at least the fifth touch 17 times, 0.33 times per minute. The number of touches on these successes ranged from 5 to 9. The average number of touches per run with at least five touches, was 6.1. A 9 touch run involved covering the perimeter of the square completely.

Today August 24, in 69 minutes not counting a 1 minute break, I succeeded in executing the P3.1 pattern correctly up to at least the fifth touch 60 times, 0.88 times per minute. The number of touches on these successes ranged from 5 to 11. The average number of touches per run with at least five touches, was 7.0. A run came to an end when the ball hit the ground.

Today there were runs that were low and fast, medium high and fast, and high and fast. By low I mean the apex of the ball was generally at below thigh height during the run. By medium I mean, the apex of the ball was generally at thigh height during the run. By high I mean the apex of the ball during the run was generally above thigh height. There were extra long runs, featuring more than 5 feet covered per touch. Some of the runs involved ball apex heights that were sometimes low, sometimes medium, and sometimes high. A common pattern which seems to combine speed with a high level of ball control, involved ball apex heights starting low and getting higher and higher with each touch.

The best runs were spectacular in that: the square shaped pattern was closely adhered to for many touches; the ball was kept close to the feet, the speed level was high; and the distances covered per touch was at least six feet.

Obviously the performance was much better today compared to Aug 19, meaning that the 52 mins spent on P3.1 Aug 19, plus the 68 minutes spent on P3.2 August 22, put together, just 120 minutes, with the P3.2 done Aug 22 being the right-footed-on-turns opposite of the left-footed-on-turns P3.1, quickly produced this dramatic improvement. Apparently a major factor in the improvement today was that somehow, the practicing the turns with the right foot via drill P3.2 on Aug 22, improved performance for drill P3.1 featuring turns with the left foot. Apparently, practicing turns with the right foot as done during P3.2 on Aug 22, improves the straight-ahead movement with the right foot; and, practicing straight-ahead movements with the left foot, improves performance on turns made with the left foot.

Today's performance makes the overall outlook for the future look very bright. There was huge improvement on 90 degree turns to the left with the left foot. There has been huge improvement on 90 degree turns to the right with the right foot. This has been done with the ball touched on every step, requiring an especially fast level of reflexes. These new skills will improve performance on turns made to the left with the left and to the right with the right when speeds at turn time are higher and distance between touches on ball is greater. The turns to the right using the left foot to strike the ball, and to the left using the right foot, are relatively easy. Once such turn skills are mastered, all that remains skill-wise, is the 180 degree turns, which I've found surprisingly are when both types of turns have been practiced for equal amounts of time, (naturally) easier than 90 degree turns.

At the beginning of the practice, on the side of the gym I was practicing in, a tall heavy gray haired bespectacled man and what appeared to be his two teenage children, a boy and a girl, were sharing my half of the gym with me. I think the man said I was "built". True I was feeling 'built' like a deity, but I was also felt tired like a mortal man. During the second half of the practice today in my side of the gym, there was an East Asian woman and what appeared to be her teenage daughter, who was practicing serving the volleyball at the curtain. The mother towards the end of the practice was talking into a cell phone.

August 25, High School & College Basketball Moves Graphic

The graphic to the left in this entry, shows moves I researched yesterday during approx 40 minutes of experimenting with basketball. The content of this entry is similar to the content of the August 21 entry on basketball.

L1, R1, L2, R2 etc., show steps with the feet. L1 means the step of the move with the left foot immediately before the ball is caught, R2 means the stepa after L1 with the right foot, etc. L2 and R2 together indicate the left and the right feet hit the ground simultaneously. L4, R4 etc. in italics indicate that the ball is released before the foot hits the ground. The solid brown circle shows the basketball at various stages in the dribbling process. The empty black circle shows the basketball being released as a shot or pass.

The first move in the graphic is titled "Left". It shows the same "left" pattern described in the Aug 21 basketball entry, but run in a straight line straight ahead. from R1 on the footwork notes match up with the "Left" move described in the Aug 21 entry. The graphic in today's entry shows the right pivot foot (R0) and a step taken with the left (L0.5) before R1 the step immediately before the ball is caught after it bounces up off the floor after being dribbled with the usual left hand. At R1, the right foot is planted behind the ball (R1). The ball is jumped at and grabbed with the hands, while both feet are off the ground. Then both feet simultaneously land on the ground (L2 & R2), with the left foot landing ahead of the right foot. Then using the left foot (L2) as the pivot foot, the right foot is moved forwards and hits the ground (R3). Then the left foot is moved ahead of the right foot (L4), but does not hit the ground before the ball is released. The approx total maximum distance I can cover doing 'Left' from R0 to ball release point, on Aug 24 I found to be 25 feet on only one dribble.

The second move in the graphic is titled "Right". It shows the same "Right" pattern described in the Aug 21 basketball entry, but run in a straight line straight ahead. from L1 on the footwork notes match up with the "Right" move described in the Aug 21 entry. The graphic in today's entry shows the left pivot foot (L0) and a step taken with the right (R 0.5) before L1. At L1, the left foot is planted behind the ball (L1). The ball is jumped at and grabbed with the hands (after bouncing off the floor after being dribbled with the usual left hand), while both feet are off the ground. Then both feet simultaneously land on the ground (L2 & R2), with the right foot landing ahead of the left foot. Then using the right foot (R2) as the pivot foot, the left foot is moved forwards and hits the ground (L3). Then the right foot is moved ahead of the left foot (R4), but does not hit the ground before the ball is released. The approx total maximum distance I can cover doing 'Right' from L0 to ball release point, on Aug 24 I found to be 27 feet on only one dribble.

So far the moves I have described in this entry and in the previous entry on basketball the Aug 21 entry, are:' Left' (slant left), 'Right' (slant right), 'Fleft' (fake left slant right), and 'Fright' (fake right slant left). These moves are designed for times when the defender is sagging back and giving the attacker some space. Watching the basketball players at the Y, I saw that so long as you are two feet outside the three point line, the defenders will give you enough space to use these moves. However, there are times when the defenders get right on top of you and give you no space. A different set of moves is required for such times. The last four moves in the graphic in this entry, show such moves.

For me, a left hander, the natural position to get into when a defender is right on top of me, is to use my left foot as the pivot foot, have my right foot in front of and to the left of my left foot, with the ball on the left side of my body and my body in between the defender and the ball. For right handed persons the natural defensive position when closely guarded is the reverse of what I have described for my self. The last four moves in the graphic to the left, show four moves for a left hander like me, when closely guarded with the defender right on top of me. They all start with the left foot as the pivot foot, the right foot in front of the left foot, the ball in my left hand on the left side of my body. These moves are: 'Cleft' (slant left in Closely guarded situation); 'Cright' (slant right in Closely guarded situation); 'Clofleft' (fake left slant right in closely guarded situation); and, 'Clofright' (slant right in closely guarded situation).

The third move in the graphic is titled "Cleft". It shows a slant left pattern for closely guarded conditions. The left foot is the pivot foot (L 0); the ball is bounced off the floor as a step is taken with the right foot (R 0.5); a step is taken with the left foot (L 1); the ball is caught with both feet off the ground (after bouncing off the floor after having been dribbled with the left hand); the left and right feet land on the ground simultaneously (L 2 & R 2); a step is taken with the left foot (L 3); a step is taken with the right foot moved forwards (R 4) but the ball is released before the right foot hits the ground. I found that the maximum distance I can cover from pivot foot point to ball release point with this move is 22 feet forwards movement but longer if the total curve of the line is measured.

The fourth move in the graphic is titled "Cright". It shows a slant right pattern for Closely guarded conditions. The left foot is the pivot foot; the ball using the left hand is THROWN BEHIND THE BACK AND BOUNCED OFF THE FLOOR TO THE RIGHT as a step is taken with the right foot (R 0.5); a step is taken with the left foot (L1); the ball is caught with both feet off the ground; the left and right feet land on the ground simultaneously (L2 & R2) with the right foot in front; a step is taken with the left foot (L3); a step is taken with the right foot moved forwards (R4) but the ball is released before the right foot hits the ground. I found that the maximum distance I can cover from pivot foot point to ball release point with this move is 20 feet forwards movement (but longer if the total curve of the line is measured).

The fifth move in the graphic is titled "CloFleft". It shows a Fake Left slant right pattern for CLOsely guarded conditions. The left foot is the pivot foot (L 0); the ball using the left hand is THROWN BEHIND THE BACK AND BOUNCED OFF THE FLOOR TO THE RIGHT as a step is taken with the right foot--this step is taken TO THE LEFT (R 0.5); THE RIGHT FOOT SWIVELS and a step is taken with the left foot (L1) TO THE RIGHT; the ball is caught with both feet off the ground; the left and right feet land on the ground simultaneously (L2 & R2) with the right foot in front; a step is taken with the left foot (L3); a step is taken with the right foot moved forwards (R4) but the ball is released before the right foot hits the ground. I found that the maximum distance I can cover from pivot foot point to ball release point with move is 20 feet forwards movement (but longer if the total curve of the line is measured).

The sixth move in the graphic is titled "CloFright". It shows a Fake Right slant left pattern for CLOsely guarded conditions. The left foot is the pivot foot (L0); the ball using the left hand is MOVED BEHIND THE BACK AND TRANSFERRED TO THE RIGHT HAND; as a step is taken with the right foot on a slant right direction (R 0.5), the RIGHT HAND BOUNCES THE BALL IN A SLANT LEFT direction; a step is taken with the left foot (L 1); the ball is caught with both feet off the ground; the left and right feet land on the ground simultaneously (L 2 & R 2), with the right in foot in front of the left foot; a step is taken with the left foot (L 3); a step is taken with the right foot moved forwards (R 4) but the ball is released before the right foot hits the ground. I found that the maximum distance I can cover from pivot foot point to ball release point with this move is 22 feet forwards movement but longer if the total curve of the line is measured.

The four moves I have described for closely guarded situations, are what a left hander like me would use. They have to be reversed horizontally speaking for right-handers.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1, Touch ball every step with changes of direction, new drill

P6.1 involves the ball touched on each step, approx a 90 degree turn to the left on touches with the left foot, and approx a 90 degree turn to the right on touches with the right foot. It is like P6 introduced in the Aug 15 entry, except, the second touch of the run involves a turn to the right not to the left; and it starts with a kick with the left foot not the right. It is about as difficult as P6, very difficult.

Note: I define a successful run as being on pattern, with the ball kept off the ground for at least five touches.

First time I did the P6 drill, was on August 15. On that day I concluded that it was very difficult but could be mastered. August 15, I achieved 1 five-touch success in approx 15 minutes. Thus, August 15 the P6 success rate for runs of at least five touches in length and on pattern, ball off ground the whole time, was 0.07 per minute, and the average length of the runs of at least five touches was 5.0.

Today Aug 25 in 110 minutes, I did drill WC06/10-P6.1, graphically described in this entry. It is the same as P6.0, except that the first turn is to the right not to the left (thereafter there is a 90 degree turn on every touch, alternating between left and right, which is also the case with P6.0).

Today during the first 15 minutes of P6.1: there was 1 five-touch success, and 4 six-touch successes. Thus the success ratethe first fifteen minutes, was 0.33 per minute, and the average success involving at least five touches was 5.8. So the first 15 minutes today was much better than the first 15 minutes on Aug 15.

Overall today, the success rate was 0.45 successful runs of at least five touches per minute; the average number of touches for a successful run involving at least five touches today, was 5.7. The max number of touches achieved on successful runs was 8, achieved twice. The quality of the runs improved dramatically 78 minutes after the start of the practice.

Overall today, there were 33 four touch runs, meaning there were 0.3 four touch runs per minute.

So the performance with this very difficult drill, P6.1, was much better than the previous time P6 or P6.1 was done, when its twin P6 was done on Aug 15.

Today I noted that: the best runs involve the ball apex heights at thigh height or waist height; the best runs involve the body crouch and strong use of the body and the leg; emphasizing use of the body and leg on a turning kick sets the body up in the optimal position for the next opposite turn of direction on the next kick; the most common error is the ball kicked too low and not far enough; at first it was impossible to remember what technique was used on the best runs; the best runs today were spectacular, fast, very closely on pattern in terms of the touches on the ball being made at almost the exact spot they were supposed to be made; there were several very fast four touch runs that were almost perfect up to the fourth touch, even though the ball was kicked away on the fourth touch; these four touch runs could in a game in and of themselves, or as part of other dribbles also, be tremendous goal scoring runs.

I felt much less tired today compared to yesterday. I think this is because the dinner eaten approx 20 hours before start of practice, was better today compared to yesterday.

Today the East Asian lady and her daughter were in the gym with me again. The daughter practices serving the volleyball at the curtain while her mother coaches her.

Drill WC06/10-P6, Touch ball every step with changes of direction, new drill

P6 involves the ball touched on each step, approx a 90 degree turn to the left on touches with the left foot, and approx a 90 degree turn to the right on touches with the right foot. The second touch of the run involves a turn to the left with the right foot; the third a turn to the right with the right foot, and etc. P6 is a mirror opposite of P6.1. It is about as difficult as P6.1, very difficult.

Note: I define a successful run as being on pattern in terms of footwork and ball placement, with the ball kept off the ground for at least five touches.

Yesterday Aug 25 in 110 minutes, I did drill WC06/10-P6.1, the mirror image reverse of P6 done today. Yesterday the success rate was 0.45 successful runs of at least five touches per minute; the average number of touches for a successful run involving at least five touches was 5.7.

Today in 66 minutes, I did drill WC06/10-P6. The success rate was 0.52 successful runs of at least five touches per minute; the average number of touches for a successful run involving at least five touches was 6.2.

Thus the numbers today were superior to the numbers yesterday despite the fact that yesterday the best results started 80 minutes after practice started.

However I was more pleased with the performance yesterday. Today the runs that were scored as successes seemed to be a lower quality compared to yesterday; they did not seem to be as fast or as closely on pattern in terms of the ball touches being at the exact spots they were supposed to be at.

Today I noted that the technique on the best runs seemed to involve: emphasis on use of leg, leg stretched out, no ankle flip movement, ball kicked with outside left of front of foot and outside right of front of foot.

Today as usual, the distance between touches was on average approx 4.5 feet. Thus, an average run amongst runs of at least 5 touches today, covered 23 feet in distance. Funny thing is that 23 feet vertically speaking, a 23 foot high ceiling, looks a long way up from the floor. And horizontally speaking, 2 feet outside the basketball 3-point line looks a long way from the basket. But the distances I was travelling today did not look anything like 23 feet. The 90 degree turns every 4.5 feet, result in the end point being much less than 23 feet from the start point. The clumsy feeling that comes from doing something very difficult, produces the feeling that one is not travelling long distances.

Today when the practice started, after I set out the cone markers marking the turn spots, and looked at the cone markers, I felt like one 5-touch success every two minutes would be absolutely impossible, even though this is what the success rate was yesterday.

Today each run started with, rolling the ball back and flipping it up with the left foot, then kicking it with the right foot. I had not used this start for 5 days, thus many of the runs did not get far due to clumsy starts. Similarly previously on August 19, I had not used the roll the back back and flip ball up with left foot, kick ball forward with left foot start for 2 weeks, and that start became clumsy.

Today the weather outside felt comfortable for the first time in weeks. It was weather wise a tremendous day: cool, sunny, and not humid. According to the records, the temp at 530 PM was 78 degrees, the dew point was 58 degrees, the windspeed on average 2 mph, the wind gusts up to 5 mph, the wind direction west, the humidity 51%.

Partly due to the weather, I felt like drinking ale and eating at about 600 PM and that is what I did. I estimate that as a result during practice which started at 833 PM, I felt somewhat sluggish and clumsy.

I should remember that today I never even got to the point 80 minutes after practice starts when the runs began to get impressive yesterday. I should remember that the result of a practice showing dramatic improvement is high expectations for the next practice, result being that one is more easily dissapointed by the performance during practice.

Today for the first time in a long time, at the start of the practice I found I had forgotten something I needed, I had left my gym shorts at home. Lesson learned: do not mark anything off in the checklist of things put in the gym bag before leaving for the gym, unless the thing has actually been placed in the gym bag. I had marked off the shorts in the checklist, but had put them next to the gym bag not in the gym. This delayed the start of practice by about half an hour.

I felt too tired to swim prior to packing up my gym bag to go to the pool, but once I got in the water I did not feel too tired to swim.

I alternated between 50 yards nonstop crawl, and 50 yards nonstop breast, with minimal rests in between. Each 50 yard segment started at the deep end of the pool. I did not do flip turns but did turns with proper underwater form.

The performance was much better than the previous day swimming on Aug 22. My wind power was much improved compared to previous days swimming. For the first time since grade school days, I swam 50 yard segments in both the crawl and the breaststroke nonstop at a speed that was a respectable percentage of maximum speed. This respectable percentage of max speed in the crawl, was not a huge amount slower than the national record holder in my age group speed for the 50 yds freestyle crawl. Previously my problem had been that I could go 25 yards fast but after that I would be winded and the next 25 yards would be very slow.

The crawl was better today than the breastroke. In the crawl I did 50 yard segments using just 14 three-stroke cycles. In the breaststroke, I was up to 24-30 strokes for the 50 yard segment sometimes.

The racing swimsuit provided advantages compared to the boxer style swimsuit worn Aug 22. Mr. Rogers was saying that he did'nt care about the difference between boxer style and the underpant style swimsuit. He 'did'nt give a shit' which is the way he feels about many things. For example he 'does'nt give a shit' about where he ranks in his age group in a given swimming event. However I find, that the racing style swimsuits that look a little like the bottom in a bikini swimsuit, result in the development of a style that works well when fast racing swimsuits are worn. Heavy boxer style swimsuits seem to inhibit the development of such style, and seem to result in the development of style that is appropriate for situations featuring heavy slow swimsuits.

Problem with the racing style swimsuit is that I had to retighten it about seven times in 40 minutes as it kept slipping down my waist.

While I was in the water this tall heavy clean-shaven white man with wavy black hair looked in my direction and said, "that's a swimmer!".

During the swimming practice there was a point at which mentally I had an epiphany. I had a mental thought in my head, which more than the usual thought, had this quality to it such that I felt convinced that the thought expressed a truth. The thought was: The characteristics that I've developed as a result of a systematic pursuit of soccer excellence, are now helping me to achieve swimming excellence, and will in the future be helping me to achieve swimming excellence.

'Nearleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (24 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R1) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my left with my left hand. Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (R2, L2), with the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground.

Keep in mind that I am left-handed though most people and probably you the reader are right-handed, and this is the first time I've practiced basketball in years, today was the first day in my life that I practiced the 'Nearleft' move. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practice the 'Nearleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. It is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 24 feet from the backboard. First I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small black circle between R3 and L4. Shooting from this point approx 9 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways:

'Nearleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 8/20, 40%.

'Nearleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%.

'Nearleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 1/20, 5%. The ball often hit the backboard too high and too hard.

'Nearleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 6/20, 30%. This seemed more natural than shooting with the left hand the previous segment. I used the wrist more than I did the previous segment.

These shots felt like layups but harder than layups. Another point at which the shot can be taken when running the 'Nearleft' pattern, is at the point shown in the graphic by the ball in between R2 and L2, at the free throw line. Shooting the ball quickly off the dribble with minimum delay from this point 15 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways again:

'Nearleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. Generally, The shots that went in were shot using the elbow and had little spin on them.

'Nearleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 0/20, 20%. Though the score was zero, I gradually improved during this practice segment.

'Nearleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. One that went in, involved elbow and little spin; the second involved elbow, wrist, and backspin.

'Nearleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 0/20, 0%. Gradually improved though.

The 15-foot shots taken from the left side of the free throw line were taken quickly with minimized time span between grabbing the ball off the dribble and shooting, thus they were difficult shots.

The right handed shots from the left side of the free throw line did not succeed even once. However while doing them I realized that I had built up the ability to pass with the right hand, which comes in handy at the point at which I was taking the free-throw distance shots today.

'Nearright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (24 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.5) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 1). Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (L2, R2), with the right foot (R2) in front of the left foot (L2). Then using the front right foot (R2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the left foot (L3), step forwards with the right foot (R4) and release the ball before the right foot (R4) hits the ground.

Notes: I am naturally left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'Nearright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. It is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 24 feet from the backboard. First I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start and minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. Shooting from this point approx 8 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways:

'Nearright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'Nearright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 1/20, 5%.

'Nearright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

'Nearright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%.

These first four segments were shot in the hot sun, with the sun shining through the trees, and in my eyes at the point that I released the ball. I did'nt think the sun in the eyes could mess up such a close shot but it did. During the next four segments described, the shade was covering the entire area from the start point to the basket, the sun was no longer in my eyes as I shot the ball.

Another point at which the shot can be taken when running the 'Nearright' pattern, is at the point shown in the graphic by the ball in between R2 and L2, at the free throw line. Shooting the ball quickly off a fast dribble with minimum delay from this point 15 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways again:

'Nearright' RH aim for backboard 15' shots: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'Nearright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

'Nearright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%.

'Nearright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 6/20, 30%.

During the second half of the practice I noted that an attitude that seems to improve performance is: "If I just pay attention mentally, while being energetic physically while shooting, they'll have a problem (meaning, the other team will have a problem, namely, me)".

I noticed that accuracy improves when the ball is released at the point where the body has stopped moving upwards after the jump preceding the shot.

I kept note in the spiral notebook re how the shots that went in were shot. Since returning to basketball Aug 28, I have not been trying consciously to shoot the ball with any one style. Hence what style I have been using in a shot has varied from shot to shot. Seems to me that at this stage this is good as it allows me to settle on the best style choosing from a variety of styles.

Today the 15 foot shots with the right hand, hard for a lefty like me, from 15 feet were in total at 5/40, 12.5%. Yesterday this stat was 0/40, 0%.

I suspect that the smaller skillful players, give up too quickly on becoming ambidextrous in shooting, whereas if they stuck with it, in some cases they could eventually become ambidextrous shooters which would significantly improve their game giving them a skill that compensates for their lack of height, and also turn them into superior passers using the hand they are less comfortable with.

While I was practicing there were black and white young and middle aged men, and a black boy out on the court. The black boy was being coached by his uncle, a black guy with a five o'clock shadow type beard.

I alternated between 50 yards nonstop crawl, and 50 yards nonstop breast, with minimal rests in between. Each 50 yard segment started at the deep end of the pool. I did not do flip turns but did turns with proper underwater form.

Using common-sense I seem to have inherited from the application of my mind to the goal of optimal soccer practice results, I did not try to swim fast as soon as I got in the pool. I swam a few lengths of the pool without undue exertion first. Then I began to pick up the speed to a point at about 80% of maximum effort.

At about 80% of max effort being expended the results in terms of number of strokes required for each 50 yard segment were: segment 1, breaststroke, 21 strokes; seg 2, crawl, 14 three-stroke cycles; seg 3, breaststroke, 20 strokes; seg 4, crawl, 14 three-stroke cycles; seg 5, breaststroke, 20 strokes; seg 6, crawl, 14 three-stroke cycles; seg 7, breaststroke, 16 strokes; seg 8, crawl, 12 three-stroke cycles.

I find that a slow speed and low level of exertion ensues when too many strokes are used over the 50 yards. When the attempt is made to minimize the number of strokes used to travel the 50 yards, the result again is slow speed. For me the best speed per unit energy expended ratio seems to be 20 strokes breaststroke over 50 yards, and 14 three-stroke cycles of crawl every 50 yards (this without diving at the beginning of the 50 yards). When I swim the crawl I swim breathing once every three strokes.

As I've mentioned before, simply knowing how many strokes I will have to use in order to complete the 50 yards, is what allows me to not panic and become demoralized during the 50 yards swim. Knowing the number of strokes required to traverse the distance, combined with counting the strokes while swimming the distance, results in improved morale, calm, allows me to pace myself over the 50 yards.

Aug 27 my swimming performance was much better than it was the first day of return to swimming after layoff of years on Aug 22. Today Aug 29 was much better than Aug 27.

During the swimming practice Aug 27 two days ago, there was a point at which mentally I had an epiphany. I had a mental thought in my head, which more than the usual thought, had this quality to it such that I felt convinced that the thought expressed a truth. The thought was: the characteristics that I've developed as a result of a systematic pursuit of soccer excellence, are now helping me to achieve swimming excellence, and will in the future be helping me to achieve swimming excellence.

Later I was thinking, how have these soccer drills developed characteristics in me that help me with swimming? One thing that stood out, is the no-nonsense commonsensical approach that seeks the best use of time invested. This hard-thinking approach applied to swimming immediately resulted in: not going all out the first few minutes in the water; 50 yard crawl swims and 50 yard breaststroke swims separated by minimal pauses; counting strokes required to traverse 50 yards; and, sometimes minimizing number of strokes required to traverse 50 yards.

As a result of the soccer drills I've gotten used to the psychological tension involved in pursuing the goal of being as good as the best players, and I've gotten practice in the art of applying my mind to the question of how practice time can be optimally spent. The relaxing under psychological tension and the chess-game like application of the mind to actions during practices, are applicable to swimming.

I wanted to find info regarding the number of strokes used by top swimmers, to complete a length of the pool in the 50 yard freestyle and the 50 yard breaststroke. This was hard to do (thus I include the searches that led to the results on the internet). In the first few minutes searching the net, I ran across some guy in a forum saying that none of the coaches teach anything about strokes per length. This I found to be believable, because of the difficulty finding info re strokes per length and distance per stroke. Then the problem was that there were lots of pages yapping about strokes per length and distance per stroke, while at the same time somehow completely ignoring how many strokes per length the top swimmers take to cover a given distance.

Finally via Youtube search: 50+freestyle, I found "NCAA 50 yards Freestyle Record by Cesar Cielo 2007" which shows that Cielo used in the second length of the pool which involved no diving start, 14 strokes. This means Cielo would use 28 strokes not diving in at the start over 50 yards, which comes to 9.3 three-stroke cycles. Cielo is 77 inches tall. If Cielo were my height, he would be using more strokes, about 10.2 three-stroke cycles, to complete 25 yards a turn and another 25 yards without diving in at the beginning.

And, finally via Youtube search: 50+breast-stroke+short, I found "12.12.2009 Istanbul09: Alessandro Terrin e Fabio Scozzoli nella finale dei 50mt Rana " which shows that Hetland used in the second 25 meter length, which involved no diving start, 11 strokes to finish and win a 50 meters breastroke race. This means Hetland would use 20 breast-strokes not diving in at the start over 50 yards.

By way of comparison I am now using 14 three-stroke cycles to cover 50 yards in the freestyle crawl, which is alot more than the 10.2 three-stroke cycles I calculate Cielo would use if he were my height; and I am using 20 breastrokes to cover 50 yards in the breaststroke, which is the same number of breastrokes that Hetland would use.

'NearFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'NearFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (24 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 0.7). Next I step with my right foot (R1), and powering off my right foot, catch the ball after it has bounced, with both feet off the ground (brown ball marker), and then land on both feet simultaneously (R2 & L2). With the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground.

Notes: I am naturally left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'NearFright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the right followed by a cut to the left .

Nearfright is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 24 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between R3 and L4, with fast body movement from the start and minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. Shooting from this point approx 7 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways:

'NearFright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%.

'NearFright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 8/20, 40%.

'NearFright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

'NearFright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%.

Note that the footwork involved in the feinted cut to the right, is the exact same as the footwork involved in the actual cut to the right move, 'Nearright' , which is described in the August 29 entry.

Note that the footwork involved in the cut to the left, is the same as the footwork involved in the actual cut to the left move, 'Nearleft' , which is described in the August 28 entry.

Advantages of the feints in a direction having the same footwork as the actual moves in that direction : the feints are realistic looking; when a feint in a given direction is practiced, this practices the same footwork involved when the movement in that direction is real not feinted; consistency in footwork results in enhanced performance.

Today during the practice I noted that:

The two methods that are working are an emphasis of the elbow combined with little use of the wrist and little backspin on the ball, and, strong use of the wrist, lots of backspin, and little use of the elbow. Hence practice should now involve experimenting with three methods: elbow-force, wrist-force & backspin, and combined force . This will result in improved elbow skill and improved wrist skill. It will result in the superior method being settled on. It will result in the performance enhancement caused by knowing what style one is going to be using and what body part one is going to be emphasizing. It will enhance performance due to every shot eventually being made in the same style.

However procrastinating experimenting with shooting using predetermined styles, allowed the basic natural styles that are working for me these days to come to the fore . This allowed me to competently conceptually label three different styles to be experimented with, without getting bogged down with too many different styles to experiment with, and without getting lost through a style description being too much of a generalization as a result of which too many different types of shots are considered to be examples of the given style.

The shooting percentage today in total on these four types of shots was 30%; two days ago Aug 28 the same percentage was 27.5% .

Drill WC06/10-P6, Touch ball every step with changes of direction, new drill

P6 involves the ball touched on each step, approx a 90 degree turn to the left on touches with the left foot, and approx a 90 degree turn to the right on touches with the right foot. The second touch of the run involves a turn to the left with the right foot; the third a turn to the right with the right foot, and etc. P6 is a mirror opposite of P6.1. It is about as difficult as P6.1, very difficult.

Note: I define a successful run as being on pattern in terms of footwork and ball placement, with the ball kept off the ground for at least five touches.

Today I wanted to continue with P6, because previous soccer practice, I had to stop doing the P6 after 68 minutes, whereas I had calculated that I would not be able to perform at my fullest potential until 80 minutes into the practice.

August 26, in 66 minutes, I did drill WC06/10-P6. The success rate was 0.52 successful runs of at least five touches per minute; the average number of touches for a successful run involving at least five touches was 6.2.

August 30, today, in 122 minutes, I did drill WC06/10-P6 again. The success rate was 0.41 successful runs of at least five touches per minute; the average number of touches for a successful run involving at least five touches was 6.3.

These numbers hide the fact that the performance today was much better than Aug 26. Today I felt tired from the basketball practice described previous entry, after which I did the soccer practice. Today I took more detailed notes than I did Aug 26 because today there were more impressive runs to take notes on. Thus today there were less attempts per hour.

Today the quality of the runs that technically speaking scored as successes of five touches or more, was much better than the quality of the runs that technically speaking scored as successes of five touches or more on August 26. Today the runs were longer, faster, and more accurate in terms of the touches on the ball being made near the exact spots where these touches are supposed to be made according to the pattern prescribed in Drill P6.

Today my expectation was that the 'soccer deity' within, would not manifest himself within me until I had been doing this drill for a long time. At 8:35 PM, 61 minutes after the start of the practice, the 'soccer deity' finally manifested himself within me, for 18 minutes until 8:53 PM 79 minutes after the practice started. During these 18 minutes there were 11 perfect runs, perfect up until the time there was loss of ball control or the ball hit the ground. These runs averaged 6.3 touches each. They tended to be long and fast. The angles were almost exactly 90 degrees on each turn and the ball was touched close to the exact spots the ball is ideally supposed to be touched at during the run. These 'perfect' runs were on average about 23 feet in total length odometer measurement style (as opposed to as the crow flies style). During this time I felt that I had the skill in question mastered.

After the magnificent 18 minutes, there was until the end of practice a decline in performance that lasted until the end of the practice. I attribute this decline to a lack of mental attentiveness. True the fatigue and the getting accustomed to the drill, that set in after the drill has been practiced for at least an hour nonstop, result physically in a state of skilled relaxation. However, if the mental attentiveness declines as a result of the fatigue, the fatigue-and-repetition-induced state of skilled relaxation is not taken advantage of performance-wise.

Today during the practice for the first time, I used a brand new Red & blue Adidas Jabulani 'Glider' ball I bought over the weekend at Modell's. It is a $15 replica of the World Cup 2010 Match Ball. It's paneling is the same as the actual World Cup ball. It's stitching connecting the panels is different compared to the $40 Jabulani replica I've been using up to today. Both the balls I have been using have paneling like the actual match ball. There is a ball widely available that is painted like the Jabulani world cup 2010 match ball, but whose paneling is like the 2006 Match ball, I do not have that ball.

'NearFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'NearFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (24 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 0.7). Next I step with my right foot (R1), and powering off my right foot, catch the ball after it has bounced, with both feet off the ground (brown ball marker), and then land on both feet simultaneously (R2 & L2). With the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground.

Notes: I am naturally left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'NearFright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the right followed by a cut to the left .

Nearfright is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 24 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between R2 and L2, with moderately fast body movement from the start and close to minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it.

Shooting from this point approx 15 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways, putting emphasis on the use of elbow-power during each shot (Similar shots were taken Aug 29 doing the 'Nearright' drill; these shots were taken without any premeditated emphasis on using any part of the body or any particular style. The percentages Aug 29 are listed after the percentages for today in the next four paragraphs.):

'NearFright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. Aug 29: 3/20, 15%.

'NearFright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%. Aug 29: 6/20 30%. Today, 3 out of the last 4 shots out of the 20 taken, went in. The first shot that went in on the seventh attempt, involved the right guide hand touching the ball at the time the left hand took the shot. Then up to shot 17 I tolerated this error. Then prior to shot 17 I mentally commanded myself to shoot one handed, and three out of the next four shots went in.

'NearFright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%. Aug 29: 2/20, 10%.

'NearFright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. Aug 29: 4/20 30%.

Today during the practice I noted that:

What seems to work well is to in my mind mentally rattle off a code for what I am going to do prior to starting the movements that culminate in the shot. Example: RLR Catch Lelbow BB, which means step with right, step with left, step with right, catch ball, shoot ball with left emphasizing use of elbow using backboard. Also mentally concentrating on remembering to pay mental attention and be physically energetic during the shot appears to improve performance.

For every shot that went in, I kept a detailed record in the spiral notebook re how the shot was shot.

I find that the soccer drills result in me sort of crouched like a hunchback following a ball that is moving parallel to the floor, whereas the basketball drills result in my body being perpendicular to the floor, dealing with a ball that is moving perpendicular to the floor. Seems the basketball drills provide a balance to the soccer drills, that results in the soccer drills being more physically tolerable.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1, Touch ball every step with changes of direction, new drill

P6.1 involves the ball touched on each step, approx a 90 degree turn to the left on touches with the left foot, and approx a 90 degree turn to the right on touches with the right foot. It is like P6 introduced in the Aug 15 entry, except, the second touch of the run involves a turn to the right not to the left; and it starts with a kick with the left foot not the right. It is about as difficult as P6, very difficult.

Note: I define a successful run as being on pattern, with the ball kept off the ground for at least five touches.

The last time this drill was done was August 25. On August 25 the last 32 minutes were better than the first 78 minutes. August 25 was a scored practice; yesterday August 30 was a practice during which the 'soccer deity' within materialized within for 18 minutes and it was a scored practice; today was an unscored practice.

I thought maybe the soccer deity would materialize within me after about an hour, meaning me performing as if the very difficult skills involved in this drill had been mastered, but today this did not happen. I suspect the reason the soccer deity did not manifest himself within me after an hour of practice, was that the 'soccer deity' materializes within after about an hour of scored practice, not an hour of unscored practice.

Still, the unscored practice is more relaxing, less mentally stressful, less physically tiring, compared to the scored practice.

Performance overall compared favorably with the better secondhalf of the August 25 practice.

The practice being unscored resulted in a looseness which revealed that: this kind of run can be made with the ball apex being six feet on every kick, when the method utilized is straight legs, a combination of leg, body, and ankle-flip power put into the kick; generally, successful results can be obtained even when power is derived on the kick from a flip of the ankle, even though usually the best runs feature no flip of the ankle being used during the kick.

Towards the end of the practice, as an attempt at adhering to pattern degenerated into something else, I noticed that I as of now have mastered the skill of walking at a normal pace straight forwards, kicking the ball with alternating feet on every touch, without skipping. This without even having practiced this skill of touching the ball on every pace while walking in a straight line and not skipping. Seems this improvement without practice dream came true as a result of the difficult WC10 series drills inspired by the 2010 World CupI've been working on this month.

Previously, after the 2006 Soccer World Cup, I had developed an interest in advancing the ball in a straight line touching it on every pace with alternating left and right feet, while skipping. Then later I became interested in advancing the ball touching it on every pace with alternating left and right feet without skipping. which I found to be very difficult. Yet lo and behold, today this advancing the ball at walking speed touching it on every pace with alternating left and right feet, without skipping, was suddenly easy. It was suddenly easy even though I had not been specifically practicing it. It became suddenly easy, as a side-effect of the drills that I have been doing that were inspired by watching the 2010 World Cup.

The general philosophical point is: sometimes, practicing a very difficult skill (such as turns to the outside on every step), results in astonishing improvement in related skills that are not being practiced. This is important, because it means that wisdom in terms of choosing which drill to practice, based upon an understanding of the positive side-effects (improvement in skills not being practiced) of the various drills, can improve performance more than alot of tiring time consuming sweaty effort. Because all drills are not equal, in terms of performance-enhancing side-effects with regards to skills that are not specifically practiced by the given drill.

Apparently, sometimes practicing the most difficult skills has the side-effect of mastery of less difficult skills that were not the focus of the skillwork being done.

Looking back at earlier pages in this log series I realize now that the entries are often too difficult to understand. This is because: I used to be more inclined to being deliberately secretive re soccer practice drills; I used to pay less attention to being user-friendly, making things easily understandable for the reader; I did not put time and energy into making the log comprehensible to readers other than myself (problem with this is that it is now too difficult to understand sometimes even for me); and, believe it or not, because the dull dreary simple white background black text format, had the psychological effect of rendering me uninterested in being comprehensible, and less competent at the art of making oneself comprehensible.

'NearFleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'NearFleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (24 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.5) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my left with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 1), swiveling on my left foot, I cut to my right and grab the ball after it has bounced up off the floor, with both feet off the ground, while jumping forwards, result being that I land with the right foot in front of the left foot. At this point I can shoot the ball; or, I can step forwards with the left foot (L3), step forwards with the right foot (R4), and shoot the ball before the right foot hits the ground.

Notes: I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'NearFleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the left followed by a cut to the right .

Nearfleft is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 24 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle near R2 and L2, with moderately fast body movement from the start and close to minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it.

Shooting from this point approx 15 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways, putting emphasis on the use of wrist-power during each shot (Similar shots were taken Aug 31 doing the 'NearFright' drill; these shots were taken emphasizing the use of the elbow). The percentages Aug 31 are listed after the percentages for today in the next four paragraphs:

'NearFleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%. Aug 31: 5/20 25%. From the 5th shot on, I kept the balls of my feet on the ground while taking the shot. I realized prior the the 5th shot, that indecision re whether the feet should be on the ground when the ball is shot, would be a source of performance impairment.

'NearFleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%. Aug 31: 3/20, 15%. From the start I resolved to shoot these shots with the feet off the ground, low altitude jumpers. I am left handed, this was right-handed shooting, I felt I needed the power derived from jumping slightly towards the basket during the shots.

'NearFleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%. Aug 31: 4/20 20%. From the start I resolved to keep the balls of the feet on the ground during the shots. I retrospect I felt this was a mistake and that I should have shot these shots as jump-shots.

'NearFleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. Aug 31: 2/20, 10%. From the start I resolved to shoot these shots with the feet off the ground, low altitude jumpers.

As usual the results are reported in the same order as the shots were executed during the practice. This order is changed from day to day.

Whereas August 29 the overall percentage for these 80 shots was 17.5%, today it was 21.25%.

The third segment was left handed, aiming to put the ball through the hoop without using the backboard. The shots were taken with the balls of the feet on the ground. When the balls of the feet are on the ground when the ball is shot, this puts some of the pre-shot momentum into the shot, which can be good for shots off the backboard. However this momentum can be too much for shots that do not use the backboard. The 3rd segment shots which did not use the backboard, were shot with the balls of the feet on the ground, this preserved the pre-shot body momentum, this had to be compensated for, result many of the shots were a little bit short. I was thinking that if I did a jump shot, the combination of pre-shot momentum and jumper movement momentum would provide too much momentum. But later I realized that the jumping movement during the jump shot is in a different direction compared to the pre-shot momentum; the jump shot can be taken at a point in the jump where forward and upwards and sideways momentum is eliminated, result being negation of confusing body movement and improved performance.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1 involves the ball touched on each step, approx a 90 degree turn to the left on touches with the left foot, approx a 90 degree turn to the right on touches with the right foot, and steps taken with a skipping motion. It is like P6 introduced in the Aug 15 entry, except, the second touch of the run involves a turn to the right not to the left; and it starts with a kick with the left foot not the right. It is about as difficult as P6, very difficult. The ball is kept off the ground but close to the body throughout the entire run.

Note: I define a successful run as being on pattern, with the ball kept off the ground for at least five touches.

Today basically I just repeated what I did yesterday in soccer. I felt too tired for a scored practice. I felt that P6.1 had been lagging behind P6 and should be done again.

The very first attempt was a 5-touch success.

There were a few especially good runs from 8:50 to 9:00 approx.

About 20 minutes after the practice I sat down at the chair at the desk and took 8 minutes to write a long note, because I felt I had detected important error within myself:

Note: What I had remembered: crouch + body swivel + bent leg + outside of foot contacts ball = good results. But I persisted in not applying what I'd learned when making the second kick of the run (R2 in graphic). Because I felt this 2nd touch right after takeoff to be unusual, exceptional. But my observations showed no evidence that such is the case that the second touch is exceptional. There was no memory of a different superior technique for R2 that differed from the technique found to be superior for touches on the ball in general in this run. One expects R2 to require less effort and be different. The crouched swiveling bent leg technique is more effective but consumes more energy and is less comfortable than various lazy methods that I've been expecting to work with R2. The idea that R2 is unique, uniquely easy, had been so ingrained in my mind, that for a long time I was foolish with R2.

At 934 PM there was an awesome run of about 12 touches, 37 feet as the crow flies from first touch to last, 48 feet odometer style measurement (the two measurements differ because of the zig-zagging). The run was on-pattern and fast. It involved at least ten turns of approx 90 degrees. All with the ball kept off the ground and touched on every step.

At 9:37 PM, there was a run during which one of the touches kicked the ball in an arc about ten feet high and seven feet wide. When the ball came down at the end of the high ten foot arc I handled it perfectly and continued the run for about four more touches in perfect style, the ball being touched on every step, with turns to the outside of approx 90 degrees on every step. I felt this display of skill to be significant.

At 9:43 PM, there was a very fast, long lighting-bolt-like four touch run, meaning that R4 was the last touch of the run; on R4 the ball was kicked straight ahead into the curtain. The straight-line distance from L1 to R4 during this run was 24 feet. The run was tremendous, tightly controlled, with every turn a 90 degree turn, even though only 4 touches. I could see how this kind of run featuring only four touches yet long fast and tightly controlled, could produce spectacular results during a game. After all, in top level pro soccer, few goals that are scored involve the scoring player touching the ball more than twice immediately before shooting the ball.

At first I did not notice this, but the 24 feet recorded from L1 to R4 for the 9:43 PM run, is shocking. L1 to R2 is straight ahead; R2 to L3 is sideways; L3 to R4 is straight ahead. In my memory of the 943 PM run, the angle to the right at R2 was not very different from 90 degrees. It is very difficult and unusual that the distance between L1 and R2 should be more than 6 feet for a run of more than three touches. Thus, the implication is that the distance between L3 and R4 on the 943 PM run was incredible, around 11 feet. If I moved forwards 6 feet from L1 to R2, which is a long distance for this segment, that's 6 feet. If I moved sideways 6 feet between R2 and L3, and also moved forwards 6 feet between R2 and L3, meaning a 45 degree turn to the right was made on R2 (as I recall the turn was closer to 90 degrees), the distance forwards between R2 and L3 would have been 6 feet. This would mean that I lept 11 feet between L3 and R4, a momentous achievement.

For approx a year during approx 2009, I did not practice soccer and instead went on six-mile run/walks alternating between a mile run and a mile walked while wearing various levels of various weights. Towards the end of this period I realized that I had lost an amazing ability I had developed before I started the run-walks. This amazing ability was the ability to travel around 12 feet between step A and step B, using just a couple of small low velocity steps before step A to generate momentum. This stepping ability apparently had declined from 12 feet to approx 8 feet due to changing from soccer juggle type drills to jogging type exercise. I first noticed that I had developed this ability towards the end of a phase when I was doing drill involving touching the ball on every step without skipping. I believe that touch the ball on every step drills were the force that first generated this long-stepping ability within me.

At the end I experimented with using ankle-flip-power on the second touch of the run. Seems that ankle-flip-power can be effective but is inaccurate and inconsistent.

'NearFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'NearFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (24 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 0.7). Next I step with my right foot (R1), and powering off my right foot, catch the ball after it has bounced, with both feet off the ground (brown ball marker), and then land on both feet simultaneously (R2 & L2). With the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground.

Notes: I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'NearFright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the right followed by a cut to the left. By accident I repeated the practice done on August 30, because I forgot that I had done what I did today on August 30. However, today I emphasized the use of the elbow during the shots, whereas August 31 I was not emphasizing the use of any particular part of the body.

Nearfright is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 24 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between R3 and L4, with fast body movement from the start and minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. Today the shots ended up being 4 feet from the basket. Previously on August 30, these same shots, with the starting point prior to the dribble being 24 feet from the basket as was the case today, ended up being taken 7 feet from the basket. What has happened is that as a result of the practicing basketball, I am now traveling a longer distance on the one dribble, even though the footwork has remained unchanged. One subtle result of this development, is that though I am now shooting from a point closer to the basket, I am moving towards the basket at a faster speed when the ball is released, which adds difficulty to the shot.

Shooting from approx 4 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways. The next paragraphs give the results today and also yesterday for the last time similar shots were taken, August 30:

'NearFright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%. August 30: 7/20, 35%.

'NearFright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. August 30: 8/20, 40%.

'NearFright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 6/20, 30%. August 30: 4/20, 20%.

'NearFright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%. August 30: 5/20, 25%.

Thus the overall percentage today was 31.25%, whereas the previous time similar shots were taken, August 30, the overall percentage was 30%, this despite the fact that today I was emphasizing use of the elbow during the shots.

My percentage today shooting right handed aiming to score without using the backboard, was better than my percentage shooting left handed avoiding the backboard, even though I am left-handed. I felt like there was too much power in my arm and my body imparting too much momentum to the ball on the left handed shots. This kind of left-handed shot off the right foot after driving towards the basket is a shot I've been used to since I was a child; being accustomed to this kind of shot, combined with the increase in strength due to the basketball practices, seems to have resulted in too much force being put into the ball, which I tried somewhat unsuccesfully to compensate for.

The emphasis on the use of a given body part, puts me at a disadvantage compared to not emphasizing any body part, because the emphasis on the use of a body part, in today's case the elbow, distracts my attention from the basic point which is putting the ball into the basket.

Today I felt I had an important insight: In my mind I associate mentally concentrating on the task at hand with stress and tension, as a result I sometimes do not concentrate mentally when shooting; however, in reality simple mental concentration does not have to be a cause of stress and tension.

Today was an example of the temperature being below 80 degrees fahrenheit, yet at the same time being uncomfortable due to humidity.

I was planning on practicing soccer in the gym, but the teenage male basketball players were using the gym for a full court game. So I went swimming. Maybe it was fortunate that I had to go swimming. I've done nothing but skill-work since August 29 four days ago. I was beginning to feel that I needed to do some nonstop long distance swimming for the sake of my mental and physical health.

Realizing I only had about 45 minutes to swim, I decided to do a long distance nonstop swim as I felt such is what I needed in order to feel better. I swam nonstop for 1200 yards wearing my racing swimsuit, alternating between first 50 yards breaststroke and then 50 yards crawl, without doing flip turns at the end of each 25 yard length of the pool. I completed the 1200 yards in 37:45 seconds. I estimate that my effort level was about two-thirds of max.

I used to when walking and/or jogging follow this course that covers Main and Moody Sts. Recently I remeasured the distances marking off each mile on this course. Following the new measurements, which produce a jogwalk a little longer than the previous jogwalk, I did the jogwalk of six miles this evening.

9:40 PM I left home. I followed the course from home to Gordon's Liquors on Main St., from Gordon's to Main & Moody, from Main & Moody up to the Area around Franco's Pizza on Moody, from there back down to Main & Moody and back to Gordon's Liquors, and repeat, alternating between jogging and running a mile for six miles. I finished the six miles at 11:47 PM. By mistake one of the miles was about a quarter of a mile too short. I spent about 12 minutes in breaks during the run, for instance I had to stop at Dunkin Donuts for a few minutes because the rain was falling really hard. So I estimate the correct time for the six miles this evening not counting breaks to be 120 minutes. Half the distance approx, was in the rain with soaked clothes and socks and shoes, which are heavier to run in than dry clothes and socks and shoes. And there was the speed impairment caused by the up and down hilly nature of the course.

During the third mile as I crossed a street on Moody, a guy turned left on to the street I crossed after I crossed it, and while turning stared at me and shouted some angry-sounding words. I could not understand what he was shouting. He was in a pick-up truck, had pale white vampy looking skin, and an oversized black mustache.

During the sixth mile, which was a walked mile, as I was walking down Moody St towards Main St on the opposite side of the road from this bar called 'the Gaff', around 11:35 PM this tall white woman with short straight reddish hair, wearing a white dress, who was standing next to 'the Gaff' shouted something in my direction. I could not understand what she was shouting. If I had understood, I might have stopped to respond.

(this is not intended to depress ladies who have developed emotions re me in the past--sometimes a guy being monogamous can cause depression in society; I estimate that the guilt of divorce that Christ condemned is something one is innocent of if one does not kick out one's earlier wife when one meets a new wife).

The other place I remember from this evening's run is the bar with the Irish name, o ya now I remember it's called 'the Skellig', because it had a cop in the doorway and some people hanging out in front of it the whole evening.

Next time I jogwalk this route, I'll remember to loosen my earplugs or not wear them or wear them only in one ear so I can understand people when they shout and talk.

Seems that by jogging up and down roads where there are bars, you can sort of feel the way people feel when they travel to some lovely island paradise to drink at bars. Because the runner's high endorphin type opium like chemicals unleashed in your body, combine with the festive atmosphere of the people at the bars. Similarly drinking beer with people you like or love and enjoy, is different from drinking beer alone.

Seems like guys, so long as they are reasonably good looking in their bodies and their faces, would have more success with women if instead of sitting in a bar drinking, they just walked and jogged the roads on which the bars are, wearing well-chosen shorts and shirts (a headband might be a good idea as it allows observers to discern the natural shape of your head).

After the run, for the first time in a long time I felt like singing and did a reasonably good job of singing some Bhakti-movement 'bhajans' in the DV Paluskar style. Seems I am not musical if I do not do long distance aerobic type exercise.

I suspect that my emotional well-being and mental performance will improve if I do some weightlifting.Recently there has been new news re the health benefits of weightlifting and weightlifting's beneficial impact on the hormonal and emotional state. I'm increasingly a believer in the advantages of an approach involving lots of different drills and exercises as opposed to the same thing over and over again. Seems like with any given drill or exercise at first the rate of improvement is fast and then it slows down. Thus it makes sense that lots of different things should be done because then the overall rate of improvement will be greater. Improvement in a drill or exercise can have the side-effect of causing improvement in some other drill or exercise. Weightlifting adds diversity to the overall exercise plan. For all these reasons I decided to return to doing some weightlifting again.

From December 11 2007 to March 2 2008 I had developed an interest in studying and practicing weightlifting; the log entries for this time period feature workout reports and essays analyzing the general consensus re improving athletic performance through weightlifting. The January 11 page of the log shows the routine I developed for the lower body. The January 17 entry shows the routine I developed for the upper body. The method I applied was to simply do an exercise at 33% of maximum and 67% of maximum (maximum weight at which I can do the given exercise), count how many repetitions I could do without stopping for more than second, and make a game of seeing how I improved in terms of number of repetitions. On any given day for any exercise I would not do more than one such maximum number of repetitions set at 33% and one such maximum number of repetitions set at 67%.

Studying the information on methods for improving performance in sprints and jumps, I had concluded that maximizing repetitions at 33% of max and 67% of max would be a wise approach for building up the lower body for improvement in sprints and jumps.

The routine for the upper body incorporated the principles applied in the lower body routine, so in it likewise I work on maximizing repetitions at 33% and 67% of the maximum weight I can do for a given exercise. The exercises I chose for the upper body routine, were designed to build up my body in the areas in which it fell short of "The Grecian Ideal".

Both the upper body and the lower body routines utilize free-weights and also machine-weights.

The level of improvement looking at the most recent day on which I did the exercise compared to the previous day on which I did the exercise, was enormous relative to the amount of time I spent on any given exercise.

On average: I did an exercise just once every 18 days. until it had been done three times; the rate of improvement in terms of number of repetitions I could do with an exercise, compared to the previous time I did the exercise, was 58%. By "Doing the exercise" in this context I mean, one set of as many repetitions as possible at 33% of maximum and one set at 67% of maximum.

I did 11 different lower body exercises, 8 machine-weights upper body exercises, and 25 different free-weights upper body exercises.

From January 8 to March 2, I consumed the 'Nutrients Cocktail' (described in February 7 2008 entry of log), 33 times. I found that if I consumed the cocktail before a workout my performance would be about 15% better compared to if I did not consume it before a workout.

I attribute my enormous rate of improvement while doing the weightlifting to a combination of: nutrients cocktail, the wide variety of exercises done, the competitive spirit of attempting to exceed one's previous personal best each time one does the exercise.

'Farleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Farleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R 0.3) as I dribble the ball to my left, step with my left foot (L 0.7), step with my right foot (R 1), catch the ball as it rebounds off the ball (brown circle) with both feet off the ground; then I land with the left foot ahead of the right foot (R 2 and L 2). At this point I can take a shot (white circle), or I can continue by: stepping with my right foot (R 3), stepping with my left foot (L 4), and shooting the ball before the left foot hits the ground (lower white circle).

I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practice the 'Farleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move is just like 'Nearleft' described in the August 28 entry, except that there are two additional steps before R1 which is the step prior to catching the ball; and the move starts with the pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard not 24 feet from the backboard. 'Farleft' is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the white circle near R3 and L4, while moving towards the basket at a fast speed. Shooting from this point approx 12 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways, always emphasizing the use of the elbow during the shot:

'Farleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. It was significantly darker than daytime from the start.

'Farleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 6/20, 30%. This felt more natural than the previous segment even though I am left-handed. Whereas the previous segment was like me avoiding use of the wrist to emphasize the elbow, this segment was like emphasizing the use of the elbow without avoiding the use of the wrist. The style of the shots was much more classic than the style in the previous segment. By the end of this segment it was like night-time, too dark to read.

'Farleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

'Farleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

Thus overall, the percentage this evening was 14/80, 17.5%. This percentage is difficult to compare with the previous scores for the Nearleft, Nearright, Nearfleft, Nearfright series. These 12' shots were not set shots or jump shots like the long distance 15' shots in the previous series, though they were from about the same distance. These shots featured the body moving towards the basket at a high rate of speed with the left foot in the air in front of the right foot. The close-in shots from the previous series were similar in terms footwork and movement towards the basket, but they were shot from around 7 feet not 12 feet like today.

There were many shots today, that were well-shot but did not go in.

The 12' shots today were taken from a spot about 18 feet from where the left foot was planted 30' feet from the backboard at the beginning of the dribble and shot move. 18 feet on one dribble imagine that.

The first segment shooting with the left hand, I was able to suppress wrist involvement while emphasizing elbow involvement, because I am left handed. The second segment shooting with the right hand, I was able to emphasize elbow involvement but I was not able to suppress wrist involvement, because of a certain level of lack of control with the right hand. The end result was the right hand shooting much better than the left hand. Shooting with the right-hand was more natural and more elegant compared to shooting with the left hand, due to the footwork and body work involved (the footwork and body-work were the same for both hands).

There is something relaxing about shooting in the dark. I guess that when shooting in the dark, one does not expect oneself to shoot at a high percentage and this is relaxing.

This evening I did not bother with noting down how every shot that went in was shot style and technique-wise. The 80 shots were finished in 54 minutes. When detailed notes are taken re the technique used for the successful shots, it has been taking about 80 minutes to shoot the 80 shots.

The big surprise this evening, was that with the 'Nearfright' drill done previously, I started 24 feet from the basket and released the ball approx 19 feet closer to the basket; with the 'Farleft'drill done this evening, I started 30 feet from the basket and released the ball approx 18 feet closer to the basket. Since there were two extra steps in the first part of 'Farleft' that were not in 'Nearfright', one would expect 'Farleft' to cover more ground. Apparently what happened is that in reality for some reason, 'Farleft' covered about as much ground on the first leg to the first long distance shot point, as 'Nearfright' the drill done previously did, despite 'Farleft' having two more steps in it at the beginning segment. We shall see how this plays out. I think part of the reason for this was that I was deliberately trying not to get too close to the basket on the first leg of the 'Farleft' run, because I felt like shooting from further out than I've been shooting recently.

'Farleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Farleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R 0.3), step with my left foot (L 0.7) as I dribble the ball with my left hand (ball is released before left foot hits ground), step with my right foot (R 1), catch the ball as it rebounds off the ground (brown circle) with both feet off the ground; then I land with the left foot ahead of the right foot (R 2 and L 2). At this point I can take a shot (white circle), or I can continue by: stepping with my right foot (R 3), stepping with my left foot (L 4), and shooting the ball before the left foot hits the ground (lower white circle).

I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practice the 'Farleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move is just like 'Nearleft' described in the August 28 entry, except that there are two additional steps before R1 which is the step prior to catching the ball. 'Farleft' is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard this evening. I shot the ball from a point near R2 & L2 in the diagram, college distance 3-point shots. Shooting from this point approx 21 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in 3 different ways, always emphasizing the use of the elbow during the shot:

'Farleft' LH aim for ring from 21': Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%. Though these shots were taken with little use of the wrist and strong use of the elbow, the balls generally had plenty of backspin on them.

'Farleft' RH aim for ring from 21': Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. These shots involved use of both the elbow and the wrist, and plenty of backspin on the balls. I am not able to generate the force required to shoot the ball with my right hand, without using wrist-power.

'Farleft' LH aim for backboard from 21': Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 1/8, 12.5%.

The distance travelled towards the basket today from the pivot foot spot to the long-distance shot spot (L2 & R2 in graphic), was 15 feet. Yesterday, this distance was only 9 feet. This distance was increased by changing the way I take the one dribble of the move. With the 'Nearleft' move, the dribbled ball is released before the right foot hits the ground on the first step forwards of the move. If this method is repeated with 'Farleft', the result is that the two additional steps found in 'Farleft' not found in 'Nearleft', are compressed into little stutter steps executed before the ball is caught after the dribble, the result being that the distance covered to the pause at L2/R2 is approximately the same for 'Farleft' and 'Nearleft. Today I changed over to releasing the ball for the dribble, at the same time that I took the first step forwards with the left foot (L 0.7 in graphic). This is not travelling so long as the ball is released before the left foot hits the ground. This allowed me to take longer steps so that the two steps that are in 'Farleft' that are not in 'Nearleft' produced added distance between start point and L2/R2 pause point.

Thus I project that the total distance potentially that can be covered with 'Farleft' from pivot foot to the second shot point in the move, is at lest 25 feet--a very long way to go on just one dribble.

During the shooting today, there was improvement between the first shots of a segment and the last shots of the segment. There were plenty of missed shots that were well shot. Today was the first time I shot three point distance shots in at least a year.

This white brown haired boy about 14 years old was watching me do the shots today. He said, 'that takes coordination'! My opinion is that what I am doing does not take much coordination, but does require premeditated attention to footwork. Americans IMHO have a tendency to neglect analytical attention to footwork. Then they attribute impressive performances that are the result of analytical attention to footwork to 'natural coordination', 'talent', etc. For a long time I used to falsely think I could never equal the performance of top athletes such as soccer players, in part because I was infected by the American tendency to attribute such performance to mystical natural talent and genius.

'Farright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Farright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3), step with my left foot (L 0.6) as I dribble the ball with my left hand (ball leaves hand before left foot hits ground), step with my right foot (R ), step with my left foot (L 1), catch the ball as it rebounds off the ground (brown circle) with both feet off the ground; then I land with the right foot ahead of the left foot (R 2 and L 2). At this point I can take a shot (white circle), or I can continue by: stepping with my left foot (L 3), stepping with my right foot (R 4), and shooting the ball before the right foot hits the ground (lower white circle). Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking, one foot from the green crosses closest to it.

I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots. However there were a few shots taken at first that by mistake were taken aiming for the rim not the backboard as they were supposed to be. These shots I did not count.

Today at first, again I practiced the 'Farleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move is described in text and graphic in the previous entry.

'Farleft' LH aim for backboard from 21': Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'Farleft' RH aim for backboard from 21': Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

Next I practiced the 'Farright' basketball move which I recently invented and named. This move is described in the graphic in this entry. It is like 'Nearright' (described in the Aug 29 entry), except two additional steps are taken before the ball is caught after the dribble. This morning I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard, and took the closer shot, shown as the circle in between L3 and R4 in the graphic this entry. The shots were from 13' from the basket with emphasis on the use of the wrist, the body moving towards the basket, and the right leg in front of the left leg. There was minimal delay between catching the ball and shooting it.

'Farright' RH aim for BB from 13': Using the right hand aiming for the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%.

'Farright' LH aim for BB from 13': Using the left hand aiming for the backboard, I shot 6/20, 30%.

'Farright' RH aim for rim from 13': Using the right hand aiming for the ring, I shot 5/20, 25%.

I estimate that today was my best day shooting since returning to basketball August 24. I shot well with both hands, the results were good for aiming for the backboard and aiming for the rim. There was minimum delay between catching the ball and shooting. The shots were taken while moving towards the basket at a fairly high rate of speed. There were plenty of well-shot balls that missed.

The difficulty of the shots was compounded by the fact that I had to remember so many things on each run and shot. I had to remember: the footwork on the preliminary dribble, the footwork after catching the ball, whether the elbow or the wrist was being emphasized, which hand I was shooting with, whether I was aiming for the backboard or the rim, what the score was in terms of goals/attempts. For example, before shooting the 'Farright' right handed from 13 feet aiming for the rim, I would rattle off in my mind: 'Farright, R DL R L Catch L Rist Rim', to remind myself of the steps in the move. Since there was so much to remember, I often had difficulty adequately emphasizing use of the wrist when the wrist was supposed to be emphasized or use of the elbow when the elbow was supposed to be emphasized.

Generally I feel like a new man, as a result of my insight that mentally concentrating during a shot does not have to result in nervous tension and stress. Now my shots combine mental concentration and relaxation. To be exact I feel not like a new man but like a new boy, I feel young as a result of the insight. Somehow I developed the idea that mental concentration results in stress, and that stress is fatiguing, depressing, and impairs performance. The idea was that performance is enhanced when there is a dreamy lack of concentration. This could have been because: when we watch the great players perform we ourselves our not mentally concentrating; when we are shooting well we then relax; when we are not shooting well we feel stressed and our minds focus on the act of shooting more; due to past experiences such as exams we associate mental concentration with high levels of stress; when we are for some reason at our best, mental attention during the shot is not as necessary.

I realize it seems crazy that I should get into basketball when in soccer I am getting close to best in the world type skills. Fact is that, of course, developing best-in-the-world type skills is very tiring and also psychologically stressful. There are alot of movements involved that stress muscles that in the past relatively speaking have not been used much. There are at least 3 billion men in the world and millions of them are very athletic. I find the basketball to be like a vacation physically and mentally.

This is an important topic because it has to do with the minimization of the time and energy required in order to master air-dribble turn-to-the-outside type soccer skills that I've rightly identified as being most important when it comes to developing best-in-the-world type soccer skills.

The last time I did the P6.1 soccer drill is described in the September 1 entry this page. The last time I did the P6 soccer drill is described in the August 30 entry this page.

I've been feeling as if I've erred in terms of the tactics of drill-choice in soccer, in that for too long I've resisted doing the P6 and P6.1 drills in limited variants featuring touches limited to 3, 4, or 5 in number, with the curtain positioned so as to stop the ball after the last touch. I wanted to understand the roots of this error, as I felt my understanding of such, will in the future result in in a higher-quality of decision making regarding how time is spent on drills. Especially when the activity is as physically and mentally tiring as these soccer drills, it's wise to spend time and energy carefully realizing both are limited.

I feel as if I've erred by neglecting to more seriously consider various alternatives to simply continuing to push ahead with the unlimited touch versions of the drills. I feel as if I've been an example of bureaucratic inertia and obsession with the score for a particular variant (in this case the unlimited touch variant) of a soccer drill.

I felt mystified as to why, during the runs, the performance on touch 2, was not as good as the performance on touches after touch 2. This made no sense to me. My first reaction was that the cause of the problem was mystic/psychological, and that the problem would be resolved when I achieved the proper mystic/psychological state of mind, which I expected to achieve after several more hours of hard practice; the idea of limiting the number of touches occurred to me but did not appeal to me.

P6 and P6.1 done without limits on the number of touches, and the curtain set at a distance allowing for 9 touches before possible contact with curtain, is a variant that has good qualities and that is enticing and romantic. When there is no limit on touches, one discovers important things such as, what one can do at various number of touches, how many touches one is capable. When there is no limit on touches, from time to time you get spectacular runs covering long distances and involving large numbers of touches, which are a source of pride. Problem is that the unlimited number of touches variant is so attractive that the result can be the error of delay in terms of implementing variants which involve a limited number of touches.

Why the touch 2 is different from the touches that come after it.

I felt that in order to optimize the rate of improvement on these runs, I had to understand, how touch 2 differs from the other touches that come after it in the course of these runs.

Despite the zig-zagging left and right movements, there is a build-up of momentum during the run. One can see from personal experience with the simple zig zag run, that momentum is not lost completely due to a turn of 90 degrees or less.

I've noticed that during the better runs, the speed, the maximum altitude of the ball, the height of the shoulders, the distance between touches, all increase as the number of touches that have been made during the run increases.

Touches on the ball are generally effected by preceding touches on the ball; touch 2 the second touch, is more effected by touch one, compared to the level of impact touch 2 has on touch 4. Thus the first touch on the ball has a relatively high level of impact on the second touch on the ball during a course of a run. The first touch is different from all subsequent touches in that: the ball is rolled back with the sole of the foot; the ball is flipped up with the toe; the ball is kicked after the roll-back and flip-up; the ball is on the ground for the only time during the run; the ball is at the lowest altitude it will be at during the course of the run.

The lowest altitude of the ball during the entire run, is at the start of the run during touch one, when the ball is resting on the ground. Thereafter the ball generally never reaches an altitude of below one foot above the ground. The kick on the first touch is at more of an upwards angle compared to the kicks on the subsequent touches.

Compared to kicks/touches on the ball that come after the second kick of the run, the second kicks of the run are less spontaneous, and more premeditated. Miskick and failure on the seond touch of the runs is especially humiliating, dissappointing and bad for the score when the practice is a scored practice.

I expect that understanding how the second kick of the run differs from subsequent kicks during the run, will be useful in terms of progress with regards to mastering the second kick of the run. Having understood that there is a difference between the second kick of the run and subsequent kicks during the run, I am now more capable of relaxed tolerance with regards to the inevitable consequence which is that proper technique during the second kick of the run will naturally differ from proper technique for subsequent kicks or touches during the run.

Early touches on the Ball such as touch 2 have been under-rated in terms of Importance

I have under-rated the importance of early touches on the ball during the runs, such as touch 2. I've been acting as if since touch 2 is only the second touch of the run, therefore it should be a relatively easy touch, not worthy of much time and attention. I've been thinking that touch 2 has been plagued by a mysterious incompetence that will eventuallly be solved via mysterious mental/spiritual improvement that will come about as a result of many hours of hard practice. I've felt that even disrespectable runs go on for three or four touches and contain a touch 2, whereas the respectable runs go on for five or more touches, and that therefore touch 5, touch 6, touch 7 etc. should get more attention than touch 2.

Fact is, during these runs, a touch on the ball effects subsequent touches on the ball, but a touch on the ball does not effect prior touches on the ball. In actual games, players when scoring goals, rarely touch the ball more than twice before shooting it. One can expect that in games, the number of runs of the type being I've been doing in drills, that are of a distance of five touches or more, will be a much lower percentage of the total of such runs during games, compared to the percentage of runs during practice that are of five touches or more.

I find it strange, that I have beeen enamored by the discovery and exploration I find in unlimited runs with the curtain beyond the point marked off for the 8th touch, but have failed to appreciate the magic of discovery in limited-touch-runs. When I limit the number of touches in a run to three, with everything positioned so that on the third touch I can naturally and easily shoot the ball into a curtain that is straight ahead right in front of me, I will be able to enjoy the magic of discovering the fantastic potentialities involved in just the second touch in isolation. Conceivably and eventually, on the second touch I will be able to do exciting things like arch the ball high, produce a long distance between the second and the third touch, produce angles even greater than 90 degrees, get the time interval between touch 2 and touch 3 down to a small interval.

Limiting the number of touches on runs combines naturally with shooting the ball at a target on the final touch of the run, as opposed to attempting to continue the run for yet another touch. Blasting the shot after a limited number of touches is good for morale, kind of like primal scream therapy. Blasting a shot on the final touches physically and psychologically balances out the carefully limited application of force involved in the kicks on the ball prior to the shot during these runs. In games what can be expected to be common is just one or two touches before the blasted shot. A blasted shot after just one or two touches can be fun and spectacular when the curtain that blocks the shot immediately during the drill is removed.

The underestimated importance of and incompetent use of curtains during sports drills such as the soccer drills I've been doing

In the gym at the Y there is a big blue plastic curtain that hangs from the ceiling which is about 26 feet high. This curtain can be drawn out to various distances. The soccer ball can be shot into it. I estimate that the world underestimates the potential value of such curtains and that the world is incompetent with regards to the use of such curtains.

Some points regarding such curtains:

Setting the runs up so that the curtain is immediately encountered after the 3rd or 4th or 5th touch of the run can result in: less time/energy spent on touches that come after the fourth touch; less time/energy spent chasing down miskicked balls; less time/energy returning to start point with ball.

When there is no curtain just about three feet in front of me when I make the third touch, this results in, during the preceding second touch: excess caution, excess playing it on the safe side, settling for the minimally acceptable level of quality during the kick, and a tendency to kick the ball too low and too short.

Curtains unlike walls absorb the impact of a ball strike rendering the ball easy to retrieve, as opposed to ricocheting the ball off to some distant location.

Hopefully in the future these curtains will be made of materials that do not shed tiny plastic particles into the air that have negative impacts on humans.

Curtains could be used for football, baseball, tennis, volleyball, basketball, the balls can be launched at the curtains.

It would be interesting to see curtains optimized for absorbing ball strikes while being lightweight, and easy to set up. If a curtain is too light, balls, especially balls shot low, will plow right through the curtain. If a curtain is too stiff, it becomes like a wall or a trampoline sending balls ricocheting. If a curtain is too loose, this could result in less than the optimal level of ball rebound. Curtains could be weighted at bottom this might enhance the resilience to ball versus weight-of-curtain ratio.

Think of the backyard basketball mini-courts without curtains, that are about a tenth as useful as they could be if they had a curtain. Fences resemble curtains. However, most fences tend to be too short, or too distant from or too close to the basketball/mini court type surface. Fences are immovable stationary objects but curtains can be built to be moveable.

Curtains could be set up in the basements and rooms of many houses. There should be versions of curtains that are easy to set up on a solid impenetrable surface.

'Farright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

The 'Farright' basketball drill starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3), step with my left foot (L 0.6) as I dribble the ball with my left hand (ball leaves hand before left foot hits ground), step with my right foot (R ), step with my left foot (L 1), catch the ball as it rebounds off the ground (brown circle) with both feet off the ground; then I land with the right foot ahead of the left foot (R 2 and L 2). At this point I can take a shot (white circle), or I can continue by: stepping with my left foot (L 3), stepping with my right foot (R 4), and shooting the ball before the right foot hits the ground (lower white circle). Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking, one foot from the green crosses closest to it.

I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots. However there were a few shots taken at first that by mistake were taken aiming for the rim not the backboard as they were supposed to be. These shots I did not count.

Today I practiced the 'Farright' basketball move, same move was practiced Sept 7. The shots were from 13' and 21' from the basket with emphasis on the use of the wrist. There was minimal delay between catching the ball and shooting it.

'Farright' LH aim for ring from 13': Using the left hand aiming for the ring, I shot 6/20, 30%. These shots were taken with the body moving towards the basket from the point which is the second closer to the basket point for shots.

'Farright' RH aim for BB from 21': Using the right hand aiming for the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%.

'Farright' LH aim for BB from 21': Using the left hand aiming for the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. Prior to the 14th shot, I stood at the point from which the shot is taken, and ascertained exactly where on the backboard the ball should bounce if the shot is to go in. Previously I was deciding where on the backboard to aim, at the last fraction of a second, the philosophy being that generally such shots are taken from different spots on the floor so predertimining what spot on the backboard should be hit is not kosher. After I decided on which spot on the backboard to hit, I made three in a row.

'Farright' RH aim for ring from 21': Using the right hand aiming for the ring, I shot 5/20, 25%. At one point I was at 1/10, but I noted that the shooting was very good, lots of near misses.

'Farright' LH aim for ring from 21': Using the left hand aiming for the ring, I shot 5/20, 25%. At least half a dozen of these shots were in and out; the ball did not go in, but the ball hit both the front and the rear rim before popping out. These shots would have gone in if there had been enough backspin on them. There was also a problem with the right guide hand being on the ball for too long.

The previous time I shot from 21 feet using the four different styles (September y at the Y), I shot 9/80, 11.25%, while emphasizing use of the elbow. Today Using the same four different styles from 21 feet, I shot 20/80, 25%, emphasizing use of the wrist. The fact that the shooting emphasizing the elbow produced a lower percentage does not mean such practice is useless. Even when the wrist is emphasized, the elbow produces some of the force involved.

The first day of my return to basketball Aug 28 eleven days ago, I shot 8.75% from 15 feet over 80 shots. Today I shot 25% from 21 feet over 80 shots. Comparing now and then, the most dramatic improvement has been in right-handed shooting. The percentage going up 16% every eleven days indicates that in just three weeks I will shooting 60% from 21 feet. Which makes it seem foolish to have focused exclusively on soccer. Just like dabbling in baseball made me feel it would be foolish to be obsessed with soccer. But how many things can one do?

The numbers showing eleven-day performance improvement:

Type of shot|Aug 28 Pct|Sept 9 Pct
RHBB | 00 | 25
LHBB | 10 | 25
RHR | 00 | 25
LHR | 25 | 25
total | 08.75 | 25.0

I feel that my insight that mentally concentrating while shooting need not be a source of stress and nervous tension, continued to improve my performance today.

I am pleasantly surprised by the ability to shoot right-handed from 21 feet that I showed today, especially the shooting right-handed off the backboard from 21 feet. I would never have believed that I could do such things. Seems as if becoming ambidextrous in soccer (becoming proficient with both left and right feet), has somehow resulted in ambidexterity with both the left and right hand in basketball.

From 910 PM to 945 PM, I practiced the soccer drill.

WC06/10-P6.1-T3 Soccer Drill, 35 minutes Unscored

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-3T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; and the ball kicked into the curtain or to the left on T3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

The soccer drill today is decribed in the soccer drill graphic this entry to the left. Finally after having spent some time thinking things over (see previous entry), I again had the energy and the initiative to practice the soccer. During the drill I noticed that: the body is by nature in a more upright position on L1 the first touch compared to subsequent touches; During L1 it is important to start with the right foot at least a foot behind the left foot. Limiting the number of touches on the run resulted in energy being concentrated on the problem R2 touch, and gave me the time and energy to experiment and observe the details on the first and second touches of the run.

The R2 touch/kick on the ball has been bedevilling me because although I expected that it would be easier than subsequent touches it has been harder. The R2 comes right after the body is stationary at the beginning of the first L1 touch, in this sense it is different compared to subsequent touches.

'FarFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'FarFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3); step with my left foot (L 0.6) as I release the ball for a dribble (OK according to NCAA rules so long as the ball is released before the left foot hits the ground); I step with my right foot (R 1); catch the ball with both feet off the ground (brown ball); land on both feet simultaneously with the left foot in front of the right foot (R2 & L2) (at this point I can take a shot from 22 feet); if I want to I can step with my right foot, step with my left foot, and shoot from 13 feet before the left foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Notes: I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'FarFright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the right followed by a cut to the left. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the elbow in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard. FirstI shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between R3 and L4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and two changes of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken 13 feet from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at a considerable speed.

The results shooting from approx 13 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'FarFright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'FarFright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

'FarFright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%.

'FarFright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%.

Next I repeated the cycle but with the shots taken from 22 feet, shown in the diagram as the circle near L2 and R2; all the shots involved fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and a change of direction before the ball was shot:

'FarFright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'FarFright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%. The score this segment was: 1/7, 2/12, 3/14, 4/16, 5/17, 6/18, 7/19, Total=7/20. Meaning the score the last 10 shots was 6/10, 60%. The shooting practice routine I've been following involves constant switching from left hand to right hand, from aiming for backboard to aiming for ring, from emphasizing elbow to emphasizing wrist--thus the superiority the last ten attempts is understandable and significant (stat note: I allow myself to not count one in 20 failed attempts due to accidental errors such as mistakenly emphasizing wrist instead of elbow, aiming for backboard instead of rim; if I accidentally shoot with the wrong hand the attempt goes uncounted).

'FarFright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

'FarFright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

There were plenty of shots that were well shot but did not go in.

Today I noticed how when time interval between grabbing the ball and shooting is minimized, changes of direction before a ball is shot, make it more difficult to get the ball into proper shooting position for the shot hence make shooting more difficult.

I could feel how minimizing the delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it was making things difficult. I could tell that reducing the angle of the turn (R1 in the graphic) makes things easier. Angle can be reduced in terms of where the ball is dribbled and where the feet are placed.

Notable thing about aiming for the backboard is that from certain shot angles, if the shot is a little short but correctly positioned horizontally it will still go in even if it did not hit the backboard.

As soon as I stopped shooting I felt severe pain in the arch of my right foot that lasted for about 1.5 hours. I attribute this to wearing my track shoes while shooting the ball. The track shoes look more like basketball shoes compared to the indoor soccer shoes. But they are older, the patterns on the soles of the feet are worn away. I slip while I'm in them; I suspect that my attempts to use my feet to avoid slipping are the source of the pain. I plan on henceforth using the indoor soccer shoes when shooting the baskets.

Today's workout like similar such workouts, involved lots of sprints prior to the taking of the shots. Today's workout involved 80 eight-yard sprints and 80 five-yard sprints prior to the shots. That's 1040 yards of such sprints . These sprinted yards are not coasting yards in which the body movement is derived from the momentum of the body that has been built up, because the longest of these sprints is eight yards. All the yardage in these sprints is the toughest type of sprinting yardage, that coming immediately after the start. This tells me that: I should not feel weird if I feel tired after workouts such as this morning's; and, such basketball workouts have performance-enhancing side-effects, enhancing performance in sports such as soccer and tennis, not just basketball.

I sent an email to the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) President prior to the semifinal games of the 2010 World Basketball Championships in Istanbul Turkey; copies were cc'd to groups such as the USA Basketball Team; the email included a link to this soccer/basketball log you are reading; the email contained some Christian content. After the USA won the championship for the first time in 16 years, I think I heard USA star Kevin Durant say while interviewed on TV, "and that's Farright", referring to the basketball move described in this log in the September 7 and September 9 entries. Derrick Rose scored the first points of the championship game on a penetration move similar to the moves described here in that after grabbing the ball he landed on both feet simultaneously. And after Turkey (a 95% belief in God, less than 1% Christian nation) won the semifinal game by one point against Lithuania, One of the happy Turks on the bench was running around with his arms spread out like Christ on the Cross (Istanbul was Constantinople until it was conquered by Muslims).

Yet it seems that when I apply for a job, I succeed in getting the job only if the number of applicants does not exceed the number of jobs available. Beyond belief.

P6.1-4T Soccer Drill

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L3; the ball touched on R4. The drill is carefully set up so that the curtain (wavy blue line) and the wall (gray line) are in positions where they can prevent the ball from getting away (this results in a lack of potentially harmful inhibition on the R2 and L3 kicks).

First kick in WC06/10-P6.1 series drills analyzed

The P6.1 series drills begin with the sole of the left foot on the ball. The left foot rolls the ball back, flips it up, and kicks it forwards. The graphic shows the left foot on top of the soccer ball. The gray area represents the area in which front tip of the right foot must be placed if competent results are to be achieved when the left foot rolls the ball back, flips it up, and kicks it forwards. The distance between point A and point B is 8.5 inches. The distance between point B and point F is 20.2 inches. Point C is the exact middle of the gray box.

I started out doing the P6.1-4T soccer drill described in the graphic in this entry. Then I carefully analyzed the first touch, L1, which involves rolling the ball back with the left foot, flipping the ball up with the left foot, and kicking it forwards with the left foot. The results of my analysis are shown in the second graphic in this entry.

I wanted to know, exactly what are my limits in terms of how far to the side of the ball I can place my right foot, and how far behind the ball I can place my right foot, when I roll the ball back with my left foot, flip it up with my left foot, and then kick it with my left foot. I wanted to know what is the closest and farthest distance relative to the ball that I can place my right foot.

The exact center of the gray box in the graphic, point C, is IMHO the best position to place the front tip of the right foot. I suspect that performance-wise the exact center of the gray box (the gray box shows the area where the front of the right foot can possibly be placed if I am to be able to do what I want to the ball with my left foot) is not the best place to put the front tip of the right foot. However, in games there is very little time to get the right foot positioned in the spot that produces optimum performance. Hence I consider it wise to put the front tip of the right foot right in the middle of the area which represents all the possible places where it can be put. That way, if I am off a little in terms of being too close or too far from the ball, I will still succeed.

It seems that the best performance would be obtained if the foot were to be placed a few inches in front of point C in the graphic. The closer the right foot is to the line with points A and B on it, the shorter and higher the first kick is; these short and high kicks make it easy to produce a good kick on R2.

The closer the right foot is placed to the line with points A and E on it, the further to the right the ball ends up being kicked on the first kick L1. The farther the right foot is placed relative to the line with points A and E on it, the greater the tendency to kick the ball to the left on the first kick L1.

Seems the best results are obtained if the right foot is pointed slightly to the right of the direction the ball is kicked by the left foot on L1, as this slightly sideways orientation increases the balance of the body during the maneuver.

I think that I erred in procrastinating until today the careful scientific analysis of the technique of the first kick of the run. My attitude was that the first kick is the easiest kick, not something to put too much time and physical/mental energy into--whereas, actually, the first kick due to certain unique factors effecting it, is more difficult than it seems. My attitude was that simple practice absent careful mental analysis of technique would produce proficiency on the first kick--whereas actually, the careful mental analysis of technique, will in the end reduce by many hours the amount of time needed to obtain proficiency. I learned long ago that when one is not in doubt with regards to the technique one is applying, this creates a relaxation that enhances performance; mental analysis of technique eliminates doubts re technique. Mental analysis of technique results in consistency of technique which enhances performance. I remember reading on the internet, a page written by this guy who was a fantastic basketball three-point shooter. His main thing was that every time he shot the ball, he shot it exactly the same way.

Note to self re distances on the basketball court at the Y: The wood planks on the floor of the court are 15/16th of an inch. Therefore horizontally the right foot can be from 0 to 9 wood planks away from the side of the ball; and vertically (so to speak) the right foot can be up to 21 wood planks away from the ball. The center of the tolerable area, is 5 wood planks away from the side of the ball horizontally and 11 wood planks behind the rear of the ball. My soccer shoe is 13 wood planks long.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-3T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; and the ball kicked into the curtain or to the left on T3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

On every run on which the first touch was reasonably well done, I noted how the run was executed in terms of seven different aspects of technique, and I rated every run on a scale of from 0 to 5 (0=junk; 1=poor quality; 2=below average; 3=average; 4=above average; 5=excellent). For example, one of the seven aspects of technique was the amount of force put into the kick through movement of the body as opposed to movement of the leg or movement of the ankle. This amount of force was rated as either + (large contribution to kick), 0 (normal/typical contribution to kick), and - (little or no contribution to kick).

The complication of the analysis is, that an aspect of technique executed in a certain fashion, might work well if other aspects of technique are executed in one way, but not work well if the other aspects of technique are executed in another way. Thus analyzing the data collected is not so simple as simply calculating the average score awarded a run when a certain aspect of technique was executed in a certain way.

This morning, the average score with the second touch of the run R2 executed with the body in an upright posture, was 2.4, and the average score with R2 executed in a crouched posture was 3.0. With R2 executed with upright body, 24% of the runs scored 4 or more in quality. With R2 executed with the body in a crouched position, 47% of the runs scored 4 or more in the quality rating (at least above average).

The third touch of the runs today, involved me simply stopping the ball and not worrying about where it was kicked. This allowed me to concentrate and enhanced my ability to remember the technique I used in executing the second (R2) touch of the run. If I had attempted to also execute a competent kick on the third touch of the run (L3), my ability to remember the technique I used on the second touch of the run would have been dramatically impaired.

At first I just did the runs in the way that came naturally. I found that the natural body posture for both the first and the second kicks of the run is upright. Crouching for the second kick of the run is tiring--and this is significant in that during actual games one is physically exhausted.

I had plenty of energy this morning and could have gone on for much longer than the 3.2 hours I spent practicing today. Lately I've had lots of energy for exercise when the day of exercise was preceded by a day of rest, and very little energy for exercise the day after exercise; seems as of now the routine that works for me is exercising every other day not every day. Reminds me of how about 30 years ago, the wisdom was that in weightlifting do not exercise a body part more than every other day. Then with the passage of time the conventional wisdom became to exercise a body part every three days. Then it became every four days. Then every five, then every six, and most recently it became every seven.

I suspect that the kind of exercise that I've been doing resemble weightlifting in that muscles in my body are being subjected to burdens that they are not accustomed to; as a result exercising every day is too exhausting in that muscles are subjected to unaccustomed burdens without even a day's interval of rest. When the muscles are moved in ways that the body is accustomed to (for example, jogging, walking), the exercise can be engaged in every day without undue fatigue.

My preliminary cursory report on technique:

With body upright on second touch (R2) of run: moderate to strong use of body; leg straight, moderate to strong use of leg; toe pointing upwards and straight ahead or upwards and to the right with zero power derived from flipping ankle to the right, or large amount of power derived from flipping ankle to right with toe pointed up or down; ball strikes the middle of the front of the upper shoe-lace side of the foot.

With body moderately crouched on second touch (R2) of run: strong use of body; leg in a decidedly bent position, zero to moderate level of power derived from leg movement; zero level of power derived from flicking ankle and toe pointed straight ahead and up, or moderate level of power for kick derived from ankle flipping to the right, with toe pointed up; ball striking the middle of the front of the upper shoe-lace side of the foot.

Almost all of the power for the kick on the second touch of the run R2, can be derived from the body, with minimal use of sideways movement of the leg or movement of the ankle, through the body swiveling sideways as the ball is struck with the foot.

At the end of the workout I was convinced that I am on the right track in that scientically and carefully observing my technique and how a technique correlates with quality of performance, will help me to attain to a given level of performance much more quickly than would be the case without careful observation and analysis.

At the end of the practice, for the first time in a long time, I weighed myself and studied myself in the mirror. I weigh 191 pounds without clothes and shoes, at 5'10" in height (I have light bones). My face and body are looking better than they ever have. I have black hair, beige light brown skin, little chest hair. The body appears to be devoid of fat (when I am standing up), with a well balanced even distribution of muscle that is aesthetically impressive, even though the muscle is not in extreme high-definition "ripped" format. The lack of boniness and excess angularity are a plus. The body and face give the impression of youth strength, health, good-times, as does the face. This may sound narcissistic and pompous; however this 'pomp' balances the September 5 entry of the log (further up this page), in which you can read about how in certain ways my body has in the past fallen short of the 'Grecian Ideal', and my attempts to remedy such alleged shortcomings. Besides I am sick of being the one who is not hired every time there are more applicants than there are job openings. Hell, a few weeks ago in the Y, a tall red-headed white woman grabbed her crotch and opened her mouth as if she was about to scream, while staring at me. But I did'nt complain. Complaints around here might get females ahead by making them look glamorous, but I'm a male.

Digression re Y staff and members contradicting the gym schedule by bullying me into ceasing from an activity that uses a little corner of the gymnasium

The toddler gymnastics ("YMCA Gymnastic Babies and Me", 915-945 AM according to the schedule) was not supposed to start in the gymnasium until 915 AM on September 17 2010. The gymnastics instructor lady with the wavy yellow hair came in to the gym and tried to shoo me out of the gym at 835 AM, on the grounds that the little 4 by 3 yards space I was using for the soccer study, with the curtain pulled out 4 yards from the wall to act as a barrier to the soccer ball, got in the way of her setting up the equipment for the toddlers. I had some words with her and she allowed me to stay and continue; then her black-haired assistant told me to leave at 9:02 AM. As it turned out they were easily able to set up the gym equipment without kicking me out. However their use of the gym was not scheduled to start until 915 AM. Frankly to me they seemed to be a classic incarnation of local feminist arrogance (could be they just seemed like that). The yellow haired gymnastics instructor and/or her assistant, in contradiction to the schedule, confiscated 13 minutes of my gym time, and attempted to confiscate 40 minutes of my gym time.

Reminds me of how on Sunday mornings earlier this year, the gymnasium schedule until recently was: 'open gym' until 900 AM, and then 'Adult Basketball' at 900 AM. At least twice, I had to cut short my soccer practice during 'open gym' time at approx 8:40 AM, because the basketball players had shown up, and ordered me to stop practicing soccer at 8:40 AM, even though the basketball was not scheduled to start until 9:00 AM. Their excuse for this intrusion was 'we've been doing this forever' (starting the basketball at approx 840 AM).

When schedules are not adhered to, when repeatedly Y staff and Y members behave as if the schedule was so-to-speak 'just a piece of paper', the result is that members and potential members cannot trust that when they arrive at the Y, the gym will be available for their use as the schedule states. This discourages the use of the Y. Someone could spend 45 minutes driving to the Y, it might take him 45 minutes to get back to where he came from. He could end up wasting 90 minutes of his time driving to the Y only to find that the gym use had been blocked off for some activity in contradiction of the schedule. When you telephone the Y to check to see if the gymnasium is going to be available as the schedule says, often the staff does not know, or gives the wrong info, in answer to your question.

The gym time is all carved up into slots like 'open gym basketball', 'teen night', 'girls open basketball', 'boys open basketball', meaning the entire gym is available for only this or that segregated group. Example of problem with this: the man who wants to practice soccer has time available when teen night is scheduled (630-900 PM), but not when open gym is scheduled, because open gym is scheduled during working hours. Then during the first 30 minutes of 'teen night' the entire 500 square yard gym contains nothing but three teens sitting on a bench and talking. After that, the entire gym is empty. Yet if the man practices basketball in the almost empty gym during teen night he will get scowled at, there's a mark against him.

The gym use is scheduled as if it was impossible for persons involved in different sports, or persons of different genders, or persons of different ages, to share the gymnasium space. Actually just as adult male basketball players are able to work things out amongst themselves when there are lots of persons in the gym, so also when a gym is occupied by a mix of adults and children and teens and men and women and basketball players and soccer players and volleyball players, people are able to work things out. Having to play half court basketball instead of full court basketball should not be considered a disaster, the end of the world.

Many times during 'open gym' I have successfully shared gym space with females, children, and persons involved in practicing and playing some sport other than the one I was practicing/playing. These experiences sharing the gym with a wide diversity of persons were some of the better experiences I've had at the Y.

I suspect that the pleasure I got as a boy out of playing soccer with teenagers and adults was an honorable pleasure and that such play had a positive impact on my character.

IMHO one of the faults of the gym schedule is an obsession with segregating the entire gym space, for a particular group such as: basketball players, teenagers, boys, or girls. Then if someone who does not belong to the particular group whom the entire 500 yard gym has been set aside for, enters the gym and uses a little corner of it to practice some activity the gym has not been set aside for, the result is a mark against the 'offender', scowls, disrepute, an excuse to disemploy or dispromote the alleged 'offender'.

'FarFleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'FarFleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). I step to my left with my right foot (R 0.3); step with my left foot (L 0.6) as I release the ball for a dribble (OK according to NCAA rules so long as the ball is released before the left foot hits the ground); I step with my right foot (R 0.9); step with my left foot (L 1); using my left foot as a pivot I change direction and catch the ball with both feet off the ground (brown ball); land on both feet simultaneously with the right foot in front of the left foot (L2 & R2) (at this point I can take a shot from 22 feet); if I want to I can step with my left foot, step with my right foot, and shoot from around 13 feet before the right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28.

Notes: I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'FarFleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the left followed by a cut to the right. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard. FirstI shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and two changes of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken 12-14 feet from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at a considerable speed.

The results shooting from approx 13 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'FarFleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'FarFleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%.

'FarFleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%.

'FarFleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 6/20, 30%.

Next, I repeated the cycle, but shooting from 22 feet (circle near R2 and L2 in diagram):

'FarFleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%. Seemed like I needed substantial elbow power for this shot today, with the hand starting almost touching the forehead.

'FarFleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'FarFleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. Shooting improved when I commanded myself to get my right guide hand off the ball during the shot.

'FarFleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%. Seems the ball should be facing the basket before it is brought up for the shot.

Thus the total today, was 16/80, 20% from approx 13', and 15/80, 19% from 22'.

I can't even say that during the first 80 shots the missed shots were well shot. During the last 80 shots the missed shots were well shot. I felt clumsy, like a dork, for the first 40 minutes of the practice.

I did not begin to shoot up to expectations until I made four of the last six shots of the seventh segment, which involved 20 shots shooting with my favored hand, my left hand, from 22 feet and aiming for the ring not the backboard. Meaning that after about 35 warmup shots shooting with my shooting hand aiming for ring not backboard, I shot well. Which is sort of understandable and respectable, given the four days without basketball. Yet during the practice I felt depressed compared to the way I usually feel shooting baskets. I was outdoors, it was fall, the weather told me that in just a couple of months, winter would be upon us. It was as usual a gray day not a sunny one. I felt like a stranger in a strange land, a land which is an economic and social desert, featuring lots of women who do but who do not communicate. I felt like, the weather here is too hot, and then suddenly it's too cool, how come the weather here is never just right?

Sept 7-8, indoors at the Y I shot 27.5% on similar shots, emphasizing use of the wrist like today, from around 13'. Sept 7-8 at the Y, I shot 25% from 21', emphasizing the use of the wrist like today.

There are mitigating factors. Seems the pattern done today, 'Farfleft', is the clumsiest and most difficult pattern, the shot off the pattern is difficult. Today for the first time I wore my indoor soccer shoes while practicing basketball. Today was outdoors not indoors at the Y. Most importantly, today Sept 18 I had not practiced basketball since Sept 13. I felt as if it took an hour for the muscles involved in shooting the basketball to get loosened up. It seemed to take about an hour to get used to focusing the mind on aiming for the basket during the shot.

I conclude that going four days in a row without shooting baskets will put an end to progress in terms of shooting percentage.

'Cleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Cleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). It is similar to 'Nearleft' described in the entry, but more fit for situations involving the defender right on top of the dribbler. I step to my left with my right foot (R 0.5) as I release the ball for a dribble; step with my left foot (L 1); catch the ball with both feet off the ground (brown ball); land on both feet simultaneously with the right foot in front of the left foot (L2 & R2) (at this point I can swivel my left foot & take a shot from 22 feet); if I want to I can step with my left foot, step with my right foot, and shoot from around 15 feet before the right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots. Today I practiced the 'Cleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a a cut to the left, which can be followed by movement in various directions. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the elbow in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard. FirstI shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and a change of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken approx 15 feet from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at a considerable speed.

The results shooting from approx 15 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'Cleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%. The right-handed shot is natural for this move.

'Cleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'Cleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%.

'Cleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

Next, I repeated the cycle, but shooting from 22 feet (circle near R2 and L2 in diagram):

'Cleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. It's difficult to shoot with the right (my off-hand), after slanting to the left. The shots were taken while jumping, like a classic jump shot but with the ball released with the body on the way up, as opposed to at the apex of the jump.

'Cleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%. The last seven shots this segment I made three, and was at 43%.

'Cleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%. The shots were taken while jumping, like a classic jump shot but with the ball released with the body on the way up, as opposed to at the apex of the jump.

'Cleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. Thus the total today, was 12/80, 15% from approx 15', and 11/80, 14% from 22'.

From the beginning to end there were lots of missed shots that were well-shot. I estimate that if the basket had been 20% bigger, the percentages would have been four times what they were, about 60%. From the beginning the shooting was done elegantly with relatively good form and I never felt like a dork.

The elbow powering the shot was effectively emphasized throughout the practice. Large numbers of the shots hit in between the backboard and the ring, which I suspect is a result of constantly switching back and forth between aiming for the backboard and aiming for the rim.

Despite being a lefty, I shot better on the three-pointers score wise (ignoring how closely the missed shots missed) with the right hand than I did with the left. Shooting with the left I expect great things from myself and there is more stress. Shooting with the left I am more able to deliberately minimize use of the wrist than I am when I shoot with the right hand--this could put the left hand at a disadvantage because deriving power from the wrist can enhance accuracy. Since I've been shooting lefty and not using the backboard most of my life, I have when I shoot lefty habits that could impair performance when aiming for the backboard.

My incisive insight of the day: It is important, especially when the shots are difficult and the shooter is at an early stage of development re the particular shot, to appreciate the accuracy of well shot balls that narrowly missed going in. If this is not appreciated, the result could be performance impairment due to abhorrence of shooting techniques that are actually producing significant improvement in terms of accuracy.

Before I practiced today, I watched the girls basketball game between Wayland and Watertown. Coaches would be proud to have boys who played like these girls. They, the female players were the ones who called the fouls and they handled this with maturity. They displayed little negative emotion when their team lost or when an opponent succeeded or when they themselves failed. They shot well from medium distance. They were graceful and cute. The played zealously intelligently and with hustle. They evinced teamwork.

After the basketball, for 20 minutes I practiced the P6.1-T3 soccer drill (Sept 17 entry), using upright body posture. I did much better than I did the previous time using upright posture. The average score per run was 4.1 whereas the previous time out it was 2.4 on a 1-5 scale. I did not attempt to implement any particular technique innovation based on what I observed in the previous practice but the performance was up. It was as if simply closely observing how techniques correlated with performance levels, dramatically improved my skill level. For some reason today a technique became visible that had been invisible previously: tilting the foot that strikes the ball so that the edge of the foot closer to the ball is lower than the edge of the foot further from the ball, was observed to produce excellent results today.

'Cright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Cright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). I step straight ahead with my right foot (R 0.5), and, dribble the ball behind my back with my left hand to my right side (brown ball and brown line in diagram); step with my left foot (L 1), catch the ball with both feet off the ground, and land with both feet simultaneously hitting the ground (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a 22' shot. Or I can step with my left (L 3), step with my right (R 4), and take a 15' shot so long as the ball is released before the right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'Cright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a slant to the right; it is designed for especially closely guarded conditions (Close-Right=Cright). The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard. FirstI shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and a change of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken approx 15 feet from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at a considerable speed.

The results shooting from approx 15 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'Cright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%.

'Cright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 1/20, 5%.

'Cright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 8/20, 40%.

'Cright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%.

Next, I repeated the cycle, but shooting from 22 feet (circle near R2 and L2 in diagram):

'Cright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%.

'Cright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%.

'Cright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 9/20, 45%.

'Cright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

Thus the total today, was 19/80, 24% from approx 15', and 21/80, 26% from 22'.

In the previous log entry I wrote about how yesterday, large numbers of shots almost went in. What I was thinking but humbly did not mention, is that this was an indicator of imminent progress. Today the imminent progress became reality.

The only low percentage segments today, were the first two, aiming for the backboard from 15', and the right-handed 22' shots. Aiming for the backboard from 15 feet when hurtling towards the basket at a high rate of speed, is difficult, especially when shots shots are the first 40 shots taken with no warmup. Sept 7 and 8 combined, I shot 10/40 right-handed on 21' shots, but best I can recall offhand, it was a lucky day, with shots aimed for the backboard going in the ring without hitting the backboard, and shots aimed for the ring going in after hitting the backboard.

Today from beginning to end the shots were taken with elegant undorky style, and the shots that missed were nevertheless generally accurate. Starting with the third 20 shot segment, I began taking detailed notes regarding what technique was used on the shots that went in; this increased note-taking correlated or coincided with dramatic improvement in the shot percentage.

Prior to the 7th 20 shot segment I thought I had used up my supply of theatrical heroics for the day, yet the 7th segment at 9/20, 45% from college three-point land, was the best segment of the day. The 8th segment however featured a fall to earth and the usual percentage. Seems we usually tend to have just a little more than we suspect in terms of reserve supply of theatrical heroics.

The 20 shot segments featuring detailed notes took an average of 17 minutes each whereas the 20 shot segments without detailed notes took an average of 16 minutes each. Seems detailed notes on technique used should be taken as this improves performance without costing alot of extra time.

During the first segment aiming for the backboard I noted that worrying about the depth of the shot seems to impair performance, because if the ball hits the backboard in the right place, it does not matter much how hard it hits the backboard.

Before the practice all I consumed was about 30 ounces of Trader Joe's Yirga Chaffee Organic Coffee from Ethiopia where coffee originated, mixed with organic half and half, organic turbinado cane sugar, and spring water. To me it makes sense that coffee should be from where it originated and organic. Plus the price at $9 per pound at Trader Joe's is respectable, despite the coffee being a 'fair trade' coffee.

Seemed like during the stretch of time from the third through the fifth segment, 2:48-3:58 PM, ( I know it sounds egotistical but...) a hush fell across the world as the shot percentage level stayed above 35% for both left and right hand on difficult quick on the draw off the run type shots from at least 15' out. Then when I went to the local supermarket after practice, seemed at least a couple of black guys scoffed at Rajon Rondo when they saw me. I suspect there is some kind of camera in the Y gym that can send signals somewhere.

It does seem to be true, that the 'Blue Rondo a la Turk' music of old, is an accurate musical representation of what a competent basketball practice is like.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-3T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; and the ball kicked into the curtain or to the left on T3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

First I worked with the body being in an upright position on R2, until I got 40 results for the score on R2 (0-5, 0=terrible, 5=excellent, 3=average). The average score on the 40 runs with the ball kicked in an upright position on R2 was 3.3. Then I got 26 results for doing the R2 kick in a crouched position; the average score was 3.4. September 17 these two scores were 2.4 and 3.0. Sept 19 on 10 recorded runs using the upright body position on R2, the average score was 4.1.

I did not consciously attempt to implement any particular technical innovation based on the close observations made Sept 17 and Sept 19. I suspect that premature implementation of technical 'corrections', would result in the shrinkage of the variety of techniques that are observed.

The main incisive insight of the day, is that whereas previously I had concluded that breakthroughs in terms of attainment of skills of this sort occur during long tiring scored practices featuring the given skill being practiced repeatedly, now I feel inclined to somewhat revise this hypothesis. September 19 I did much better on the scored soccer practice after two hours of basketball. Thus the new version of the hypothesis is that skill breakthroughs occur during scored drills that practice the given skill, when the body/mind has been loosened up and relaxed due to EITHER repetitions of the drill that practices the skill OR some other activity such as energetic basketball run 'n shoot drills.

Judging from the 50 R2 kicks with the body in upright position of Sept 19 and today, it appears that effective technique involves: moderate to strong amount of force imparted to kick by swiveling of body; moderate to strong force imparted to kick through leg movement; zero force imparted to kick via flipping ankle to right, with toe pointing straight ahead and up, OR moderate level of force imparted to kick by sideways flip of ankle with foot starting with toe pointing up and straight ahead, or foot parallel to ground and toe pointing straight ahead; top front middle part of shoe striking ball.

Judging from the 26 R2 kicks with the body in moderately crouched position today, it appears that effective technique involves: moderate to strong amount of force imparted to kick by swiveling of body; moderate force imparted to kick through leg movement; zero force imparted to kick via flipping ankle to right, with toe pointing straight ahead and up, OR strong level of force imparted to kick by sideways flip of ankle with foot starting with toe pointing up and straight ahead; top front middle part of shoe striking ball.

This was a dissapointing practice. Before and at the beginning of the practice, I was already thinking about what words and phrases I would use to report the great accomplishment of mastering the R2 skill today. But alas the great accomplishment was not to be. I suspect the reason the performance was below expectation was that on Sept 17 I performed well due to a prior warmup of two hours of basketball whereas today there was no warmup prior to the start of the scored P6.1-T3 drill.

One thing I can take satisfaction in, is that now that I have turned the P6.1-T3 drill into a scored drill, it is not as boring and I am more inclined to do it.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-3T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; and the ball kicked into the curtain or to the left on T3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

The routine I am following with this drill, is alternating between 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the body-upright position, and 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the in the body-crouched position.

So since at the conclusion of the previous practice I was in the middle of a 50-run segment with body crouched during R2, I finished that segment today doing runs 27-50 of the segment. Then I did the first 18 runs of a body-upright-during-R2 segment.

The average score (0-5, 0=terrible, 5=excellent, 3=average quality on Sept 17) on 23 runs with the ball kicked in a crouched position on R2 was 3.5; during L1 I emphasized use of leg not body. Then I obtained 18 results for doing the R2 kick in an upright position; the average score was 3.7; during L 1 I emphasized use of body not leg. September 21 these two scores were 3.4 and 3.3. So I improved on the second segment, yet another piece of evidence indicating the importance of warmup for this kind of skill and this kind of drill.

Today for the first time, I kept track of how many L1 kicks were unacceptable from kick 12 of the second body-upright segment on. During 7 runs from run 12 to run 18, while emphasizing use of body on L1, there were 2 kicks on L1 that were unacceptable. Meaning, there were 2 'unacceptable first touch' runs PLUS seven runs with an acceptable first touch. As the focus is on the second touch I do take keep detailed record on runs that are judged 'unacceptably bad' on the first L1 touch. The point being, that I am investigating what is proper technique given a good kick on on the first L 1 touch.

I was thinking and taking notes on my thoughts during the practice. Some thoughts I jotted down:

Before I began closely observing and analyzing the technique on R2, I used to think that using the mid-side of the foot to kick the ball to the right with the right foot produced high performance and was reasonable and natural. However I have discovered that the best results ensue when the ball is struck with the upper (shoe-lace-side) front middle area of the shoe, which is a counterintuitive result, as intuitively speaking it is hard to see how the best results would be obtained from striking the ball with the front middle top area of the shoe, when attempting to send the ball on a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot.

This drill seems boring and dreary; however, the skill involved in touch-on-ball, turn-ball-90-degrees-to-right-on -next-step, touch-ball-again-on-third-step type drill (ball off ground and close to body entire time), can constitute one part of a run that generally speaking involves turns that are not as sharp as 90 degrees and two or three steps between touches on the ball rather than a-touch-on-each-step and a 90-degree-turn; this combination of the skill being practiced and other methods and skills is a potentially spectacular glamorous combination, boring as the drill may be to watch or to perform.

With regards to L 1, the first kick of the run, I estimate that concentrating on deriving the power of the kick from the leg, or concentrating on deriving the power from the forwards movement of the body, are both superior to so-to-speak style=unassigned.

Apparently I tend to instinctively employ the Foot-Tilted-Outwards technique (outside edge of foot at lower altitude than inside edge of foot) or FTO when I have to stretch forwards to reach a ball far in front of me and the contribution of power derived from body movement and leg movement is limited. Sometimes results produced by FTO are excellent, other times they are terrible; off the bat I guess only about ten percent of runs involve FTO.

When the ball is unusually far in front of me right before I execute the R2 kick, it is difficult to derive power from the sideways movement of the body to produce the 90 degree turn on R2.

Again today I did not consciously attempt to implement insights obtained from close observation of technique, because I wanted to preserve variety in terms of observable technique.

From 6:00 PM to 6:30 PM I swam 900 yards in 30 minutes alternating between 50 yds breast and 50 yds crawl. The pool was crowded and the swim was repeatedly interrupted by a kind of chaos of females wandering around treading water and getting in the way in the swimming lanes. The amount of yards swum in the 30 mins would have been greater had the situation been less chaotic. I did not attempt to adjust the number of minutes for the interruptions.

Prior to the swimming I suggested to Mr Campbell the assistant aquatics director, that from now until the end of the world, it should be illegal for the Waltham Y to hire overweight white females. He responded that this would be discrimination on two counts. But he seemed impressed by the cleverness of arguments I presented to him: that employers should not be allowed to disemploy allegedly "overqualified" potential-employees because this opens the door to the discrimination that he opposes; that the inconvenience of having to replace "overqualified" employees who move on to other jobs, is a price society has to pay if society wants to reduce or eliminate discrimination.

My point of view having studied economics, is that society has an interest in eliminating discrimination because then the most competent persons getting the job will be more common, and this will improve productivity. It's possible that society employing persons of lesser competence could benefit society's tycoons while damaging the economy of the society as a whole.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-3T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; and the ball kicked into the curtain or to the left on T3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

The routine I am following with this drill, is alternating between 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the body-upright position, and 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the in the body-crouched position.

This evening first I finished the segment I was in the middle of at the end of the previous practice, doing runs 19-50 with the body in an upright position during the R2 kick. Then I did the first 41 runs of a body-crouched-during-R2 segment.

The average score this evening (0-5, 0=terrible, 5=excellent, 3=average quality on Sept 17) on 32 runs with the ball kicked in a body-upright position on R2 was 3.7; on L1 this segment I emphasized use of body as opposed to use of leg. Then I obtained 41 results for doing the R2 kick in a body-crouched position; the average score was 3.8; on L 1 this segment I emphasized use of leg not body. September 23 these two scores were 3.7 and 3.5. The scores continue to gradually improve; I believe the scores are correlating fairly well with the performance that is scored.

Today again, I kept track of how many L1 kicks were unacceptable. Percentage of L1 kicks judged 'unacceptable' (results previous practice in parentheses): body-power emphasized during L1-- 5/37,14% (no data for previous practice); leg power emphasized during L1-- 6/48, 12.5% (22%). As of now the procedure is, that when the L1 kick is unacceptable, the run's details are not recorded and the run is not counted when counting up the stats for performance on R2.

I can feel how I am gradually improving. Runs 24-30, seven runs in a row, all scored 5 for excellent, during the second segment featuring the body crouched during R2.

Again today I did not attempt to implement technical lessons learned from the close observation during recent practices, because I wanted to maximize the diversity of techniques observed.

I was planning on doing a six mile run after practice without eating before the run. But after practice I was shocked at how tired and hungry I felt. So instead of running I ate; not sure if I'll go out and run after having eaten. It's surprising how tiring practices involving extreme precision and quickness can be.

I've been continuing with the close observation of how technique correlates with performance result, but I am not bothering with analyzing/reporting the data every single day.

I can tell that undoubtedly, the skill I am practicing will eventually be mastered, the result being that skill-wise I will be in a dominant position in the soccer world. Yet the process is tedious. I'm learning that a workout that is energizing, fun, impressive, endorphin-releasing, glamorous, and involving long sprints with many touches on the ball while the ball is kept in the air during the sprint, can be much less effective when it comes to rate of skill improvement per hours spent practicing (taking into account differences in level of difficulty of different skills), compared to workouts that are tedious, boring, unimpressive, ineffective for endorphin release, and never involve runs of more than 12 feet or more than 3 touches on the ball during the runs (runs involving body movement while the ball kept off the ground and close to the body).

I've learned that the rate of improvement per hour spent practicing can be dramatically increased as a result of the unglamorous thoughtful process of implementation of lessons learned from observation and record-keeping. When I sit at a desk and fill out or analyze data forms, I am not doing anything that would cause anyone to honor the theatrics I execute that they observe, by scoffing at David Beckham; yet the deskwork often produces more improvement per hour of time invested compared to spending time doing the glamorous parade-ground type tricks.

'CloFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'CloFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). I start with the ball in my left hand. As I step to my right and forward with my right foot (R 0.5), I move the ball behind my back, from my left hand to my right hand so the ball is to the right of my body. As I step forwards with my left foot, I swing the ball around my back and dribble it behind my back, to my left and forwards, with my right hand, releasing the ball before the left foot hits the ground. After my left foot hits the ground (L 1), I catch the ball after it bounces up, with both feet off the ground and land with both feet hitting the ground simultaneously (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a shot from around 22' (swiveling my trailing left foot up to be even with my right foot prior to the shot if I want), or I can step forwards with my left foot (L 3), step forwards with my right foot (R 4), and take a shot from around 13' so long as the ball is released before my right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'CloFright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a fake to the right followed by a cut to the left; it is designed for especially closely guarded conditions (Close-Fake-Right=CloFright). The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the elbow in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard. FirstI shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and a change of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken approx 13 feet from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at a considerable speed.

The results shooting from approx 13 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'Clofright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. Without warmup, I hit the first 3 of 5 attempts in this segment. I think this is because at the beginning I was moving more slowly, I was taking more time in between catching the ball and shooting it, I was not moving towards the basket at as a high a speed as I was later in the segment as I got used to the mechanics of the move.

'Clofright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%.

'Clofright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%.

'Clofright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%.

Next, changing the venue to the basketball court at the Lowell playground at Willow & Grove, I repeated the cycle, but shooting from 22 feet (circle near R2 and L2 in diagram):

'Clofright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 3/20, 20%.

'Clofright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 1/20, 5%.

'Clofright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'Clofright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 1/20, 5%.

Thus the total today, was 14/80, 17.5% from approx 13', and 8/80, 10% from 22'.

I suspect that the main reason the shooting percentages were low, is that it was difficult to get the ball into proper shooting position given the difficulty of the dribble and the usual minimization of time between when the ball was grabbed and when the ball was shot. The ball was rarely exactly where I wanted it to be when it came time to snatch it after it bounced up after the dribble. In between the time I released the ball for the dribble, and the time I caught it, there was only one step, with the left foot. These difficulties resulted in a tendency for the guide hand, the hand not shooting the ball, to be touching the ball at the time the ball was released with the shooting hand, which impaired accuracy.

The dribble on this move which I've named ' Clofright', is extraordinarily difficult. When I attempted this dribble, sometimes the ball hit my right ankle instead of hitting the ground and rolled away. Sometimes the ball hit my rear end before it hit the ground resulting in a loss of control. The dribble in this move, executed with the right hand though I am a left, was almost impossible for me until I understood the proper technique: transfer ball from left hand to right hand behind the back; cradle ball between right hand and right forearm as ball is moved forwards to right side of body; hold ball in hand with palm facing up and hand in front and to right of body as right foot hits ground (R 0.5 in diagram); swing ball behind back and to left for dribble to left and forwards.

After this evening's practice I concluded that although my tradition is to minimize time between the catch of the ball off the dribble and the shot, henceforth when executing this move I need to delay a little in between catching the ball off the dribble and shooting it from 22 feet for the long shot.

The missed shots were shot well this evening during all the segments except the last segment which involved shooting right-handed from 22 feet aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard.

Today I practiced basketball after not having practiced basketball for three days, and the shooting percentage was low. Previously September 18, I shot baskets after four days in a row of not shooting baskets and noticed that the four days off seemed to impair performance.

On the shots from approx 13' today, I covered approx 17' from the start point to the shot point very quickly and also elegantly despite the difficulty of the dribble; I was moving at the basket at an unusually high rate of speed at the time of ball release. I attribute this quickness to having rested from basketball for three days and to the impact of the soccer drills I have been doing. One of the white young men throwing a football around at the Gilmore playground remarked that I was 'quick'.

I believe that the move done today, 'CloFright', will take time to master but is potentially a deceptive, slick, and impressive move.

Seems like people at the outdoors playground compared to people at the YMCA indoors are happier, friendlier, more talkative. I suspect one reason for this is that it is so hot and humid indoors at the Y.

During the shooting of the approx 13' shots at the Gilmore Playground, a couple of cops were for some reason hanging around in the playground adjacent to the basketball court and to some extent watching me shoot baskets. Seemed there was nothing wrong in the sense of a crime having been committed; they were talking to a man who seemed to be a parent. I was wearing my earplugs but I think one of the cops said, "he'll explain it to us!", meaning that he somehow knew I would go home and write up this report on this log.

On the way to the second session at the Lowell playground, driving down Moody St at night, I felt that, in part due to me shooting baskets at the Gilmore Playground which is near Moody Street, I had made an impact on the people on Moody St and was psychologically dominating them in a positive beneficial way; they somehow seemed psychologically close to me. I felt like I was feeling something with my body as opposed to my mind: that there was a kinship between me and the people on Moody St; that we were physically and mentally healthy; that we were not damned. This surprised me because I've been in the habit of suspecting that most people are damned.

'CloFleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'CloFleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). I start with the ball in my left hand. As I step to my left and forward with my right foot (R 0.5), I move the ball behind my back, and dribble the ball behind my back to my right before my left foot (L 1) hits the ground. After my left foot hits the ground (L 1), I catch the ball after it bounces up, with both feet off the ground and land with both feet hitting the ground simultaneously (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a shot from around 22', or I can step forwards with my left foot (L 3), step forwards with my right foot (R 4), and take a shot from around 13' so long as the ball is released before my right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'CloFleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a fake to the left followed by a cut to the right; it is designed for especially closely guarded conditions (Close-Fake-Left=CloFleft). The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and a change of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken approx 13 feet from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at a considerable speed.

The results shooting from approx 13 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'Clofleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

'Clofleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%.

'Clofleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%.

'Clofleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 9/20, 45%.

Thus the total today, was 24/80, 30% from approx 13'.

Incisive insight of day: Since August 28 I have been trying to shoot without any deliberate emphasis on shooting stylishly. This has results in unstylish, utilitarian shooting with my left hand; but the shooting with the right hand has for the most part been stylish. This is because: I am left-handed; I have more control over my left-hand; I expect myself to be more conformed to my intent when I use my left hand. I suspect that I will shoot better when I experiment with deliberately shooting stylishly. My right hand which I have been almost involuntarily shooting stylishly with, has been producing percentage results surprisingly close to what my left hand has been been producing despite the fact that I have never been ambidextrous and never taken, prior to August 28, more than a few shots with my right hand.

After the basketball from 8:48 PM to approx 10:49 PM I ran a mile, walked the second mile, ran the third, walked the fourth, ran the fifth, and walked the sixth. The first 5 miles were done in 98 minutes minus 5 minutes spent waiting at stoplights etc, meaning the 5 miles were done in 93 minutes. The Main and Moody Sts road course I am running now is about 5% longer than the Main and Moody Sts road course I was running last year. The main impediment to a faster time is still pain in the feet. But I was satisfied with the time because I have done so little running this year.

'CloFleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'CloFleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). I start with the ball in my left hand. As I step to my left and forward with my right foot (R 0.5), I move the ball behind my back, and dribble the ball behind my back to my right before my left foot (L 1) hits the ground. After my left foot hits the ground (L 1), I catch the ball after it bounces up, with both feet off the ground and land with both feet hitting the ground simultaneously (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a shot from around 22', or I can step forwards with my left foot (L 3), step forwards with my right foot (R 4), and take a shot from around 13' so long as the ball is released before my right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'CloFleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a fake to the left followed by a cut to the right; it is designed for especially closely guarded conditions (Close-Fake-Left=CloFleft). The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the circle at R2, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and a change of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken approx 22 feet from the basket.

The results shooting from approx 22 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'Clofleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 1/20, 05%.

'Clofleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%.

'Clofleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%.

'Clofleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 9/20, 45%. At one point the percentage this segment was 8/15 (53%), but then I went 1/5 to finish at 9/20.

Thus the total today, was 17/80, 21% from approx 22'.

After the first segment the missed shots were well shot.

Prior to the last segment I felt nervous. I have high expectations for shooting aiming at the ring, with the left hand (I'm a left). The fourth segment today was the final segment in the cycle of shooting at the end of the twelve different moves (today's 'Clofleft' is the twelfth move in the cycle). Historically my claim-to-fame has been my three point shooting. The low percentage the first three segments made me feel nervous and lacking in self-confidence, even though rationally speaking I should have realized that these were right-handed and aiming for the backboard and so should not have been a cause for stressed out loss of self-confidence.

In the end despite the stress I was able to shoot at 45%.

As of now I am allowing up to three misses to be not counted per 20 shot segment, for reasons such as preliminary dribble was so bad that shot was very off balance, aiming for backboard when should be aiming for ring, etc. Usually no more than one or two shots per segment is uncounted for such reasons.

I've been keeping detailed notes re how the shots that went in were shot. During the 45% segment today, the shots that went in were shot in many differerent ways. The arcs of the 9 shots that went in, varied from low to medium to high. The level of backspin varied from low to medium to high. The angle of the shooting hand at the beginning of the shooting movement vis a vis the top of the forehead, varied from 35-60 degrees. The distance between the front of the top of the forehead and the shooting hand at the beginning of the shooting movement varied from 6-12 inches.

At the end of the practice I think I heard the overweight white woman behind the desk say to me, "you're Cornell". Cornell University is the reigning collegiate level champion in three-point shooting percentage as a team, at 42.9%.

I've improved from 25% (Sept 7, 8) to 45% (Sept 20, 26) in shooting percentage with left hand aiming for the ring from 21-22 feet. Between September 8 and September 20, I took 240 practice shots in approx 7 hours of practice. The improvement from 25% to 45% was accomplished in 7 hours of practice, of which only 0.9 hours involved shooting with the left hand aiming for the rim from 21-22 feet.

'Nearleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R1) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my left with my left hand. Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (R2, L2), with the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'Nearleft' basketball penetration move , which was first practiced August 28. This move involves a cut to the left; it is designed for moderately closely guarded conditions. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the elbow in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard this evening (Aug 28 I started from 24' doing 'NearLeft'. FirstI shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and a change of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken approx 12 feet from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at a considerable speed. An attempt was made to be 'stylish' on all the shots.

August 28, the distance between the start point the left pivot foot and the ball release point for the shots taken with ball near L3 and R4 foot positions, was 15 feet . Today this distance was 18 feet. The distance covered from pivot foot to close in shot point increased 20% over one month.

I noticed today that if I come to a complete halt and pause after L2 and R2, so that the momentum I've built up is completely nulled, I am not able to step forwards on R3 and L4 with the speed and distance I can step forwards with when there is no stop after L2 and R2.

It's relaxing, it's exuberant to shoot with " style", meaning stylishly, elegantly. The mind focused on shooting with style , diverts the mind from the stress of the focus on putting the ball through the hoop. Stylishly shot balls is better exercise compared to unstylishly shot balls.

I found today that generally the result was that when I ordered myself to shoot stylishly , this meant shooting with the hand at a higher altitude compared to how I shot when I ordered myself to shoot unstylishly. We associate admired stars with " style"; we watch these stars maximizing hand-altitude on shots because they must in order to conquer top defenses; we see ourselves keeping our shooting hand at a low altititude when we play our fellow 'dwarves'; thus I suspect that when we order ourselves to shoot with " style", we proceed to shoot with our hands at near maximum altitude when releasing the ball.

The results shooting from approx 13 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'Nearleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. This was the first segment shooting 'stylishly' since return to basketball on Aug 28, and naturally awkward. Only bad segment of day.

'Nearleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. Respectable for a lefty.

'Nearleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 10/20, 50%. This segment was the highlight of the day. I was releasing the ball with the arm pointed almost straight up and the arm almost straight; I was flying at the basket at a fast speed when I released the ball. Most of the force on the shot derived from the movement of the body as opposed to the elbow or the wrist. The shots were from around 12' but I felt as if I was doing layups from 1 or 2 feet. I was using the layup technique, the shots felt about as mentally and physically difficult as layups from just 1' or 2'; but the ball was being released from 12', with the body moving at the basket at about the speed it moves towards the basket on layups. I felt these 20 shots were an important breakthrough and a milestone. They were like slam-dunks, but with the ball released 12' away from the basket. To keep the defense honest I need not just a 3-pointer percentage of 40%, but also a 2-pointer percentage of at least 50%.

The running totals during the 10/20 segment this evening: 1/2, 2/4, 3/5, 4/8, 5/9, 6/11, 7/15, 8/16, 9/17, 10/19, TOTAL=10/20, 50%. Shooting was 9/17, 53%; it then fell to 1/3, 33%, as if an exhaustion effect set in. Similarly, yesterday September 27, I started out 8/15, 53% but was 1/5, 20% on the last 5 shots of a 20 shot segment shooting from 22' with the left hand aiming for the ring.

'Nearleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. Good for a lefty.

Next, I repeated half of the cycle, but shooting from 21 feet (circle near R2 and L2 in diagram):

'Nearleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%. Good for elbow emphasis combined with new emphasis on stylishness.

'Nearleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. Good for a lefty from three-point-land.

Thus, the total today from 12' on the run was 22/80, 27.5%. From 21' the total was 12/40, 30%.

10/20, 50% during the LHBB 12' segment, set a new record for shooting from 12-13', the previous record was 9/20, 45%; this was also a new record for LHBB elbow-emphasis shooting, the previous record for such being 5/20, 25%.

5/20, 25% during the RHBB 12' segment was a new record for RHBB elbow emphasis shooting from 12-13'; the previous record was 3/20, 15%.

5/20, 25% during the RHR segment from 21' was a new record for RHR elbow-emphasis shooting from 21-22'; the previous record for such was 2/20, 10%.

At the end of the practice when I threw in the towel at the front desk, one of the East-asian guys working at the Y looked at me as I threw the towel in the towel bin and said, "it's a two-front war". I knew what he meant. He meant that I am not just fighting for world-class achievement in soccer, I am also fighting for world-class achievement in basketball. At least someone thinks what's happening is dramatic ('All Quiet on the Western Front' is a dramatic sounding book and movie title about one of the fronts in Germany's two-front war during World War One). Everyone sort of yawning when they see me practice saps the willpower.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-3T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; and the ball kicked into the curtain or to the left on T3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

The routine I am following with this drill, is alternating between 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the body-upright position, and 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the in the body-crouched position.

This evening first I finished the segment I was in the middle of at the end of the previous practice, doing runs 42-50 with the body in a crouched position during the R2 kick. Then I did the first 25 runs of a body-upright-during-R2 segment.

The average score this evening (0-5, 0=terrible, 5=excellent, 3=judged as of average quality on Sept 17) on 9 runs with the ball kicked in a body-crouched position on R2 was 3.9 (previous practice score on this type was 3.8); on L1 this segment I emphasized use of the leg. Then I did 25 runs, doing the R2 kick in a body-upright position; the average score was 4.2 (previous practice score on this type was 3.7); on L 1 this segment I emphasized use of the body not the leg.

Today again, I kept track of how many L1 kicks were unacceptable. Percentage of L1 kicks judged 'unacceptable' (results previous practice in parentheses): body-power emphasized during L1-- 3/28,11% (14%) ; leg power emphasized during L1-- 5/14, 36% (12.5%). When the L1 kick is unacceptable, the run's score is not included in the averaging of the scores of the runs.

Today prior to the practice my left calf was very stiff and sore. It was difficult for me to just walk down the stairs. This apparently was caused by the basketball practice of the previous day. Still I allowed myself no uncounted warmups at the beginning of practice. The problem left calf loosened up to a surprising degree from the very beginning of the practice. Nevertheless it was somewhat stiff and sore throughout the practice. Kicking the L1 emphasizing leg power uses the calf muscles more than kicking the L1 emphasizing body-power, and this showed in the stats.

During the practice I made little effort on the third touch L3 other than touching the ball. This because I find that effort and attention during L3 results in inability to remember the technique used on R2 (I've been recording the techniques used and how such correlates with the score I award the run). I noted that the fact there is a lack of effort on L3, or impairment due to sore/stiff left calf on L3, the result being the L3 kick is unimpressive, does not mean that R2 was not a good kick.

In the scoring of the runs, I've been attempting to give a run that would have been given a 3 rating (approx average) on September 17 a 3 rating today also. Same for the other scores such as 5 the top score for excellent and 4 for good. Runs that get a 3 rating are good enough to allow a good kick on L3, and are sort of low quality amongst runs good enough to produce a good kick on L3.

What the guy said yesterday about my sports situation being a 'two-front war' (not just soccer but also basketball), got me to thinking of German war songs. Because Germany is the country historically famous for being involved in two front wars, one front against one enemy, and the other front against the other enemy. What he said made me feel important, and whether you admire the German role in history or deny it, you'll agree that the German role in history has been important. What he said inclined me to identify with Germany's history. The idea of seriously practicing both basketball and soccer, made me feel exhausted and overburdened with struggles--which is how I imagine the Germans felt during their two-front wars against a multitude of enemies. I felt like someone who due to the burden of sports has not enough time to share with persons who want to socialize. This German war song I heard on the internet entitled "Ich hatt' einen Kameraden" came to my mind. It's the only German war song that ever appealed to me. Assuming the Germans were the bad guys let's just say it's a mystery how they could produce a beautiful song. The song can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVpM8OPixds. Listening to it reminded me of Jews from the neighborhood I grew up in, and how they are culturally and even genetically German.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-3T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; and the ball kicked into the curtain or to the left on T3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

The routine I am following with this drill, is alternating between 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the body-upright position, and 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the in the body-crouched position.

This evening first I finished the segment I was in the middle of at the end of the previous practice, doing runs 26-50 with the body in an upright position during the R2 kick. Then I did the first 19 runs of a body-crouched-during-R2 segment.

The average score this evening on 25 runs with the ball kicked in a body-upright position on R2 was (score during previous practice yesterday) 3.6 (4.2); on L1 this segment I emphasized use of body as opposed to use of leg. Then I did 20 runs with the R2 kick in a body-crouched position; the average score was 3.8 (3.9); on L 1 this segment I emphasized use of leg not body.

A run can be given a score of between 0 and 5, the higher the score the better. I try to grade with the same severity I graded with on Sept 17, every day. Roughly speaking, a run gets a 3 when the R2 kick puts the ball in a position that is minimally acceptable if the run is to continue with a 90 degree turn to the left on the kick after R2.

Today again, I kept track of how many L1 kicks were unacceptable. Percentage of L1 kicks judged 'unacceptable' (results previous practice in parentheses): body-power emphasized during L1-- 11/36,31% (); leg power emphasized during L1-- 1/20, 5% (36%). September 23, I had not stiffness soreness problems and on the first segment 14% of the L1 kicks were 'unacceptable'.

The bright spot in the practice today was that I achieved a personal record in terms of percentage of L1 kicks judged unacceptable--only 5% of the L1 kicks in the second segment (emphasizing use of the leg), were judged unacceptable.

As of now the procedure is, that when the L1 kick is 'unacceptable', the performance rating for the kick on R2 is not counted in the average of the scores of the runs.

Again my left calf was stiff and sore during the practice. This evening the first segment done emphasized use of the body on the first (L1) kick and a high percentage of the kicks were judged unacceptable. Yesterday, the first segment done emphasized the use of the leg on the first (L1) kick and a high percentage of the kicks in that segment were judged unacceptable.

Seems that when the left calf is stiff and sore, at the beginning of the practice the L1 precision is low, regardless of whether power derived from body movement or power derived from leg movement is being emphasized during the L1 kick.

Due to impaired accuracy on the L1 kick at the beginning of the practice, the performance on the R2 kicks was also impaired, because when the L1 kick is inaccurate, this makes it more difficult to perform well on the R2 kick.

I started out the evening watching the old-boys slash young-men play basketball. It was interesting to watch them, but watching them seemed to have the effect of putting me into a state of mind such that I did not feel inclined to perform the dull precise soccer drill task that lay ahead for me.

I noticed today that often on the R2 kicks that I award the highest quality rating of 5, my trailing left foot is slightly above the ground when the right foot kicks the ball. This evening I began to add a code to the practice results data sheet: R2OG, which means, on the R2 kick both feet were off the ground.

I noticed this evening that when the R2 kick is performed poorly, the culprit is often a lack of sideways force imparted to the ball. Today I began adding a code to the practice results data sheet: ISF, which stand for 'insufficient sideways force".

Seems the key to achieving high scores on this drill, is to take care that one is not lackadaisical and disinterested at the beginning. The drill is so mundane unspectacular and boring, that there is a tendency to be 'half-asleep' on the first few attempts. Usually boring mundane stuff is not counted and scored, and so one has the habit of sleepwalking through such stuff. Problem is that just a few absent-minded miskicks can have a dramatic effect on the final score. For example, 25 runs, all scored at 4, comes out to an average of 4.0. But 21 runs rated at 4 and 4 runs rated at 1, averages just 3.4.

Before this evening's practice, I drank only about 8 oz of coffee left over from the previous day. By way of contrast performance has been better when I've had about 24 oz of freshly brewed coffee prior to practice. Looks like I've gotten addicted to too much coffee and need to get used to less coffee. Either that, or having become addicted, I now need approx 24 oz coffee to perform well.

I've come to appreciate and enjoy coffee, although most of my life I've been unenthusiastic about coffee. This year I acquired a machine for brewing coffee at home. I discovered coffees that are organic or natural and that are fresh because I grind up the coffee beans myself in the store. I discovered great African coffees (Yirga Chaffee from Ethiopia, Kenya Grand Cru). I bought a coffee cup that hold three times as much coffee as the normal coffee cups. I learned to mix the coffee with organic half and half, spring water, and organic sugars.

Seems we get brainwashed into focusing on learning new things, and in the process forget important lessons we've already learned. Seems I've yet again forgotten how I need to at least occasionally engage in long-distance aerobic exercise like jogging, which improves my mood and can improve my performance on skill drills.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-3T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; and the ball kicked into the curtain or to the left on T3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

On my blog, I've put up a blog-post which describes the similarity between practice tactics as I've been implementing them in sports, and practice-tactics in instrumental musicianship.

Routine I am following with this drill, is alternating between 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the body-upright position, and 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the in the body-crouched position.

This evening first I continued the segment I was in the middle of at the end of the previous practice, doing runs 20-38 with the body in a crouched position during the R2 kick.

The average score this evening on 19 runs with the ball kicked in a body-crouched position on R2 was (score during previous practice yesterday) 4.4 (3.8); on L1 this segment I emphasized use of body as opposed to use of leg (usually with body crouched I emphasize use of the leg on L1). The score continues to creep upwards.

A run can be given a score of between 0 and 5, the higher the score the better. I try to grade with the same severity I graded with on Sept 17, every day. Roughly speaking, a run gets a 3 when the R2 kick puts the ball in a position that is minimally acceptable if the run is to continue with a 90 degree turn to the left on the kick after R2.

Today again, I kept track of how many L1 kicks were unacceptable. Percentage of L1 kicks judged 'unacceptable' (results previous practice in parentheses): body-power emphasized during L1-- 6/25,24% (31%). The stiffness problem in the left calf had by now subsided but this afternoon I had not practiced for eleven days.

Before the start of the practice I had my "nutrients cocktail" described earlier in this log.

'Nearleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R1) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my left with my left hand. Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (R2, L2), with the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'Nearleft' basketball penetration move , which was first practiced August 28. This move involves a cut to the left; it is designed for moderately closely guarded conditions. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the elbow in powering the shot; the shots were shot 'stylishly'.

I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard this evening (Aug 28 I started from 24' doing 'NearLeft'. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the circle between L2 and R2, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. These shots were taken approx 21 feet from the basket . An attempt was made to be 'stylish' on all the shots.

The results shooting from approx 21 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'Nearleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming for the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. Shooting without warmup shots, not having shot for 11 days, shooting with my off-hand aiming for the backboard, I expected this segment to be no more than 10% successful.

'Nearleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming for the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. .

On both these segments, there were four shots that almost went in. If the four shots had gone in each segment, the percentage would have been 45%, excellent for off-the-backboard from 21 feet, especially for off-hand shooting (shooting using the less favored hand).

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-3T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-3T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; and the ball kicked into the curtain or to the left on T3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

On my blog, I've put up a blog-post which describes the similarity between practice tactics as I've been implementing them in sports, and practice-tactics in instrumental musicianship.

Routine I am following with this drill, is alternating between 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the body-upright position, and 50 recorded runs with R2 done in the in the body-crouched position.

This evening first I finished the segment I was in the middle of at the end of the previous practice, doing runs 39-51 with the body in a crouched position during the R2 kick.

The average score this evening on 12 runs with the ball kicked in a body-crouched position on R2 was (score during previous practice yesterday) 3.8 (4.4); on L1 this segment I emphasized use of body as opposed to use of leg.

The average score this evening on 24 runs with the ball kicked in a body-upright position on R2 was (score during previous practice yesterday) 3.75 (3.6); on L1 this segment I emphasized use of leg as opposed to use of body.

A run can be given a score of between 0 and 5, the higher the score the better. I try to grade with the same severity I graded with on Sept 17, every day. Roughly speaking, a run gets a 3 when the R2 kick puts the ball in a position that is minimally acceptable if the run is to continue with a 90 degree turn to the left on the kick after R2.

Today again, I kept track of how many L1 kicks were unacceptable. Percentage of L1 kicks judged 'unacceptable' (results previous practice in parentheses): body-power emphasized during L1-- 2/15,13% (24%). Leg-power emphasized during L1-- 2/26,8% (5%).

Eight hours before practice start I consumed the "nutrients cocktail" described earlier in this log. I was sleepy lethargic and tired all day as if I'd eaten my biggest meal ever. I had combined the 'cocktail' with a slice of homemade pizza and spaghetti and meatballs, and it was the second day in a row I'd had the 'cocktail'.

'NearRight' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.5) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 1). Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (L2, R2), with the right foot (R2) in front of the left foot (L2). Then using the front right foot (R2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the left foot (L3), step forwards with the right foot (R4) and release the ball before the right foot (R4) hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28.

I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'NearRight' basketball penetration move , which was first practiced August 29. This move involves a cut to the right; it is designed for moderately closely guarded conditions. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot; the shots were shot 'stylishly'.

I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard this evening (Aug 29 I started from 24' doing 'NearRight'). I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. These shots were taken approx 13 feet from the basket .

I was moving towards the basket at a faster rate of speed than I've ever been moving towards the basket while shooting, since my return to basketball on August 28.

The results shooting from approx 13 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'Nearright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15%. If five shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 40%.

'Nearright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 6/20, 30%. If 4 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 50%.

'Nearright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%. If 3 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 35%.

'Nearright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 8/20, 40%. If 2 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 50%.

The figures for the percentages that would have been if shots that almost went in had gone in, indicate the percentages at which I will soon be shooting if I continue shooting. If I could shoot at 60% on these shots which are fired from 13' from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at a high velocity, especially shooting with my off-hand the right, I would be a super-hero. So I'm not far from being a super-hero.

The soccer drill results are described in the soccer drill results table that I created today and put up online.

At 8:00 PM, though the gym was scheduled for "open basketball" until 10:00 PM, to my surprise yet again the gym schedule was over-ruled by an official game complete with refs featuring two teams from "T's League". I told them about how the constant breaking of the schedule means that: people cannot trust the printed schedule, people waste time driving to the Y and back simply to find out the gym schedule has been overruled; people will not be inclined to become Y members.

Watching the T's league players I noted that approx 35% of the shots they take that are not layup type shots very close to the basket, go in.

In the pool I swam nonstop alternating between 50 yards breaststroke and 50 yards crawl. I felt strong, I think because of taking the nutrients cocktail yesterday and the day before. I completed 1300 yards in 42 minutes.

The soccer drill results are described in the soccer drill results table that I created today and put up online.

I really felt almost physically sick, and mentally upset, due to the previous practice being aborted. I had gotten psyched up and revved up for the soccer practice, but then instead I had to go swimming.

During the practice I noted in my notebook with my pen, that "sheer teeth clenched attention, focus, and effort = results today".

The first kick, L1, is a kick that is easy to get bored inattentive and lackadaisical about. I found that if I just approach L1 the way I approach more exciting actions, with energy and attention and effort, I get good results.

Earlier, a few months ago, when I was not keeping close track of the results on each run, I had developed the impression that perhaps taking it easy, relaxing, not paying close attention, would produce better results compared to close attention being paid to the act of the kick during the kicks.

The first 9 runs today with the upright posture on R2, the average score was only 2.8. Thereafter, on the remaining 17 runs in upright posture, the average score was 4.4. Out of the first 9 attempts today with the body-force emphasized on L1, 33% of the L1 kicks were bad; thereafter out of the next 19 attempts zero percent of the L1 kicks were bad. Seems that it is taking me about 9 runs to get warmed up.

As usual there are no uncounted warmups with me, nothing is uncounted unless some child gets in my way or distracts me or something like that; less than 4% of attempts are not counted in the scoring for such reason.

Today during the 26 runs with a well kicked ball on L1 and the upright posture on R2, there were 4 godlike, superhero-type runs. During 25 runs featuring a well kicked ball on L1 and the crouched posture on R2, there were 2 superhero-type runs. Thus, 12% of the runs were superhero type runs. I had not previously noticed enough of these to bother keeping track of how many occurred. By superhero type run I mean: the body-movement and the horizontal-ball-movement from the first kick to the third kick were both fast; the angle of the turn on R2 was almost exactly 90 degrees; the balls were well placed; the distance between touches on the ball was about 7 feet.

'NearRight' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.5) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 1). Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (L2, R2), with the right foot (R2) in front of the left foot (L2). Then using the front right foot (R2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the left foot (L3), step forwards with the right foot (R4) and release the ball before the right foot (R4) hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28.

I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'NearRight' basketball penetration move , which was first practiced August 29. This move involves a cut to the right; it is designed for moderately closely guarded conditions. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot; the shots were shot 'stylishly'.

I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard this evening (Aug 29 I started from 24' doing 'NearRight'). I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the circle between L2 and R2, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. These shots were taken approx 21 feet from the basket .

The results shooting from approx 21 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket:

'Nearright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. If 5 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 35%.

'Nearright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 6/20, 30%. If 11 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 85%. I started out hot, was at 5/9 (56%), then things cooled off and I ended at 6/20 (30%).

'Nearright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%. If 4 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 40%. I started hot, was at 3/8 (38%); but I cooled off and ended at 4/20 (20%).

'Nearright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the rim not the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20%. If 6 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 50%. This overweight white guy with a beard and dark brown hair, was watching me and also his cute little white toddler daughter who sported long straight dark brown hair. Watching me miss, he looked at me and said: "you're off".

I analyze the events recorded in this entry, at the end of the next entry.

'NearFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'NearFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 0.7). Next I step with my right foot (R1), and powering off my right foot, catch the ball after it has bounced, with both feet off the ground (brown ball marker), and then land on both feet simultaneously (R2 & L2). With the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground.

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

Notes: I am naturally left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were as usual zero uncounted warmup shots.

Second section of basketball practice today, I practiced the 'NearFright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the right followed by a cut to the left .

Nearfright is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between R3 and L4, with fast body movement from the start and minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. I was moving towards the basket as fast as I ever have been on this kind of shot. Shooting from this point approx 12' feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways:

'NearFright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. If 8 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 50%.

'NearFright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. If 7 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 45%.

'NearFright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 10/20, 50%. If 1 shot that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 55%. I started out at 6/15 (40%), then got red-hot and finished at 10/20 (50%), making 4 out of the last 5 attempts.

'NearFright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 6/20, 30%. If 2 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 40%. I started out hot at 5/11 (45%), but ended at 6/20 (30%).

Next I continued with 'Nearfright', but changed to shooting from 21', at the point marked by the circle near L2 and R2 in the diagram:

'NearFright' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 7/20, 35%. If 2 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 45%. I started out cold at 4/16 (25%), but ended up at 7/20 (35%), I made 3 out of my last 4 attempts.

'NearFright' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10%. If 5 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 35%.

My feet were hurting during this segment. It was the tenth segment of the day.

Overall today during the practice and at the end of the practice, I felt unreasonably miserable, I felt as if I had taken a giant step backwards as opposed to improved. This because during the only left-handed shooting I did aiming for the ring (I am left-handed), I shot only 20%; and the heavy white guy with the dark brown hair and the cute daughter stared at me during this embarrassing segment and said (sounding like an undertaker or a doctor pronouncing a terminal illness diagnosis), 'You're off'.

In retrospect the miserable feeling was unwarranted. Today was my best day ever for shooting from 21-22', left-handed, aiming for the backboard. The shooting aiming for the ring from 12', was as good as the best I've ever done from 12-13'. The overall percentage inferiority compared to past performances today was almost insignificant. In the eighteen days of October thus far prior to today, I had only shot baskets for 1.5 hours.

Today, in one of the segments, I produced perhaps the best shooting performance ever since I returned to basketball on August 28, shooting 85% aiming for the backboard ( counting the shots that almost went in as having gone in), left-handed, from 21'.

Another freaky thing about today was that the shooting was very streaky: From 21', left-handed aiming for the backboard, I started hot at 5/9 (56%); from 21' right-handed aiming for the ring, I started hot at 3/8 (38%); from 12', left-handed aiming for the ring I ended up hot at 4/5 (80%); from 12', right-handed aiming for the ring, I started out hot at 5/11, 45%; from 12', left-handed, aiming for the backboard, I ended up hot at 3/4 (75%). Apparently on the 21' shots I started out hot and then cooled off, whereas on the 12' shots I started out cold and ended up hot.

Though I've been off tobacco for years, today before the start of the practice, I smoked one organic 'American Spirit' tobacco cigarette. I could'nt resist the temptation to experiment with organic tobacco. The end result seems to have been: one incredible segment; very streaky shooting featuring great performance when hot; an unwarranted sense of doing badly while shooting; increased fatigue; decreased happiness; a sense of guilt.

Seems as if perhaps, occasionally smoking a cigarette of organic tobacco prior to a practice, can open up new types of performance achievements, wild new worlds of shooting feats. This seems like evidence in support of the idea that cycling on and off various herbs is the optimal approach to the consumption of herbs--societies that have been using herbs for thousands of years, cycle on and off consumption of herbs, consuming an herb for a while and then abstaining from the use of the herb for a while. Then again, it's possible I could develop a dependence on tobacco resulting in my performance when off tobacco going into decline.

Today I felt as if the the end-result of counting how many shots almost went in, is a decline in percentage in terms of how many shots actually do go in, combined with an increase in terms of the percentage of shots that almost go in. Not sure if this feeling I felt, indicates the real state of things.

The soccer drill results are described in the soccer drill results table that I created today and put up online.

Overall today, over 92 runs in 3.75 hours (25 runs per hour), the average score for the R2 kicks was 4.3, and only 3% of the L1 kicks were judged unacceptable. Today has to have been my best day ever doing this particular drill.

Why I did well: I concentrated hard mentally and was physically energetic on the first kick. I always remembered to concentrate hard mentally and to be physically energetic, especially on the first L1 kick. My mind began to get used to the idea that the technique used on the R2 kick, depends on where the ball is placed by the L1 kick. I remembered, that when I am trying to kick R2 with the body in an upright position, this does not mean that I have to emphasize body being upright while executing the L1 kick; I remembered that, when I am trying to kick R2 with the body in a crouched position, this does not mean I have to be in an especially crouched position during the L1 kick.

During the practice, with my pen, I noted in my notebook, that: it might be wise to focus on errors made during the first dozen runs, because during the first dozen runs is when lots of the errors occur; an important analytical method is to sub-categorize the runs by where the L1 kick placed the ball; fatigue due to the long practice, and distraction caused by kids entering the gym running around being noisy starting at 530 PM, somewhat impaired performance; many of the 5 point runs that were judged to have featured an excellent kick on R2, were better than the usual 5-point run, but not as good as what I call "super-hero" runs...the distance between touches on these runs was about 5-6 feet (on super-hero runs this distance is about 7'), the 90 degree angle on R2 was perfect, the speed was fast, but not as fast as on the 'super-hero' runs.

As usual there were no uncounted warmups; nothing was uncounted unless the run was somehow significantly interfered with; less than five percent of the runs were uncounted.

'NearFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'NearFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 0.7). Next I step with my right foot (R1), and powering off my right foot, catch the ball after it has bounced, with both feet off the ground (brown ball marker), and then land on both feet simultaneously (R2 & L2). With the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground.

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

Notes: I am naturally left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were as usual zero uncounted warmup shots.

Nearfright is described graphically and in text in the graphic-box in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between R2 and L2, with fast body movement from the start and minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. Shooting from approx 21' feet from the basket, I shot the ball in two different ways:

'NearFright' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 5/20, 25%. If 4 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 45%.

'NearFright' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 1/20, 05%. If 6 shots that almost went in had gone in the percentage would have been 35%.

My analysis of today's basketball is in the third entry for October 20.

'NearFleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'NearFleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (30 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.5) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my left with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 1), swiveling on my left foot, I cut to my right and grab the ball after it has bounced up off the floor, with both feet off the ground, while jumping forwards, result being that I land with the right foot in front of the left foot. At this point I can shoot the ball; or, I can step forwards with the left foot (L3), step forwards with the right foot (R4), and shoot the ball before the right foot hits the ground.

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

Notes: I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'NearFleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the left followed by a cut to the right .

Nearfleft is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 30 feet from the backboard. First, I shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start and minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. Shooting from approx 15 feet from the basket, I shot the ball in four different ways, putting emphasis on the use of wrist-power during each shot:

'NearFleft' LH aim for ring (what percentage would have been if shots that almost went in went in, in parentheses): Using the left hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20% (45%).

'NearFleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 3/20, 15% (30%).

'NearFleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20% (35%).

'NearFleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 1/20, 05% (15%).

Next, I continued shooting off the 'Nearleft' dribble/footwork pattern, but shot the ball from 21', at the point just outside the 3-point line, near L2 and R2 in the diagram this entry.:

'NearFleft' LH aim for ring (what percentage would have been if shots that almost went in went in, in parentheses): Using the left hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10% (20%).

'NearFleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming for the ring not the backboard, I shot 2/20, 10% (30%).

'NearFleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 4/20, 20% (45%).

'NearFleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot 1/20, 05% (15%). During this segment I developed soreness and stiffness in my right hip and upper right thigh, which continued to afflict me for the rest of the basketball practice.

As usual the results are reported in the same order as the shots were executed during the practice. This order is changed from day to day.

From the beginning I noticed that this move seems to work better footwork-wise, if: there is a skip at the L1 point; the left foot is moved up closer to the right foot after landing on both feet simultaneously after catching the ball off the dribble (L2 in diagram), and before shooting the ball from approx 21'.

My analysis re this practice session is in the next entry.

'Farleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Farleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard usually). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R 0.3), step with my left foot (L 0.7) as I dribble the ball with my left hand (ball is released before left foot hits ground), step with my right foot (R 1), catch the ball as it rebounds off the ground (brown circle) with both feet off the ground; then I land with the left foot ahead of the right foot (R 2 and L 2). At this point I can take a shot (white circle), or I can continue by: stepping with my right foot (R 3), stepping with my left foot (L 4), and shooting the ball before the left foot hits the ground (lower white circle).

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'Farleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. 'Farleft' is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 35 feet from the backboard (usually the start point is at 36', but I had developed a right-hip problem). I moved fast between the start of the run and the time at which I took the shot; I minimized the amount of time between catching the ball off the dribble and shooting it. At the time of the shot I was moving as fast as I ever have been when shooting the ball from 12 feet--I was hurtling towards the basket super-hero style.

These last shots of the day were impaired by the pain and soreness I felt in my right hip. I shot the ball from the point symbolized as the circle between R3 & L4 in the diagram, emphasizing use of elbow-power:

'Farleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 5/20, 25% (45%).

'Farleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 7/20, 35% (60%). This segment I started out at 6/11 (55%), but ended at just 7/20 (35%).

The shooting today Oct 20, described in this entry and the previous two entries, was "off". Today was the first day since I returned to basketball August 28, featuring shooting percentages significantly lower compared to shooting percentages on previous days (not counting low percentages outdoors sometimes) (seems I shoot well when I shoot indoors after a day shooting outdoors).

I suspect the reason for the shooting being off today, was that prior to starting practice today at 420 PM, from about 13o PM to 400 PM, I smoked THREE organic tobacco cigarettes. October 18, I smoked just ONE organic tobacco cigarette prior to the start of practice, and the result was very streaky shooting, sometimes me shooting like a superhero, sometimes me shooting like a complete dork.

Seems the performance impairment produced by the tobacco overdose, began to subside at approx 845 PM, at which point I began shooting at percentages that have been normal for me. Thus I estimate that tobacco overdose, meaning more than one organic tobacco cigarette prior to start of practice, produces performance impairment that lasts for 5 hours (5 hours from time of last cigarette to time of end of performance impairment).

Looking at the wild almost psychedelic, partially heroic results October 18 after one organic tobacco cigarette, and the miserable results today after three organic tobacco cigarettes, as of now I conclude that one organic tobacco cigarette before shooting practice can open up new horizons (if I can learn to shoot the way I shot when I was shooting well after the just ONE cigarette I'd be a superhero); but more than one organic tobacco cigarette before practice results in performance impairment for approx 5 hours.

One bright spot in the gloom of today: today running the 'Farleft' pattern, I covered 23' from the start to the shot point on one dribble, despite soreness and stiffness in the right hip. September 5, just 7 days after returning to basketball, I covered only 18' from the start to the shot-point running the same pattern, and exerting about the same level of effort in terms of distance covered on the dribble. I estimate I could have covered 25' today on one dribble, if my hip and leg had not been sore and I had not already practiced so much during the day. Thus, my distance covered on one dribble in this 'Farleft' move, has in 45 days of on and off basketball practice, improved by approx 39%!

Being able to cover huge distances on just one dribble is an integral aspect of the super-hero image . If I continued at this rate of percentage-increase-per-time-period improvement, in just three months from now, I would be covering 48 feet on just one dribble , without travelling!

The soccer drill results are described in the soccer drill results table that I created today and put up online.

Overall today, over 65 runs in 2.67 hours (24 runs per hour), the average score for the R2 kicks was 4.0, and 7% of the L1 kicks were judged unacceptable.

The leading suspect re the performance not being a personal best: the cool temperature in the gym. This evening the gym temperature was the coolest it's been in about six months. The temperature was ideal for a workout but I was'nt used to it. It felt the way it feels, in air-conditioned areas owned by nordic-types who are prosperous enough that they don't have to economize on the electricity-bill. Outdoors it was 40 degrees fahrenheit with a dew point of only 25 degrees fahrenheit. The temp and humidity conditions indoors were so nice that throughout the practice, I felt too sleepy, too relaxed, too loose.

The L1 kicks this evening: An unusually high percentage of the L1 kicks were offalthough they were not so bad as to be counted as unacceptable . This was especially true with the L1 kicks at the beginning of the practice, involving emphasis on body-power. As a result, the R2 kicks were more difficult than usual. These R2 kicks had to be counted in the score totals because the L1 kicks they were paired with were not so bad as to be counted as unacceptable.

Looks like when the gym is cool, I should perhaps : wear a long-sleeved shirt or sweatshirt; jog before starting the practice. I read somewhere on the internet, that a general practice with athletes is to jog before the start of the workout so as to get the "core body temperature" up.

The cool temperature inside the gym, emphatically announced to my mind, the onset of winter. The onset of winter had emotional implications, I guess I felt a little melancholy this evening.

A possible factor impairing performance: I was all revved up, psyched up for soccer practice yesterday Thursday evening. Then I got a phone call from Patrick at the Y telling me that the gym was being used for some basketball league's games, as a result of which I had to skip the soccer workout that I had gotten revved up and psyched up for.

'Farleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Farleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard usually). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R 0.3), step with my left foot (L 0.7) as I dribble the ball with my left hand (ball is released before left foot hits ground), step with my right foot (R 1), catch the ball as it rebounds off the ground (brown circle) with both feet off the ground; then I land with the left foot ahead of the right foot (R 2 and L 2). At this point I can take a shot (white circle), or I can continue by: stepping with my right foot (R 3), stepping with my left foot (L 4), and shooting the ball before the left foot hits the ground (lower white circle).

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'Farleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. 'Farleft' is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard. I moved fast between the start of the run and the time at which I took the shot; I minimized the amount of time between catching the ball off the dribble and shooting it.

First I shot two series from 11', from the spot shown as the circle between R3 and L4 in the diagram . At the time of the shots I was moving faster than I ever have been when shooting the ball from 11 feet--I was hurtling towards the basket super-hero style. From the start of the run to the ball-release point, I covered 25':

'Farleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming to shoot without using the backboard I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 4/20, 20% (25% in one shot that almost went in had gone in).

'Farleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to shoot without using the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 5/20, 25%.

Next I shot one series from 21', from the point symbolized as the circle near L2 and R2 in the diagram:

'Farleft' RH aim for ring from 22': Using the right hand aiming to shoot without using the backboard I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 1/20, 05%. These should have been aimed for the backboard according to the schedule, by mistake they were aimed for the ring, the intent being to not bounce the ball off the backboard.

Today in keeping score, from the beginning of the practice, I cracked down on myself with regards to the number of shots reported as 'almost' having gone in. From now on my policy is that a shot is counted as 'almost' having gone in only if: the ball swirls around the rim before popping out; the ball hits the rim at least twice in a row before popping out.

The shots from 11' that missed, were generally shot well--they did not miss by much, they were shot stylishly, with the hand at a vertically high point when the ball was released.

The shots from 21' were also shot well, even though only one went in. Due in part to the emphasis on stylishness, I got to the point where in terms of my form I looked just like a naturally right-handed college level shooter, even though I am left-handed. These shots were difficult because I slanted left on the dribble and then shot with my right hand.

I enjoyed shooting with an emphasis on style. I suspect that shooting with style, is better for my mind and my body, compared to shooting without emphasis on style.

After the practice, I ran the Moody and Main street outdoors course, alternating between a mile run and a mile walked for six miles. Yet again, the run was like torture due to pain in the balls of the feet and the big toes. After running I studiously applied ice to my feet and legs, compressed my feet with bandages, and elevated my feet above my body when I lay down. This is what they call R.I.C.E (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). My feet felt much improved the next day. Previously I had thought that the R.I.C.E therapy did not apply to pain in the soles of the feet experienced while jogging.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-5T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L3; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R4; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L5. All this is done with the ball off the ground. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain. The gray line represents the wall at the far side of the curtain.

From October 24 to November 4, for eleven days, I did not engage in any athletic activities. I've noticed before that there are certain activities such as having to see certain people and eat dinner with them, that almost invariably have the result that for about ten days I don't engage in any athletic activities, because I feel too tired. These periodic bouts of lethargy, I have to consider to be an important factor impairing my progress in sports. Then again you could say such are a natural part of the formula that works for me when it comes to improvement in sports.

During the 8 hours prior to the start of practice today I consumed certain foods which I credit with helping me to overcome my lethargy: red burgundy wine; a half pound of Santa Fe style broiled naturally raised sirloin steak from the Whole Foods Deli; two slices Barowsky organic 12-grain bread; approx 12 oz of organic coffee with organic tobacco added to the coffee in the coffee maker.

I added 1 tablespoon slightly compressed organic tobacco (approx the amount in one rolled cigarette) to 3 tablespoons organic coffee to make 24 oz tobacco-coffee. Prior to drinking the tobacco-coffee, I added organic half n half and organic sugar to it. Whereas I've read of native American shamans detoxifying their patients sometimes with tobacco tea to the point of vomiting and sometimes not to the point of vomiting, I did not vomit.

Reading on the internet one would think that such tobacco coffee would kill me. People are so afraid of being killed by tobacco, that they shy away from tea or coffee made from tobacco.

The tobacco I used, "American Spirit" brand organic, contains 1.6 mg of nicotine per cigarette . Supposedly, according to Jay Arena, 60 mg of nicotine is the lethal dose for a 150 pound male. Thus using the tobacco I've been using, I would have to consume 37 cigarettes worth of tobacco of the type I've been using, or 37 tablespoons, to give myself near a lethal dose.

Apparently the fear of nicotine tea has rational roots. An internet forum participant declared, that the average US cigarette contains 9 mg of nicotine and that there are New Zealand cigarettes that contain 19 mg of nicotine (see also google search: cigarette average nicotine mg; Google search: cigarette "highest nicotine" mg).

Therefore, to be on the safe side using average American tobacco, you would not want to consume more than 4 tablespoons of tobacco, and to be on the safe side with tobacco that has the most nicotine, you would not want to consume more than 2 tablespoons of tobacco.

I started out my experiments using just a teaspoon of tobacco; I noted that this had no negative effect on me; I worked my way up to 1 tablespoon of tobacco, this also did not negatively effect me. In this way I kept myself safe from nicotine overdose.

Tobacco originated in the Ecuador/Peru Andes mountain range area . Bloggers have described how when they traveled in this area, a "shaman-in-training", fed them tobacco tea; the shaman felt such would detoxify them. I've read reports that tobacco tea has strong anti-cancer properties.

Why I experimented with tobacco coffee/tea: nicotine gum is expensive; I estimated that consuming unburnt tobacco, containing all kinds of uncooked natural chemicals, would have a positive effect that counterbalanced past consumption of just nicotine and past consumption of tobacco smoke; I estimated that though perhaps tobacco in excess amounts consumed via tea etc is harmful, moderate amounts would at the worst have no negative impact; I noticed that the tobacco tea smelled like something that would clean out the system without being too harsh on the body; noting how the world we live in is filled with herbs that are good for us, I suspected that perhaps the Americas contain herbs that are good for persons living in the Americas; I suspected that organic tobacco would be healthier than unorganic tobacco.

Factors that may have resulted in avoiding exercise for 11 days: I again repeatedly deluded myself into thinking that I lacked energy for a workout when actually I had plenty of energy; I was sick of the type of scored practices that I had been engaging in; somewhere beneath the conscious level I felt that I would be wasting my time if I continued with the scored practices of the type I'd been engaging in; my time and energy were eaten up by birthday parties, and elections; my time and energy were used up studying election issues and responding to machine-generated phone calls from candidates.

Factors that may have helped me to recover from the spell of lethargy: I decided that the next soccer practice would not be a scored practice of the type I'd been doing; day before practice I drove down to the Y and watched some basketball and drove back, without working out, this re-accustomed me to the habit of going to the Y.

As of now it seems to me, that during October, I manifested a weakness within, which is a weakness also found in most persons, in that out of habit, day after day I followed the new tradition that I had developed involving a certain type of scored practice, when it would have been wiser to at least for a while move on to another type of practice. Physically energetic as I may have been during practice, I became mentally too lazy to change from the type of practice that had become habitual, mentally too lazy to sit down at the desk and devise some new type of practice.

What went on at the practice today

Previously, I had been: scoring the quality of the L1 and R2 kicks; trying hard to keep up a high score; concentrating not on implementing a specific technique, but concentrating on achieving high quality L1 and R2 kicks; allowing natural variety of techniques to spontaneously develop.

The idea behind not implementing any one technique but rather allowing spontaneous variety of technique in the context of focusing on achieving high quality results, was that this would allow me to become wise re what technique should be applied.

In the course of the practices in October I noticed that: applying ankle-force through the flip of the ankle when kicking the ball, sometimes but not always produced good results; applying leg-power to the kick sometimes but not always produced good results; applying body-power sometimes but not always produced good results; having the toe pointing up sometimes but not always produced good results; having the toe pointing straight ahead sometimes but not always produced good results; striking the ball with the front middle area of the top of the foot produced the best results; a common cause of miskicks, was a lack of sideways force applied to the ball by the foot; how well a given technique worked on the second kick, depended on where I placed the ball with the first kick.

I decided that I had to use one style on all the kicks after the first kick. Things happen so fast that there is no time to note where the first kick has placed the ball and then on this basis decide what technique to use; performance is impaired as a result of constant switching in terms of type of technique implemented.

I decided that for now the technique I would work with would be to: apply as much body-force as possible, and as much leg-force as possible, and as much ankle force as possible, to every kick; strike the ball with the front middle top area of the foot; not worry about whether the toe was pointing up or straight ahead (this is naturally dependent on where the ball is relative to the body). This approach, I felt, would minimize the occurrence of of kicks involving a lack of sideways force applied to the ball resulting in miskicks. I officially name this technique, " All-Force One".

Today using All-Force One technique, there was inconsistency, but some excellent results. Looks like it will take a little time to get used to the new " All Force One" technique. The fact a technique is the best technique, does not mean that it will not take some time to get used to it. A new superior technique at first, usually generates performance that is inferior to the performance produced be a previous inferior technique.

The All-Force One technique, today produced results that were more impressive in certain ways than the results achieved previously when attempting to stretch the runs out to as many touches as possible with 90 degree turns made on each touch after the first touch. The distance between touches was longer than previously achieved, the speed of the runs was faster.

Today on five especially good runs lasting for four to five touches, the average distance between touches was 6.7 feet, the median average distance between touches was 7.3 feet, and the range in terms of average distance between touches was 6-8.5 feet.

The mathematical formulas I developed (based on the Pythagorean theorem) after practice for computing the average distance between touches doing these runs featuring the ball touched on every pace and 90 degree turns on each touch (parentheses used in the mathematical sense):

For 4-touch runs: average distance between touches = square root of ( (straight line distance from start point to end point squared), divided by 5).

For 5-touch runs: average distance between touches = square root of ( (straight-line distance from start point to end point squared)/2); this result divided by 2.

Incredible distances sometimes achieved between touches

Some of the runs featured amazing distances covered between the first touch and the second touch. Twice I recorded this distance as 12' and once as 11'. Meaning, the distance between where my right foot last hit the ground after my right foot skipped after the kick with the right foot on the second touch, and the point where my left foot kicked the ball on the third touch, was around 12 feet on three different occasions.

Being surprised be these distances, I observed and recorded how far I could throw my right foot, from a standing start with the left foot in front of the right foot, with the ball not involved: the max on this was only 8 feet.

I also calculated how far I could throw my right foot, from a standing start with the right foot in front of the left foot, with the left foot moved forward to hit the ground twice in a skip before the right foot was thrown forwards, with the ball not involved: the max on this: only 9 feet.

(I should have measured how far I can throw the left foot but so it went in the heat of battle).

You can see how somehow, when working with the ball, I was able to throw my foot forwards in one step 12 feet after the second touch on the ball, whereas without the ball I could only throw my foot forwards 8-9 feet.

It's possible that somehow during the 90 degree turn on the second touch, I was able to maintain some of the momentum generated prior to the second touch and put this momentum into the lunge forwards after the second touch; my body is not a stiff machine but flexible. But as of now I do not see how this momentum generated through the turn effect could be alone responsible for the long distances of approx 12 feet travelled between the second touch and the third touch.

As of now I believe that a psychological element, a mind over matter type thing is at work here. I suspect that as a result of my mind being focused on the ball, I am able to lunge forwards with my foot farther than is the case when no ball is involved.

Previously I had noticed that I seem able to sprint faster when chasing the ball, compared to my sprinting speed without a ball--seemed that when chasing the ball I would sort of glide over the ground, whereas without the ball my feet would more heavily impact the floor.

Back when I had been jogging almost every day, I attempted to hurl a foot forwards as far as possible from a standing start and the max distance achieved was I think about 7 feet. Noticing this I concluded that jogging had impaired my ability to take long steps from almost a standing start that I had noticed in myself when doing soccer drills.

Now it seems that jogging instead of doing soccer drills reduced my max standing start step length by only about 13% and that the operative force is a mysterious psychological advantage derived from mental concentration on reaching a ball in flight.

I've noticed that when doing these soccer drills, in between each run with the ball I feel decrepit like a mouse, but then during each run with the ball I become like a lion. Seems my body has somehow adapted to the rigors of the drills by learning to conserve energy between attempts and expend energy explosively during attempts using the ball.

Today during the entire workout, I tried to do everything stylishly. I find that when I do things stylishly, there is less mental stress. Seems unstylish, physically hesitant and tentative movement is harder on the body.

Today I used the upright body position on the second kick. On the first kick, the first hour I emphasized leg-power and the second hour I emphasized body-power. I definitely felt that the emphasis of the body-power on the first kick is more stylish and fits with a stylish approach more than the emphasis of leg-power on the first kick.

'Farleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Farleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard usually). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R 0.3), step with my left foot (L 0.7) as I dribble the ball with my left hand (ball is released before left foot hits ground), step with my right foot (R 1), catch the ball as it rebounds off the ground (brown circle) with both feet off the ground; then I land with the left foot ahead of the right foot (R 2 and L 2). At this point I can take a shot (white circle), or I can continue by: stepping with my right foot (R 3), stepping with my left foot (L 4), and shooting the ball before the left foot hits the ground (lower white circle).

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Prior to the practice I took a nap for about an hour. Before the practice I felt like skipping the practice and going back to sleep. But I toughed it out and did the practice. I found that I was much less tired during the practice than I expected to be.

Today I practiced the 'Farleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. 'Farleft' is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard. I moved fast between the start of the run and the time at which I took the shot; I minimized the amount of time between catching the ball off the dribble and shooting it.

I shot four series from 21'-22', from the spot shown as the circle between R2 and L2 in the diagram.

'Farleft' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to shoot off the backboard I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 2/20, 10% (10%).

'Farleft' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to shoot off the backboard I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 2/20, 10% (15%).

'Farleft' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming to shoot without using the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 3/20, 15% (30%).

'Farleft' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming to shoot without using the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 6/20, 30% (50%).

Today in keeping score, from the beginning of the practice, again I cracked down on myself with regards to the number of shots reported as 'almost' having gone in. My policy today was that a shot is counted as 'almost' having gone in only if: the ball swirls around the rim before popping out; the ball hits the rim at least twice before popping out.

I found it to be interesting how, when I first cracked down on myself re the number of shots counted as 'almost' having gone in, the number of shots counted as having almost gone in radically declined. But today the number of shots counted as having almost gone in was up again.

'Farright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

The 'Farright' basketball drill starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3), step with my left foot (L 0.6) as I dribble the ball with my left hand (ball leaves hand before left foot hits ground), step with my right foot (R ), step with my left foot (L 1), catch the ball as it rebounds off the ground (brown circle) with both feet off the ground; then I land with the right foot ahead of the left foot (R 2 and L 2). At this point I can take a shot (white circle), or I can continue by: stepping with my left foot (L 3), stepping with my right foot (R 4), and shooting the ball before the right foot hits the ground (lower white circle). Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking, one foot from the green crosses closest to it.

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

During today's practice, I practiced the 'FarRight' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. 'FarRight' is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard; I minimized the amount of time between catching the ball off the dribble and shooting it.

I shot two series from 12'-13' , from the spot shown as the circle between R3 and L4 in the diagram . At the time of the shots I was moving as fast as I ever have been when shooting the ball from around 12 feet--I was hurtling towards the basket super-hero style. From the start of the run to the ball-release point, I covered 24':

'FarRight' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming to shoot without using the backboard I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 6/20, 30% (55%).

'FarRight' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming to shoot without using the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 8/20, 40% (45%).

I felt convinced today that eventually I'd get the best results if I shot 'stylishly' all the time, even if at first the results shooting 'stylishly' are not superior. When shooting 'stylishly', I relax, because I have something to think about (shooting stylishly) aside from whether the ball goes in or not; and I am not as moody regarding whether the ball goes in or not because I am satisfied with myself so long as the shot is shot stylishly.

Some of the shooting gurus emphasize shooting with the same technique on every shot. I have not been doing this so far. Shots taken on the run with minimization of time between catching ball off the dribble and shooting, tend to result in the ball being shot with variation in technique.

Today I mentally reminded myself that balls can go in with a wide variety of techniques if the shot is aimed well; this simple reminding myself of this fact seemed to improve performance. Allowing balls to be shot with variation in technique gives me a variety of techniques to consider before settling on one technique as the favored technique.

The shots that (according to the strict definition of a shot that almost went in) almost went in, will with time and practice start to go in.

Today from 21-22 feet the total including shots that almost went in, for shooting aiming for the ring not the backboard from 21-22 feet, was 40%, counting both 20 left-handed and 20 right handed shots.

The total from 13' for 20 left-handed and 20 right-handed shots, counting as scores those shots that according to the strict definition almost went in, was 50%.

40% is excellent for 3-point shots, 50% is very good for 13 footers off the sprint.

Thus apparently I am already close to the point where my dream of being able to shoot ambidextrously at acceptable percentages from 3-point land and from approx 13' off the sprint, will be a reality.

The morning before today's practice, I again consumed 'tobacco coffee' (1 tablespoon 'American Spirit' organic tobacco put in the coffee-maker along with 3 tablespoons organic coffee to produce 24 oz coffee. Again this seemed to have a lasting energizing effect. The energizing effect produced by the coffee was delayed for a few hours relative to the time when the coffee was first ingested. During the day mentally I felt as if I was tired but in reality, I did not tire.

Thursday evening Nov 4, I was watching a 'Mr T's League', basketball game, sporting a slight beard that I usually shave off. In my own eyes this beard makes me look unmistakably royal (seems some people think I don't need the beard to look royal). One of the players during a break in the game muttered re me, 'you're a pro'. Days like today result in me being confused re whether such mutterers mean pro in soccer, or pro in basketball. And I wish people would talk normally instead of muttering between the lines like a TV announcer. Also one of the Mr T's players said, 'OK, we'll follow you'--another cryptic muttering. What he meant was that they would follow the doctrine and teachings laid out in the emails containing poetic prayers that I send out. I got the feeling that he had somehow gotten wind of what I said in this blog in the Sept 24 entry, about the un-damned people on Moody Street.

Clarifications re the epiphany-type feeling that I and the Moody Streeters were un-damned, in part because my sports exploits impressed persons into respecting my doctrines: I had the feeling that day, that not just the pedestrians on the street but also the motorists on the street were undamned; I said I felt in my body that we were un-damned ('cause I did'nt want to sound too weird) but what I actually experienced was that I could feel in my right hand, on the steering wheel, that we were un-damned; "Dieux et Mon Droit" (God and my right) has for centuries been a motto of the British Kings and other royal figures.

Today during the first and second halves of the practice in the gym there were: two boys playing hockey; a young black guy shooting shots; a couple of East Asian guys playing badminton; an East Asian family playing badminton. One of these guys started making noises like I was making when shots I shot almost went in. One of the female adults in the East Asian family group, told the children to 'play stylishly!'. I estimated that somehow she had gotten word of what I've been saying in this blog about 'playing stylishly'. The children in the group seemed to enjoy playing 'stylishly'.

Aside from right and wrong, I've always felt that the German combat uniform and helmet of WW I and WW II, was the best looking combat uniform. Aside from who was right and who was wrong in these wars, I can find it inspiring to look at photos of troops in the German uniforms and helmets. I suspect that one reason the Germans turned in combat performances that so impressed the military historians, is that they fought 'stylishly', because their elegant uniforms promoted within them, a certain stylishness. I wonder how many college campuses I'll be barred from for saying this.

When it comes to non-combat parade type uniforms, I estimate that the 'Assam Rifles' have the best uniforms and hats. They look great in those gray and red uniforms and those cowboy hats cocked to the side when on parade. Their uniforms must be rooted in the uniforms of British troops in the British colonies. Both the 'Assam Rifles' and the British troops in the colonies turned in combat performances admired by military historians, albeit in warmer climates than those the Germans fought in.

As for me personally, I've concluded that I look better in symmetrical hats like police-hats, than I do in asymmetrical hats like cocked cowboy hats. Troops from lots of countries wear symmetrical hats when on parade or when fighting. 'Ronaldo' who works at the gas station on the corner of Main & Bacon in Waltham (they used to be an exxon now they're a Mobil or something), said re me that I'd look good in a policeman's hat. I've also noticed that I'd look good in a policeman's hat. But the govt/psychiatrist decided to not allow me to be a cop.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-5T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L3; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R4; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L5. All this is done with the ball off the ground. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain. The gray line represents the wall at the far side of the curtain.

The statistical score results for today are available online. The methodology of scoring has changed.

Today I continued to implement the "All Force One" style on the kicks. "All Force One" involves: maximization of body-force, leg-force, and ankle-force on each kick.

There continued to be gradual improvement in terms of the score.

I had attempted to take a nap before the practice but did not fall asleep. The first half hour, I felt stiff, and this showed in terms of the scored results.

Seems that when the score is kept from the beginning, with no slack given for a warmup time, this results in the development of techniques that work well when there has been no warmup; such could have advantages and disadvantages.

The big discovery during the practice, was that: the kicking foot should start to the inside of the ball, if leg-force is to be maximized; if the kicking foot does not start to the inside of the ball before sweeping outwards, there is a high chance that insufficient outwards force will be generated. I can't understand how this simple common-sense concept evaded my mind for so long.

Today there were some really good, fast, well-angled four-touch runs.

I've heard of athletes using a technique called " visualization", wherein they use their visual imagination to see themselves performing the difficult actions that they have to perform during upcoming athletic contests.

Similarly, I find that my performance and my enjoyment of soccer is enhanced when I visualize mentally what I have accomplished during a past soccer practice.

Often during practice there are so many failed attempts at doing something difficult, that the whole practice seems like it had been a miserable failure--whereas in reality there were many impressive moments during the practice. Analytical remembrance of the events of the practice serves to reverse the false memory that the practice was just a failure.

During practices I do things like what I did today: require myself to touch the ball on every pace, making 90 degree turns to the right with the right foot and 90 degree turns to the left with the left foot; consider the run to have been a failure in terms of the recorded score, if I fail to adhere to the exact footwork pattern, or fail to keep the run going with the ball off the ground for the intended number of touches (five today), or fail to make the turns at the intended angles.

It's easy for me to forget that during games these strict restrictions I place on myself during practices are not in place, and so therefore often several of the runs during practice that I consider to have been failures, could have been spectacular successes during games.

During practices I could cover 30 feet in a flash while making all kinds of difficult turns, keeping the ball off the ground and close to the body; yet at the end of the run I would feel like I had not traveled more than 5 or 6 feet. Such is caused by the mental absorption in the task at hand, and the fact that my body and the ball are moving together in tandem so the distance between my body and the ball never changes much.

Due to the strict requirements of the practice runs and the feeling of not having covered ground horizontally, I end up misunderestimating myself in terms of what I have accomplished during practice. Intelligent analytical review of what I actually accomplished during practice lifts my morale.

Along these lines, the practice today featured several bright spots that I was barely aware of during and after the practice.

Characteristics of the average 5-touch run today (ball kept off ground but close to body entire time, turns made at required angles; at least 4 feet between touches, intended footwork pattern adhered to): 6.2 feet between touches; 17.5 foot distance between start point & 5th touch; 25 feet total distance covered by body and ball during zig-zag like forwards movement.

Characteristics of the average 4-touch run today (ball kept off ground but close to body entire time, turns made at required angles; at least 4 feet between touches, intended footwork pattern adhered to): 6.2 feet between touches; 14 foot distance between start point & 5th touch; 19 feet total distance covered by body and ball during zig-zag like forwards movement.

Characteristics of the more spectacular 4-touch runs today (ball kept off ground but close to body entire time, turns made at required angles; at least 4 feet between touches, intended footwork pattern adhered to): 8.5 feet between touches; 19 foot distance between start point & 5th touch; 26 feet total distance covered by body and ball during zig-zag like forwards movement; fast movement of ball and body.

Characteristics of the more spectacular turns today: sometimes after kicking the ball to my left with my left foot at a 90 degree angle on the 3rd touch of the run, I ended up with my body facing somewhat to the left of the direction my body would be facing if it was facing in the direction I kicked the ball on the 3rd touch. As I result in order to adhere to the prescibed pattern of the drill and force the ball to make a 90 degree turn to the right on the 4th touch, I had to kick the ball at an angle greater than 90 degrees relative to my body, sometimes over my head, in a direction almost backwards. I succeeded in accomplishing this a few times--I kicked the ball over my head or almost over my head on the 4th touch and then kicked it again on the 5th touch.

Visually I see these distances in terms such as: 14 feet is approx the distance from the ground to the top of a basketball backboard; 26 feet is the distance between the ground and the ceiling at the Y gym; many of the flags you see flying on flagpoles fly at a height of about 26 feet.

Distances are more impressive when imagined in the vertical sense compared to being imagined in the horizontal sense. After a practice imagining the distances covered from a vertical point of view enhances my sense of hope and my sense of accomplishment.

However during a practice I try not to see the distances covered from a perspective that makes the distances appear like long distances, because such tends to reduce my confidence level regarding my ability to traverse the distances with my the ball kept off the ground while doing difficult things with the ball.

Again today, I consumed tobacco-coffee before the practice.

There were some kids and staff from the "Wayside Youth & Family" group in the gym today while I was practicing. I was surprised when one of the staff said they were not government. There were two kids and three staff in their group, which seemed inefficient.

'Farright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

The 'Farright' basketball drill starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3), step with my left foot (L 0.6) as I dribble the ball with my left hand (ball leaves hand before left foot hits ground), step with my right foot (R ), step with my left foot (L 1), catch the ball as it rebounds off the ground (brown circle) with both feet off the ground; then I land with the right foot ahead of the left foot (R 2 and L 2). At this point I can take a shot (white circle), or I can continue by: stepping with my left foot (L 3), stepping with my right foot (R 4), and shooting the ball before the right foot hits the ground (lower white circle). Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking, one foot from the green crosses closest to it.

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

During today's practice, I practiced the 'FarRight' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. 'FarRight' is described graphically and in text in the graphic in this entry. I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard; I minimized the amount of time between catching the ball off the dribble and shooting it.

I shot two series from 12'-13' from the basket, from the spot shown as the circle between R3 and L4 in the diagram . At the time of the shots I was moving about as fast as I ever have been when shooting the ball from around 12 feet, flying towards the basket like a speeding bullet. From the start of the run to the ball-release point, I covered 24':

'FarRight' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming for the backboard I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 4/20, 20% (30%).

'FarRight' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming for the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 5/20, 25% (35%).

Next I shot four series, releasing the ball approx 22' from the basket (at the point between R2 and L2 in the diagram).

'FarRight' RH aim for ring: Using the right hand aiming to not use the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 0/20, 0% (0%). At this point I noted that in coming to a halt before shooting the ball, my feet, shod in the new Absolado soccer shoes, were slipping, sliding over the gym floor, and that this made the shot difficult. Jeez I thought that the Absolados would prevent this forever.

'FarRight' LH aim for ring: Using the left hand aiming to avoid the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 4/20, 20% (25%).

'FarRight' RH aim for backboard: Using the right hand aiming to use the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 3/20, 15% (20%).

'FarRight' LH aim for backboard: Using the left hand aiming to use the backboard, I shot (percentage if shots that almost went in had gone in in parentheses) 5/20, 25% (25%).

The first ten shots of the day, involving approx 13' distance shots taken on the sprint, using the right hand to aim for the backboard, were very badly shot. Possible causes: these were the first shots of the day I count all shots taken there are no uncounted warmup shots with me; I was shooting right-handed on these first shots of the day, though I am a lefty.During the last 9 attempts of this first series of the day, I made 3 (33%) and 1 almost went in (would have been 44% on last 9 if it had gone in).

The first ten shots of the day taken from approx 22' were also badly shot. These were right-handed aiming for the ring.

But aside from the first ten taken from 13' and the first ten taken from 22', the shots that missed were generally respectable shot, not too wild.

During the segment involving 13' shots on the run, using the left hand to aim for the backboard, I noted the following: sometimes it seems that getting less stylish (hand closer to head when ball released during shot) increases my shooting percentage, but then I restore the earlier level of stylish, because I've deciding to commit myself to shooting stylishly, due to the general long term advantages of shooting stylishly.

On about 90 percent of the shots taken from 22' today, After grabbing the ball and landing on the ground with both feet simultaneously hitting the ground, I stepped up with my left foot to balance myself before releasing the ball. Sometimes I land after catching the ball in such a way that I can easily balance myself without stepping up with the left foot after landing, and the ball goes in anyway even though the left foot does not step up to balance the body before the ball is released. But as of now I conclude that the general policy should be the step up with the left foot before ball release.

During the practice I noted that: assessing which style of shot to use is complicated by certain factors. It could be that emphasizing the wrist is good when not using the backboard, but emphasizing the elbow is good when using the backboard. It could be that 13' shots made whilst the body hurtles towards the basket at high speed, are wristy shots whereas long distance shots are elbow shots.

During the practice a teen-age black male who tutors white teenagers in the art of basketball, wanted me to get off the floor because he needed the entire gym to tutor his one-and-only student in the art of basketball. This despite the fact that it was open gym time according to the schedule. I was shocked. I told him, "you can't do that". He responded, "that's what you're doing". He thought that I was refusing to allow people to shoot at the basket I was shooting at. I told him that I never said that people could not use the basket I was practicing at.

I had the little orange marker cones set out to mark the start point of the run before the shot, and the shot points. Seems he interpreted the marker cones as telling people they could not use the basket.

Worldly wisdom: if you set marker cones out on the floor when you practice, people interpret the cones as red lights telling them to stay out of the area and then they stay out, even though actually they have a perfect right to enter the area.

But at the end of the practice the thin black teen-aged basketball tutor boy, waved goodbye to me as I left the gym. He did this by starting his hand at the side of his head and moving it up about 9 inches at a 60 degree angle, the exact same movement of the hand that I recorded myself as having used during several of my long-distances shooting successes during the practice.

David Hobbs Driver's License

Driver's License Photo, Taken Nov 10 2010.

I was shocked to see the photo taken of me at the Registry Motor Vehicles for the Driver's License.

The photo is evidence in support of the scriptural command to not make images of anything found in nature. Actually I'm much better looking than I look in the license photo. The photo fails to capture the angelic, youthful, healthy look that is the reality with me. The color version looks even worse than the temp black and white photo on the license they gave me.

My stepmother said that she would be unable to pick me out of a lineup based on the photo. My brother said the photo looked like a "star comedian".

My idea of the proper behavioral interpretation of the scripture re making images: if you have to make images for things like licenses, don't uglify the faces of the citizenry via incompetent photography. Why should a state uglify the photos of it's own citizenry? Reminds me of the local pols who were running for office, who could not even collect money for their own campaigns, because the web-pages for online connection of donations did not work properly.

The Mass commonwealth, seems to me as of now, should invest some money so that the driver's license photos don't make people uglier looking than they are in reality.

I figure I would need to invest about a thousand bucks just to produce a quality photo of myself. I'd use flash that sends out diffused light, two of such, one trained on the subject of the photo from the left, the other from the right, with one flash set to a higher power than the other, synced to go off when the photo was shot. But I don't plan on actually investing the time and energy and money into the photo stuff, seeing that scripture says we should not be making images. But I wonder, if our faces are being butchered by low quality photography, should we fight back with high quality photography>?

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-5T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L3; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R4; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L5. All this is done with the ball off the ground. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain. The gray line represents the wall at the far side of the curtain.

The statistical scores for today are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

Today I continued to implement the "All Force One" style on the kicks. "All Force One" involves: maximization of body-force, leg-force, and ankle-force on each kick.

The second hour today the number of 5-touch runs per hour was up 73% compared to my best hour during the previous soccer practice.

From the beginning on every R2 kick, I started with my right foot inside the ball before sweeping my foot outwards to kick the ball. If the foot does not start inside the ball, it is impossible to maximize the leg-force applied to the kick, and it is also impossible to maximize the body-force applied to the kick.

The first 35 minutes of the day I did not succeed in achieving a five-touch run that can be scored as a success. During the first 35 minutes all I could achieve 5-touch-wise, was two runs both of which involved insufficient distance between the 4th touch and the 5th touch; I did not score these two as 5-touch successes.

Could be the first 35 minutes being off, was in part due to the implementation of consciously deliberately attempting to start the R2 kick with the right foot, the kicking foot, to the inside of the ball. As previously noted, often an improved technique, when first implemented, produces results that are not as good as those produced by inferior techniques one has become accustomed to.

However at the end of the practice I was pleased with the results produced by starting with the right foot to the inside of the ball on the R2 kick. The percentage of R2 kicks that are acceptable may have temporarily declined but there were many excellent R2 kicks involving perfect angle, distance, and ball speed that was fast yet manageable, controllable. I was able to produce excellent R2 kicks when the ball was in a position such that I would not have been able to produce an excellent kick prior to the introduction of concentrating on starting the kick with the foot to the inside (closer to my left shoulder) of the ball.

The All Force One method involves attempting to maximize the use of body, leg, and ankle during the kicks. During the first 35 minutes today (there were no five-touch run successes the first 35 minutes), I noted that in my attempt to maximize the use of body, leg, and ankle, I was repeatedly applying too much force to the ball.

My mental intent was to instruct my body to use as much body-force, leg-force, and ankle-force as I could while at the same time achieving a perfect result in terms of ball placement. During the first 35 minutes, it was as if my body was misinterpreting the instructions my mind had given to it, interpreting maximization of body leg and ankle force, as meaning maximization of body leg and ankle force with scant regard to accuracy in terms of where the ball is placed by the kick.

Generally the R2 kicks were good, but there was much error on the L3 and R4 kicks. I realize that the medicine that needs to be applied is to change to using the right foot on the first kick and the left foot on the second kick, with the second kick sending the ball to the left. This will allow my left-foot to catch up skill-wise with my right-foot, which has gotten ahead in this type of skill even though I am left-footed. When the left-foot improves, this will have the effect of putting the ball in positions that are easier to handle for the next kick.

There were several good four-touch runs during the practice. There were about four super-hero-like 4-touch runs featuring: a distance of 24 feet between L1 and R4; fast speed; turn-angles very close to the intended 90 degrees; distance between touches of about 11 feet; and of course as usual ball kept off the ground but close to the body the entire time. These four-touch runs are recorded in my notebook but not in the stats table online. Since they are unrecorded in the stats, I underappreciate them. They are like lightning bolts. In games it's rare that a player, even when dribbling with the ball on the ground, touches the ball more than three times before shooting it in for a goal.

The distance between touches on the long 24-foot four-touch runs extrapolates to 11 feet if one assumes 90 degree turns on each turn. From a standing start, skipping with the left foot (left foot hits ground twice) and then hurling the right foot forwards 11 feet is an incredible feat of athleticism. How is this being accomplished? I first attempted to answer this question in the Nov 8 entry. In addition, it has occurred to me that it could be that whereas the ball is making 90 degree turns, the body is making turns of less than 90 degrees, as a result of which the body is able to maintain momentum during turns.

Again today, I consumed tobacco-coffee before the practice. Previously I've had trouble maintaining a steady circadian rhythm in terms of waking up at the same time every day and going to sleep at the same time every day. I've had trouble getting myself to wake up and go to sleep when I want myself to to wake up and go to sleep. The tobacco-coffee seems to have banished this problem.

While I was practicing, there were some teenage young men shooting baskets. There was a white student with the black teenage tutor I mentioned in the Tuesday Nov 9 entry, the student was making a very high percentage of the shots he attempted, but all the shots involved: low hand height at shot release point; slow movement by dribble to shot-point; long time interval between grabbing ball off dribble and shot-release (this might be discussed further in next basketball entry). Also shooting baskets were a couple of young men (or old boys) who looked South Asian and whose skin-color looked like the skin-color sported by the dark-skinned American blacks. One of them made a point of holding up my soccer practice by taking his time while shooting baskets from inside the little corner of the gym I was using for my soccer practice.

During the practice I practiced at the far side of gym whereas my notebook was on the table on the near side of the gym. After every success, I walked the width of the gym to note the success in the notebook on the table; then I walked back to the starting point. The table was right next to the children practicing mountain climbing up the wall while their parents and teacher watched.

'FarFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'FarFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.3); step with my left foot (L 0.6) as I release the ball for a dribble (OK according to NCAA rules so long as the ball is released before the left foot hits the ground); I step with my right foot (R 1); catch the ball with both feet off the ground (brown ball); land on both feet simultaneously with the left foot in front of the right foot (R2 & L2) (at this point I can take a shot from 22 feet); if I want to I can step with my right foot, step with my left foot, and shoot from 8-14 feet before the left foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

Notes: I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'FarFright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the right followed by a cut to the left. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the elbow in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard. FirstI shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between R3 and L4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and two changes of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken 8-14' feet from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at maybe the fastest speed ever during this kind of thing.

Second half of the practice I implemented the long-distance three-point-land option during the 'Farfright' maneuver.

The close-in shot option during Farfright follows two zig-zag-like movements. Exactly two months ago, Sept 13 (see Sept 13 log entry), was the last time I did 'Farfright'. Sept 13 doing Farfright, the start point was 36' and the ball was being shot when the close-in shot option during the 'Farfright' pattern was implemented, from 13 feet. Today, the start point was 36' and the ball was being shot when the close-in shot option during Farfright was implemented, from 8 to 14 feet. Thus over two months the distance covered on one dribble from start point to close-in shot-option release-point has increased from 23 feet to 28 feet, an increase of 22% id=b.

The first segment, shot with left hand aiming for backboard from 8-14': from the beginning the missed shots were very well shot. About two-thirds of these missed shots would have gone in but they were shot just a little too hard.

The 2nd segment, shot right-handed aiming for backboard from 8-14': The shots were all shot very stylishly. The movement towards the basket at shot-release time was very fast, at least as fast as it's ever been, probably faster. The fact that I was covering 5 more feet from start to shot-release point compared to the last time I did the Farfright pattern, implies that my body speed between start and shot release had also become faster. This increasesd body speed prior to shot-release time, probably caused the slightly overpowered but accurate nature of the shooting.

3rd segment, shot left-handed aiming to avoid the backboard, from 8-14': The shots were shot stylishly, the missed shots were well shot, the movement of the body towards the basket immediately prior to shot time was very fast. During this segment I noted that, as usual: my sense of stylishness, in force from the beginning today as is usually the case, was producing fast body/ball movement between start time and shot-time, and a high shooting-hand-altitude at shot-time.

4th segment, shot right-handed aiming to avoid the backboard, from 8-14': Percentage was 35%, 60% if shots that almost went in counted as having gone in (strict definition of almost-went-in). Prior to the start of this segment I resolved to concentrate harder on aiming the ball when shooting. I felt that the first three segments, in the course of emphasizing stylish shooting, I had under-emphasized mental attentiveness re the task of precisely aiming the ball at the target.

8th and last segment: shooting left-handed aiming for the ring from 21 feet, I was 9/20, 45%, 60% counting shots that were in-and-out or almost-in, as having gone in. At one point I was 9/14, 64%, counting just shots that actually went in. During this hot-streak, this black teenager who as it turned out was a member of the Waltham HS varsity basketball team, parked himself standing, leaning against the wall immediately behind the basket I was shooting at, and watched intently. I could not figure him out. I was thinking, is this guy about to step up and try to make a full-length shot at the basket behind me at the other end of the gym? But he did no such thing. I was surprised he was on the Waltham HS varsity. He was tall, but I thought he looked like a junior-varsity type.

Friday evening Nov 13, my intended basketball practice had been aborted because lots of teenagers showed up for teen-night. So I sat and watched them for around 90 minutes. Seemed like at first they were all acting like grade-school kids, and that their basketball was at a grade-school kid level. Then after about a half hour of me sitting watching them, they began acting and playing like young men. I counted their shooting percentage from 10-20 feet, during a couple of games: 11/31, 35%. From three-point land, 21 feet out and further, they were 4/28, 14%. According to the rules they play by, a shot from outside the three-point line counts for two points, whereas a shot from inside the three-point line counts for one point.

Thus we extrapolate a fascinating scientific insight: their 14% shooting from outside the 3-point-line, is equal to 28% from inside the three-point line, which is only 7 percent less than their 35% shooting percentage from inside the three-point line. Meaning this particular variant of the teenage males of the Homo Sapiens species, succeeds in naturally adjusting the number of three-point shots attempted, to a level that is reasonable.

I'm convinced that sometimes I am able to psychically feel what persons close to me are feeling, able to feel the same feelings that they are feeling, while being aware that I am feeling what they are feeling. I intuitively realized that the teenage basketballer boys out there all felt a feeling of affection for me but were hiding their feelings.

Regarding the boy mentioned in the Nov 12 soccer entry, who was shooting at such a high percentage: I mentioned that he was slow from ball-catch time to ball-release time; that he was slow from start of dribble to ball-catch time; that his hand elevation was low at ball-release time. Seems all I forgot to mention was that also his shot balls were like line-drives and lacked arc. All the shooting characteristics he displayed, indicate that the pterodactyls with huge 'wingspans', that he will face in real-life basketball, will be able to block his shots or prevent him from shooting.

It behooves both the coach and also the player to be aware of realities such as: at the level of basketball I want to succeed at, how tall will the guys defending against me trying to prevent me from scoring be? What will be their vertical leap ability? How long will their arms be? How quick or fast will they be? How untiring will they be? How energetic and fierce will they be? How do these characteristics of future pterodactyls attempting to have me for lunch, effect the type of shots I should be practicing?

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T-Reverse, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-Reverse is the reversed, mirror image of P6.1-5T. It involves the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked forward with the right foot, approx 4.5 feet on R1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot on R3; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L4; the ball touched on R5. The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time. After a foot kicks the ball, that foot skips (two steps in a row). These skips are the only foot movement allowed between kicks. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

The statistical scores for today are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

Today I implemented the reverse mirror image of the drill I've been doing up till today. The drill done today is described in the graphic this entry.

The key kicks for both P6.1-5T and p6.1-5T-reverse, are the second, third and fourth kicks. With the drill done today, two of these three kicks are with the left foot. With the drill done November 11 and previously, two of the three kicks are done with the right foot.

Things I took for granted as being understood, that has been left out of the descriptions in the diagrams describing P6.1-5T: the ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time. after a foot kicks the ball, that foot skips (two steps in a row). These skips are the only foot movement allowed between kicks.

Today for the first time I applied the lessons learned from close observation of the second, right-footed kick in the P6.1-5T drill, to the second, left-footed kick in the P6.1-5T-reverse drill. Today was the first time that I attempted 90 degree kicks to the left with the left foot, while: starting the left foot to the inside of the ball (closer to my right shoulder than the outside of the ball); attempting to maximize use of ankle, leg, and body, what I call the "All Force One" style.

The first hour, I succeeded in adhering to the prescribed ball-work and foot-work pattern for five touches, 8 times. The second hour, I succeeded 21 times. A run was of course as usual counted as a five-touch success only if: the ball was kept off the ground the entire run; the ball was touched five times; the footwork and ballwork pattern described in the graphic caption wasadhered to.

The first hour, the distance from the first touch to the last fifth touch ranged from 11-20 feet, average 15.4 feet. This mathematically implies an average distance of 5.4 feet between touches.

The second hour, the distance from the first touch to the last fifth touch ranged from 11-20 feet, average 15.6 feet. This mathematically implies an average distance of 5.5 feet between touches.

The second hour, mentally I alternated between feeling that what I was attempting to do was impossible, and succeeding in doing what I was feeling was impossible.

The two East Asian men who play badminton without a net, were on my side of the gym playing badminton while I was practicing.

On the other side of the gym, the teenage boys were playing basketball. The new Y-staff guy, a young black man, was shouting: "we're shy", and "we like him". I knew he was talking about their feelings for me. I found it to be interesting that I put up the log entry for November 13, in which I described how I thought the boys liked me but were shy, only about an hour before I headed for today's Sunday practice--and lo and behold, the guy was confessing that what I said in that log entry re him and the boys (he was one of the boys I was talking about) was true.

'FarFleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'FarFleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). I step to my left with my right foot (R 0.3); step with my left foot (L 0.6) as I release the ball for a dribble (OK according to NCAA rules so long as the ball is released before the left foot hits the ground); I step with my right foot (R 0.9); step with my left foot (L 1); using my left foot as a pivot I change direction and catch the ball with both feet off the ground (brown ball); land on both feet simultaneously with the right foot in front of the left foot (L2 & R2) (at this point I can take a shot from 22 feet); if I want to I can step with my left foot, step with my right foot, and shoot from around 13 feet before the right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

The Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28, is online.

Notes: I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'Farfleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a feint to the left followed by a cut to the right. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on stylish use of the wrist in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard. FirstI shot the ball from a point shown in the diagram as the small circle between R3 and L4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and two changes of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken 8-14' feet from the basket with the body moving towards the basket at as fast a speed as ever during this kind of thing.

Compared to the day this drill was done previously, Sept 18 (see log entry this page), the first turn was made at a point 2 feet further out, thus the turn was sharper (diagram this entry does not show this change).

The close-in shot option during Farfleft follows two zig-zag-like movements. Sept 18 (see Sept 18 log entry), was the last time I did Farfleft. Sept 18 doing Farfleft, the start point was 36' and the ball was being shot when the close-in shot option was implemented, from 13 feet. Today, the start point was 36' and the ball was being shot when the close-in shot option during Farfleft was implemented, from 8 to 14 feet. Thus over two months the distance covered during Farfleft on one dribble from start point to close-in shot-option release-point has increased from approx 23 feet to 28 feet, an increase of 22% . This despite the fact, that the first turn was sharper today than it was Sept 18. The increase in the distance covered doing Farfleft, has been the same as the increase in the distance covered doing Farfright.

The first segment, shot with left hand aiming for the ring from 8-14': nice combination of stylish and well-aimed. I noted that since the body is moving sideways relative to the basket at the time of the shot, this makes the shot difficult (this is also the case with Farfright).

The 2nd segment, shot right-handed aiming for ring from on average around 10': well shot misses, nice combination of stylish and well-aimed.

4th segment, shot right-handed aiming for the backboard, from on average approx 10': this segment was the star of the game today. The percentage was 25% butwould have been 45% if the shots that almost went in had gone in (using strict definition of almost-in). The shots were done stylishly with the hand at a high elevation at shot release time. The body was moving fast at the basket at shot-time. Despite the use of the hand I am clumsier with, the right-hand, the shots were accurate. During the segment I felt that I had finally lost all clumsiness when attempting this kind of shot with the right hand.

1st segment, shot left-handed aiming to avoid the backboard, from 21-22': The dud segment of the day. Percentage was only 10%, 20% counting the almost-ins. These were the first long distance shots of the day, preceded by no long-distance warmup shots. I simply felt uncomfortable, emphasizing the wrist on long-distance shots, without a warmup. Yet again the shot-quality was impaired due to the guide-hand, in this case the right hand, touching the ball for too long prior to the shot by the left hand. Interesting how this problem occurs when using the left-hand to shoot aiming for the ring not the backboard, whereas this problem does not occur when using the right hand or aiming for the backboard. Hypothesis: I've been shooting with the left-hand aiming for the ring not the backboard since I was a child. As a child, I needed the guide hand more than I need it now to get the ball into shooting position. Hence, the left-hand shot shooting aiming for the ring, is messed up due to guide-hand interference, but the others are not.

Sept 20 I shot 45% left-handed from 21-22' aiming to avoid the backboard, and emphasizing wrist-power, but it was the third segment of long distance shooting that day, 40 long distance shots had already been taken prior to the start of the segment. Sept 27 I shot 45% left-handed from 21-22' aiming to avoid the backboard while emphasizing wrist-power, but it was the fourth segment of long distance shooting that day, 60 long distance shots had been taken before the start of the segment. Since August 28 when I got back into basketball, this was the first day on which the first segment of long-distance shooting involved emphasizing the wrist, using the left-hand, and aiming for the ring not the backboard.

A few times today I caught myself becoming less stylish due to a desire to make the shots, and immediately corrected myself to get back to the max in terms of stylishness. I am as of now convinced that even if there is a temporary impairment in terms of shot percentage due to the emphasis on stylishness, eventually I will be a better shooter due to the emphasis on stylish shooting. When shooting stylishly I feel physically and mentally much better than I do when I shoot with a mentality that is obsessed with putting the ball through the hoop.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T-Reverse, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-Reverse is the reversed, mirror image of P6.1-5T. It involves the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked forward with the right foot, approx 4.5 feet on R1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot on R3; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L4; the ball touched on R5. The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time. After a foot kicks the ball, that foot skips (two steps in a row). These skips are the only foot movement allowed between kicks. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

The statistical scores for today are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

The first hour, the distance from the first touch to the last fifth touch ranged from 12-22 feet, average 15.4 feet. This mathematically implies an average distance of 5.9 feet between touches.

The second hour, the distance from the first touch to the last fifth touch ranged from 9-20 feet, average 15.4 feet. This mathematically implies an average distance of 5.4 feet between touches.

During both segments, I attempted to maximize ankle, leg, and body force ("All-Force One"), and tried on the second kick of the run, L2, to start with the left foot to the inside of the ball.

At the end of the first hour, I felt much more competent than I did at the beginning.

During the first hour, I found that at the beginning I was unable to implement the All-Force One maximization of ankle leg, and body (AF1); and I was unable to implement the Foot starting to the Inside of the Ball on the second kick (FIB). For the first 15 minutes or so of the hour, my mind felt overloaded with instructions and my body was unable to carry out AF1 or FIB during the second kick of the run, while at the same time producing quality kicks on the second kicks of the runs. But after the first 15 minutes I was able to implement AF1 and FIB on the second kick of the runs. Implementation of AF1 and FIB seemed to improve performance.

At the end of the first hour I noted that I still find it hard to believe that on at least two-thirds of the kicks during the runs, I am succeeding in making a turn that is at least 90 degrees in sharpness or even sharper. Must be spectacular looking. I believe I am able to make these sharp turns because when I was developing the skill of making these sharp turns, during the scored practices I had the strength of character to refuse to allow myself a point when the sharpness of the turn was significantly less than 90 degrees.

The second hour, on the first kick with the right foot I emphasized the use of body-force. Sometimes this emphasis on body-force seems to be naturally more stylish than emphasis on leg-force. And sometimes, the emphasis on body-force on the first kick seems to produce results that are less consistent than emphasis of leg-force on the first kick. The emphasis on body-force on the first kick, results in more ball-speed and body-speed during the second kick.

After the second hour I noted that: The body-emphasis on the first kick produces flaky results, but provides something via the flakiness: long, fast runs involving difficult kicks. Today while emphasizing body-force on the first kick there were: great, long, fast runs that lasted only for four touches; great, long, fast 5-touch runs that however involved one of the kicks not being angled correctly, or insufficient distance between touches at one point during the run.

The main cause of failures today was simply, lack of ankle-force being applied in situations where ankle-force was necessary.

At the end of the practice I could feel what I should do next: back to the P6.1-5T that starts with the left foot and emphasizes right-foot skills; some hours spent without keeping score. As a result of the constant keeping score, I have become afraid to test out the parameters on the kicks, afraid to let loose to produce some length and height on the kicks. But I need to do some experimenting with producing height and length on the kicks. There have been too many kicks producing insufficient ball arc and a lack of ball-distance. Generally I need to just relax and experiment, observe what results occur when attempting to produce ball-arc and ball-distance on the kicks.

'Cleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Cleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). It is similar to 'Nearleft' described in the entry, but more fit for situations involving the defender right on top of the dribbler. I step to my left with my right foot (R 0.5) as I release the ball for a dribble; step with my left foot (L 1); catch the ball with both feet off the ground (brown ball); land on both feet simultaneously with the right foot in front of the left foot (L2 & R2) (at this point I can swivel my left foot & take a shot from 22 feet); if I want to I can step with my left foot, step with my right foot, and shoot from around 15 feet before the right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots. Today I practiced the 'Cleft' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a a cut to the left, which can be followed by movement in various directions. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the elbow in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 33 feet from the backboard. FirstI shot the ball from a point approximately shown in the diagram as the small circle between L3 and R4, with fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and a change of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. The shots today were closer than shown in the diagram, varying from 8-15' in distance from the backboard. I've noticed that now that I've been practicing basketball for about 2.5 months, I end up much closer to the backboard once I get warmed up.

Sept 19 about two months ago, I started 30 feet from the basket, and took the close-in shot option from 15 feet, thus travelling about 15 feet in total (these distances refer to the distance from the imaginary line that is the extension of the backboard to left and right), prior to taking the close-in shot option. Today I started from 33 feet and the close-in shots were taken from 8 feet, distance travelled, 25 feet. Thus the distance traveled doing this move, when using the close-in shot option, is up 67% over two months. This is significant because I was today, putting about the same effort into the dribble and body movement prior to the shot, as I was September 19 last time I practiced this move.

Today the turn-point on the Cleft pattern was 1' outside of what it was Sept 19. Thus the increase in the distance travelled prior to the shot, cannot be attributed to the turn having become less sharp.

Today the turn point was the same distance from the basket as it was Sept 19; but the distance travelled after the turn was up from about 8' Sept 19, to at max today, 14', an increase of 75% compared to two months ago.

My notes re shooting from approx 8-15 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket today:

First segment: stylishly shot, well-shot misses.

Second segment: well-shot misses.

Third segment: star of the day. Shooting with the right-hand, aiming for the ring, from approx 11' on average, I made 7/20, and 4 almost went in.

My notes re shooting from approx 8-15 feet from the basket at the end of a drive towards the basket today:

5th segment: most of the misses involved the ball hitting the rim after the ball hit the backboard. Good for a lefty shooting from 22' trying to use the backboard.

6th segment: trouble with the guide-hand being on the ball too long again. When I was able to force myself to keep the guide-hand off the ball, the shooting was much better. Shooting with the left hand aiming for the backboard, I started out 4/8, 50%; then I cooled off. I've noticed that with long distance shots I start out the 20 shot segment accurately and then the second half of the segment is not as accurate, probably a fatigue problem. Such fatigue problems are solved by way of increased strength derived from continued practice.

Overall, shots that according to the strict definition of almost-in that I am now using, almost went in, were common today. With the passage of time, these shots will start going in the basket.

I finished up the 'Cleft' series Saturday evening Nov 20, shooting 20 shots right-handed aiming for the ring not the backboard, and then shooting 20 shots left-handed aiming for the ring not the backboard; both these segments were shot from 22 feet. The following notes were added Nov 20:

The long distance shooting I started the evening with was off. During the shooting I felt groggy, in part because I woke up from a long nap at 3:30 PM, and then started shooting at 5:53 PM. And combined with this, there was the influence of a few days in a row of hard sports workouts, big dinners, and wine with dinner. Also, whereas usually the closer shots are shot before the longer shots, today due to a rotation being incomplete, the longer shots were shot first.

First segment with the right-hand (I'm a lefty) the shots that missed were well shot.

Second segment I shot with my left-hand, the hand I naturally favor; about a quarter of the shots were inaccurate due to excess presence of the right guide-hand on the ball during the shot. Yet again, I had that feeling that my right-handed form is now better than my left-handed form, even though I'm a lefty, who has been shooting lefty all his life, and who has been shooting right-handed for less than 3 months of his life.

I suspect that the reasons for this feeling of having become more relaxed, and shooting with better form with the right hand are: bad-habits of form I picked up when I was a weak lefty child dealing with a big heavy ball, have become ingrained into my left-handed shooting form; the shots taken today were taken immediately after a dribble-move that slanted left, putting me to the left of the basket ( by left I mean in the direction that is closer to the side of the court that is closer to my left shoulder when I am facing the basket); my mind/body has been semi-consciously or unconsciously putting more effort and biochemical resources into improving my right-handed shot than it has been putting into my left-handed shot; the only precision sports-action I've ever performed with my right hand for a significant amount of time is shooting a basketball; I'm more embarrassed when I miss with my left than I am when I miss with my right.

I've noticed that one reason that my right-handed shooting has become more elegant than my left-handed shooting, is that when I shoot right hand, my left 'guide-hand' scarcely touches the ball, from the time the ball is caught to the time the ball is shot after the dribble.

My decision as of now, is that when shooting with my left hand, I will be shooting with the right 'guide' hand completely off the ballfrom the time the ball is caught after the dribble to the time the ball is released. I suspect that although completely removing the right guide-hand from the action may be excessive, completely removing the right guide-hand from the action is the only way for me to get rid of the bad habits that are part of my left-handed shooting style. Then when these bad habits are gotten rid of, I will be able to restore a sane level of guide-hand presence to the shot-action.

Also henceforth I intend to aim for what I call extra arc on every shot.

I've been noting how much arc was on the ball when the shot went in--I've been scoring the shots that went in as arc+ (extra arc), arc (average arc), and arc-(low amount of arc). I've found that I am able to put shots of every type in using every kind of arc. So now it is long past time for me to consistently attempt to put what I've been calling extra arc on the ball.

For too long, I've been procrastinating implementing the intention of putting what I call extra arc on the ball, on every shot. Reasons for the inordinate delay: I've been allowing my shot technique to vary from shot to shot, this has resulted in delaying standardization on all aspects of shot-technique, including arc; I've been childishly afraid of reducing a shot percentage that is often embarrassingly low.

Fact is, my whole approach to basketball, has been one of extraordinary realism. I've been shooting after a dribble-sprint, with a quick release, because I realize that persons of average height such as myself, cannot succeed in high-level basketball unless we can shoot of the run with a quick release. An aspect of such realism, is that there should be plenty of arc on the shot balls, because average height persons are susceptible to having their shots blocked by pterodactyls er players with huge 'wingspans'.

There were what looked like junior-high-school white boys sharing the same basket I was shooting at during this evening's shooting fiaso.

Soccer Drill P6.1-5T-reverse, for upright kick on L2 & following kicks; emphasis on use of body on R1 kick during 1st hour, emphasis on use of leg on R1 kick during 2nd hour; observation and analysis re results when max force applied to second L2 and third R3 kicks of runs; no scoring of number of 5-touch successes

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-5T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L3; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R4; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L5. All this is done with the ball off the ground. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain. The gray line represents the wall at the far side of the curtain.

The statistical scores for this drill are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

Nov 18, and also Nov 21, I continued to implement the "All Force One" style on the kicks. "All Force One" involves: maximization of body-force, leg-force, and ankle-force on each kick. An aspect of this is that for example when the ball is kicked to the right with the right foot the foot starts its kicking motion to the inside of the ball, the side closer to my left shoulder.

Nov 18 & Nov 21, instead of keeping score of the number of successful, on-pattern five-touch runs, I observed angles, lengths, and apex heights on the second kick with the right foot and the third kick with the left foot during P6.1-5T, and on the second kick with the left foot and the third kick with the right foot during P6.1-5T-reverse. By length I mean distance between ball striking foot and point where ball hit ground or would have hit ground. By apex height, I mean the highest altitude the ball reached in between the kick and the ball hitting the ground or being kicked again.

I found it impossible to: mentally record what happened on the second kick and simultaneously perform well on the third kick of the runs; mentally record what happened on the third kick and also mentally record what happened on the second kick of a run. I was able to: mentally record what happened on the third kick while performing well on the third kick. Based on the observation I came up with some estimates:

Notes: on all the kicks I was trying to kick the ball upwards at a 30-60 degree angle; I was using the kicking form that is optimal for these drills; some results are based on averages of sub-groups such as the three longest kicks or the four highest kicks. On all the kicks, I kicked the ball as hard as I could without departing from the style that is optimal for this drill. I adhered to the "All Force One" maximization of ankle, leg, and body force. Ankle, leg and body force can be 'maximized' when the overall level of force put into the kick is 50% of what is the maximum possible, or 75% of what is the maximum possible, or 100% of what is the maximum possible. For example, I could maximize ankle-force, leg-force, and body-force while limiting overall force to just 50% of the maximum possible. This would mean, that I use as much ankle-force as possible, and as much leg-force as possible, and as much body-force as possible while limiting the overall force applied to 50% of the hardest I can kick the ball while maintaining the style appropriate for the maneuver.

Thursday Nov 18 while observing myself doing P6.1-5T, I recorded data for 36 kicks on the second touches of the runs with the right foot (1st hour), and for 24 kicks on the third touch of the run with the left foot (2nd hour).

On the second kick of the run with the right foot (R2), the ideal distance for the kick is 8.3 feet and the ideal apex height of the ball is 6.4 feet.

Re the third kick of the run with the left foot (L3), the ideal distance for the kick is undetermined and the ideal apex height of the ball is undetermined, due to a lack of observed samples.

On the second kick of the run with the right foot (R2), in order to achieve an ideal kick, I should kick the ball as hard as I can while maintaining the style that is correct for the R2 kick. I found this to be quite surprising. Previously I had thought that to get the best results on the R2 kick I should kick the ball about half as hard as the hardest I can.

On the third kick of the run with the left foot (L3), in order to achieve an ideal kick, in a horizontal sense ( how far the ball is kicked) I should use 78% of max effort, and in a vertical sense (how high the ball is kicked) I should use 68% of max effort. Simplification: On the third kick of the run with the left foot (L3) I should kick the ball using about 75% of the max force I am able to apply to the kick, when the kick is kicked in the proper style. I found this result to be surprising also; I had been thinking that on the third kick of the run I should apply about half of max force to the kick to achieve optimal results.

When applying max force to the ball on R2, on average I kick the ball 7.6 feet horizontally and the ball reaches an apex height of 6.2 feet.

When applying max force to the ball on L3, on average I kick the ball 10.7 feet horizontally and the ball reaches an apex height of 9.4 feet.

On the second kick, R2, the maximum distance I kick the ball is generally 12.5', the ball reaches an apex height of 6' on these kicks.

On the second kick, R2, the maximum height I kick the ball is generally 9.5', the ball travels a distance of 9.5' (not an error, both measurements are 9.5') on these high kicks.

On the third kick, L3, the maximum distance I kick the ball is generally 15.7', the ball reaches an apex height of 9.7' on these kicks.

On the third kick, L3, the maximum height I kick the ball is generally 12.0', the ball travels a distance of 7.5' on these high kicks.

For R2 kick: Maximum distance of balls kicked and then reached with a foot after only a skip with the kicking foot after the ball is kicked (foot kicks ball, lands on ground, then is raised and lands on ground again before other foot hits ground): 11.3'. Arc apex height of balls on these kicks: 7'.

For L3 kick: Maximum distance of balls kicked and reached after only a skip with the kicking foot after the ball is kicked (foot kicks ball, lands on ground, then in skip, lands on ground again before other foot hits ground): 11'. Arc apex height of balls on these kicks: 11'.

In the above two paragraphs we are again confronted with evidence for what would seem to be impossible: I am able to from a standing start, roll the ball back with my left foot, flip it up with my left foot, kick it with my left foot, let my left foot hit the ground after the kick, take a skip-step with the left foot without the right foot hitting the ground prior to the skip-step, kick the ball with my right foot at a 90 degree angle to my right, let my right foot hit the ground after the kick, take a skip-step with my right foot without my left foot hitting the ground, and then lunge forwards/to-my-right, and kick the ball with my left foot, after it has travelled 11'-12' from where it was when I kicked it with my right foot (11' distance measured four times, 12' distance measured once).

Nov 21, Sunday, I carried out the same observations I made Nov 18 Thursday, but with regards to the L2 and R3 kicks in the P6.1-5T-reverse drill (see diagram to left). Next I describe the information I collected based on 30 observations of L2 (1st hour) and 28 observations of R3 (2nd hour) during the P6.1-5T-reverse drill:

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T-Reverse, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-Reverse is the reversed, mirror image of P6.1-5T. It involves the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked forward with the right foot, approx 4.5 feet on R1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot on R3; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L4; the ball touched on R5. The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time. After a foot kicks the ball, that foot skips (two steps in a row). These skips are the only foot movement allowed between kicks. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

On the second kick of the run with the left foot (L2), the ideal distance for the kick is 8.5 feet and the ideal apex height of the ball is 7.5 feet.

On the third kick of the run with the right foot (R3), the ideal distance for the kick is 5.6 feet and the ideal apex height of the ball is 5.8 feet.

On the second kick of the run with the left foot (L2), in order to achieve an ideal kick, I should kick the ball as hard as I can while maintaining the style that is correct for the L2 kick.

On the third kick of the run with the right foot (R3), in order to achieve an ideal kick, in a horizontal sense ( how far the ball is kicked) I should use 64% of max effort, and in a vertical sense (how high the ball is kicked) I should use 85% of max effort. Simplification: On the third kick of the run with the right foot (R3) I should kick the ball using about 75% of the max force I am able to apply to the kick, when the kick is kicked in the proper style.

When applying max force to the ball on L2, on average I kick the ball 8.3 feet horizontally and the ball reaches an apex height of 7.8 feet.

When applying max force to the ball on R3, on average I kick the ball 8.8 feet horizontally and the ball reaches an apex height of 6.8 feet.

On the second kick, L2, the maximum distance I kick the ball is generally 13.0', the ball reaches an apex height of 7.7' on these kicks.

On the second kick, L2, the maximum height I kick the ball is generally 12.0', the ball travels a distance of 8.3' on these high kicks.

On the third kick, R3, the maximum distance I kick the ball is generally 16.3', the ball reaches an apex height of 6.0' on these kicks.

On the third kick, R3, the maximum height I kick the ball is generally 12.3', the ball travels a distance of 8.0' on these high kicks.

For L2 kick: Maximum distance of balls kicked and then reached with a foot after only a skip with the kicking foot after the ball is kicked (foot kicks ball, lands on ground, then is raised and lands on ground again before other foot hits ground): 11.3'. Arc apex height of balls on these kicks: 8.3'.

For R3 kick: Maximum distance of balls kicked and reached after only a skip with the kicking foot after the ball is kicked (foot kicks ball, lands on ground, then in skip, lands on ground again before other foot hits ground): 9.0'. Arc apex height of balls on these kicks: 9.0'.

The table below summarizes the data presented in the text above, re the R2 and L3 kicks during the P6.1-5T drill, and also re the L2 and R3 kicks during the P6.1-5T-reverse drill:

Thus, for now I have a rough estimate regarding what percent of the overall force applicable, I should apply to the R2 and L3 kicks on the P6.1-5T drill, and to the L2 and R3 kicks on the P6.1-5T-reverse drill. The estimates for now: 100% of max force should be applied on the R2 kick during the P6.1-5T drill; 100% of max force should be applied on the L2 kick during the P6.1-5T-reverse drill; 75% of max force should be applied on the L3 kick during the P6.1-5T drill; 75% of max force should be applied on the R3 kick during the P6.1-5T-reverse drill. These estimates arrived at via close statistical observation, contradict the general intuitive feeling I had prior to making the close observations, which was that about half of max force should be applied on all the kicks.

'Cright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Cright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). I step straight ahead with my right foot (R 0.5), and, dribble the ball behind my back with my left hand to my right side (brown ball and brown line in diagram); step with my left foot (L 1), catch the ball with both feet off the ground, and land with both feet simultaneously hitting the ground (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a 22' shot. Or I can step with my left (L 3), step with my right (R 4), and take a 10-15' shot so long as the ball is released before the right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: Online-- table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

First thing I did today, was that I finished off the 'Cleft' series that I started on November 17. My (unusually important) notes regarding these segments, have been added to the log-entry for November 17.

Next today, I practiced the 'Cright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a slant to the right, as of now this slant to the right is followed by a slant to the left when the close-in shot-option is implemented; it is designed for especially closely guarded conditions (Close-Right=Cright). The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot.

I started with my left pivot foot 33 feet from the backboard; Sept 20, the last time I did Cright', the starting point was 30' from the basket. At the corner of the first turn, today I stepped with my right foot one foot outside of where I was stepping Nov 20, this change is not shown in the diagram. Implementing the close-in shot option, today I released the ball at a point directly in front of the basket, 10 feet from the backboard, the ball being released while I was moving sideways relative to the basket. Sept 20, I was releasing the ball 15 feet from the basket. Thus the difference between the distance of the start point from the basket and the distance of the close-in shot-option release point, was 15 feet on Sept 20, and 23 feet today Nov 20. This increase in distance travelled is due to: the introduction of an emphasis on stylishness; improved physical ability.

Shooting the close-in option on the 'Cright' pattern today, I had enough time to shoot: right-handed aiming for the ring; left-handed aiming for the ring; and, right-handed aiming for the backboard. The star of these three segments was the third segment, during which using the right hand, I shot 25% aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, 45% counting shots that almost went in (according to my strict definition of 'almost in'), despite being a lefty. The shots were taken while moving forwards and sideways relative to the basket.

The description of the events of today, has been included in the log-entry for November 18, which has been updated to include the results for today.

'Cright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Cright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). I step straight ahead with my right foot (R 0.5), and, dribble the ball behind my back with my left hand to my right side (brown ball and brown line in diagram); step with my left foot (L 1), catch the ball with both feet off the ground, and land with both feet simultaneously hitting the ground (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a 22' shot. Or I can step with my left (L 3), step with my right (R 4), and take a 10-15' shot so long as the ball is released before the right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: Online-- table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today, I practiced the 'Cright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a slant to the right, as of now this slant to the right is followed by a slant to the left when the close-in shot-option is implemented; it is designed for especially closely guarded conditions (Close-Right=Cright). The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot.

On every shot today, my intent was to put what I have been considering to be 'extra arc' on the shot. On all the left-handed shots today, my intent was to keep the right guide-hand completely off the ball during the shot.

The star segment of the practice today: shooting from 22 feet left-handed aiming for the ring, I made 5 of the last 10 attempts (50%) in the 20 shot segment, after missing the first ten shots. Apparently it took me about ten shots to get used to the combination of: attempting to put extra arc on every shot; emphasizing that every shot be shot with a maximum level of stylishness; keeping the right guide-hand completely off the ball during the shot. The combination of the three is alot to remember during a shot.

During the first 20-shot segment, running shots from 10', I realized that a simple effective way to insure that every shot is shot stylishly, is to between shots shoot the ball almost straight up in the air (not at the basket) with maximum stylishness. Throughout the practice I did this between shots. I found that doing this helped to maximize the level of stylishness on every shot. I can't understand why I did not think of and implement this a long time ago.

During the second segment, shooting right-handed from 22 feet, I felt that the more stylishly I shot the shot, the better chance it had of going in.

Looking back on how miserable I felt last time I took shots from 21-22' November 20, I attribute the misery to: the demoralizing effect of procrastinating implementing innovations that should have already been implemented. Meaning, I knew that I should by then, already have implemented aiming for extra arc on every shot, and keeping the guide-hand completely off the ball on the left-handed shots, but I had not implemented these changes, result being I felt foolish.

I noted today that high-arc shots with lots of backspin on them, tend to instead of almost-going-in, actually go in. Shots shot with high arc and lots of backspin seem to hug the basket as if a magnetic force in the rim was pulling the ball.

When I first entered the gym, what looked like the Cambridge School of Weston Junior High Basketball team was practicing. This team apparently has lots of players on it.

While I was shooting the main characters in the gym were these two white boys who look like junior high school boys to me: one of them has black hair he wears Beatles style, the other one is husky, bespectacled, and pink.

This morning I put up online, a graphic showing how an average height player can neutralize a 7-footer's height advantage through horizontal movement.

Earlier this week, I had a dream about the soccer drills that I've been doing, that are described on this page in the log-entries concerned with soccer.

In the dream, I was doing soccer drills inside of a gym. I fail to remember with perfect accuracy, exactly which drills I was doing. One drill I was doing was the P6.1-3T up to the third touch; what occurred after the third touch was a mystery. Another drill I was doing was the P6.1-3T, or the P6.1-4T, in a modified form: instead of making 90 degree turns on each touch of the ball, I was making 45 degree turns on each touch of the ball; and, what happened after the third or fourth touch was a mystery.

In the dream, I saw myself practicing against a pitch black background. The entire gym was completely black, it was as if there was zero light in the gym, except for the light that emanated from my body. It was as if there was a light inside my body, which lit up my body, thus I was able to see myself as I practiced. My body looked normal, it did not look unusual like some kind of human lamp.

My performance as I did these drills was: awesome, spectacular, dazzling, flashy; it was as if one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse had been unleashed. The ball was kept off the ground during the runs. The ball was touched on every step with just the foot landing after the kick and a skip with a foot between touches on the ball with a foot. Though the ball was kept close to the body, the distance between touches was long. The ball and my body moved at high speed during the runs. The turns were executed at the intended angles.

While writing up this blog-post, I noticed that the simple act of producing a detailed, accurate, serious written description of the dream, improved my ability to derive potentially usefl information from the dream.

First off, the dream obviously indicates that the past several weeks of abstaining from flashy impressive runs, and instead engaging in boring, superficially unimpressive technical observation, experimentation, and analysis, is going to pay off big-time in the immediate future, when I put into practice the lessons that I've learned.

The mystery in the dream, regarding what happened after the third or fourth touch, indicates that I should modify the drills so as to allow myself some freedom with regards to what happens between the 3rd touch and the 4th, or between the 4th touch and the 5th.

When it comes to the act of making a precise turn at the angle intended with the ball kicked to the correct spot, and with the ball arriving at the correct spot at the correct time, performing this act is more difficult on the 4th touch than it is on the 3rd touch, and performing the act on the 3rd touch is more difficult than it is on the 2nd touch.

With each touch on the ball there is slight error, and as the effects of the errors accumulate, the ball and the body get more and more out of position rendering the act of making a high quality touch on the ball more and more difficult.

Such waking-life observations, combined with the dream-mystery re what happens after the 3rd or 4th touch, indicate that a wise modification might be to render the 3rd or 4th touch less difficult by, for example, allowing one or two steps between the 3rd touch and the 4th touch or between the 4th touch and the 5th touch.

I could order myself to on the 3rd touch kick the ball in a certain direction at high speed with the ball still kept in the air and off the ground, while allowing myself to step as many times as I want before touching the ball again on the 4th touch.

At least one of the runs I saw during the dream involved kicking the ball to the right with the right foot at a 45 degree angle, and to the left with the left foot at a 45 degree angle. Previously in waking-life, I had been making these kicks at a 90 degree angle. There are various advantages to making 45 degree turns instead of 90 degree turns which are more difficult. Two 45-degree turns add up to one 90 degree turn.

There are tricks that are so difficult, that even if a moderate level of competence regarding the trick can be achieved in practice, the trick will never be mastered well enough to implement during a game. Spending too much time on such tricks is a mistake. The wiser thing could be to put time into easier tricks that can be mastered to the point where they can be implemented in games.

The Nov 27 entry, describes a dream about the soccer drills that I've been doing.

This entry contains after-thoughts related to the dream described in the Nov 27 entry.

Nov 27, I forgot to mention, that in the dream: anticipating the position of my body and the ball on the 3rd and 4th kicks, and making plans based on this anticipation, was one of the characteristics of the player I watched in the dream (me); some runs performed by the player in the dream (me) contained only 90 degree turns, other runs contained only 45 degree turns.

The drills I've been doing in waking life over the past few weeks, could be modified in accordance with ideas in the dream, in the following ways: what is done on the 3rd touch could be changed; what is done on the 4th touch could be changed; the touch on the ball could be preceded by some change in footwork; some change in footwork could come after the touch on the ball; the angle of the turns could be changed; the foot that touches the ball on say the third touch could be changed; the chronologically further a touch from the beginning, the more steps allowed before the touch could be a policy.

I can kick the ball farther when making a 45 degree turn than I can when making a 90 degree turn. Yet, increasing the number of steps taken before the kick that makes the turn, could increase how far I can kick the ball on the kick that makes the turn.

Having read the description of the dream (Nov 27 & Nov 29 entries), based upon ideas brought to mind by the dream, what changes would YOU make in the soccer drills described in preceding entries?

Based upon ideas brought to mind by the dream, I came up with four new drills which I have posted online. I invented these new drills today Monday November 29.

The simplest solution regarding the problem of the modification of drills to implement ideas triggered by the dream: just continue to execute the same drills that have been executed over the past few weeks; but carry on with the attempt to complete the drill-run the best one can, even if this involves taking extra steps not mapped out by the pattern-map of the drill...continue with the run even if at some point the ball is kicked with right when it is supposed to be kicked with the left. This simple modification would produce info useable for coming up with pre-planned modifications.

Up till now, in order to conserve energy, when I've kicked the ball so far that I cannot reach it without taking more steps than prescribed by the drill-pattern, I've been giving up on reaching the ball; and when I've kicked the ball with the wrong foot, the foot not prescribed by the drill pattern, I've been giving up on continuing the run.

Importing factor limiting amount of modification to drills that is desirable: the dream sets forth a very optimistic diagnosis for the future, and shows me doing drills that are essentially the same as those I've been doing the past few weeks. The optimistic dream came after several weeks of these drills. This indicates it would be unwise to alter the drills too much. Seems the drills that have been done, should continue to be done without modification at least some of the time.

This morning I put up online, a a page containing graphics describing exactly what I mean when I talk about hand-distance and hand-angle in this log entry.

For a long time now, I've been keeping track of my hand position during a shot, at the beginning of the ball-propulsive phase during which the hand and the ball move towards the basket-target.

I've been allowing this hand position to vary. During my shots I've been thinking about things other than hand position at start of propulsive phase, which is the main reason my hand position at start of propulsive phase has been varying from shot to shot. I wanted to avoid the error of standardizing hand position at start of propulsive phase too early. Premature standardization could result in the wrong hand-position being chosen.

I feel confident that I am now aware of every page on the internet whose subject is the technical details of 3-point shooting and jump-shot shooting in basketball. Most of them in terms of textual content, do not even address the subject of hand-position at start of propulsive phase of shot. A minority of them provide graphics that help one to guess regarding optimal hand position at start of propulsive phase.

Angle of hand relative to top of forehead at start of propulsive phase: none of the internet sources addressed this aspect in their textual content. A minority left clues in their graphics content. On average these clues indicated the hand should be at an 8 degree angle relative to the top of the forehead at the start of the propulsive phase.

Distance of hand from top of forehead at start of propulsive phase: all of the pages in their text-content ignored this aspect. A minority of the pages left clues in their graphics content. On average the graphical clues indicated that the ball should be 5-6 inches from the top of the forehead (using my definition of this distance), at the start of the propulsive phase.

Lateral position of hand at start of propulsive phase: Most of the internet instructional pages, in their textual/graphic content did not address the question of whether the hand should be to the side of the head, or in front of the head, or somewhere in between, at the start of the propulsive phase of the shot. Amongst the minority of the pages that addressed the subject by way of graphics, two-thirds of them implicitly advocated that for right-handed shooters the ball should be to the right of the head at the start of the propulsive phase of the shot.

I feel confident that I am now well-acquainted with video clips showing the best NBA 3-point shooters of all time (in terms of percentage of attempts succeeding). Amongst such shooters (all right-handed): the angle of the hand relative to the top of the forehead at start of propulsive phase, varies from zero degrees to 75 degrees (in my way of talking, 90 degrees is hand straight up, 0 degrees hand straight ahead); the distance from the top of the forehead to the shooting hand varies from 3 to 8 inches and averages 6 inches; 50% have their right shooting hand in front of the the right edge of their face at the start of the propulsive phase; 31% have their right shooting hand to the right of their head at the start of the propulsive phase; 19% have their right shooting hand in front of the middle of their head at the start of the propulsive phase.

Thus with regards to what the angle of the hand should be at the start of the propulsive phase, the 'expert' internet pages are mute, while implying through their graphics that this angle should be 8 degrees; whereas, the top NBA 3-point shooters vary in terms of this angle from zero all the way up to 75 degrees.

With regards to the lateral position of the hand at the start of the propulsive phase, the 'expert' pages mostly ignored the matter while generally indicating that for right-handed shooters the ball should be to the right of the head at the start of the propulsive phase; the plurality of the best shooters in the NBA by way of contrast have their right shooting hand in front of the right edge of their face at the start of the propulsive phase.

Seems that the teachers have been obsessed with propagating the doctrine that the elbow should be tucked in behind the hand at the time of the shot. As a result they advocate that the hand should be to the right side of the head at the time of the shot, because it is so unnatural to twist the elbow in behind the hand when the hand is in front of the right edge of the face. Aparently their erroneous obsession with tucking the elbow in behind the hand is rooted in the fact that tucking the elbow in behind the hand is appropriate for the set shot of old but not for the modern jump shot which grew out of the set shot.

By way of contrast the plurality of the top NBA shooters allow their elbow to angle outwards to some extent, and shoot with the hand in front of the right edge of the face.

Hard to believe how the 'basketball expert' web pages ignore hand position at start of propulsive phase during 3-point shots and jump shots. Undoubtedly, finding a teacher-type who has real knowledge regarding hand position at start of propulsive phase, would be like finding a needle in a haystack. But even if they found such a needle in a haystack type teacher, they would'nt know a diamond if they held one in their hand.

My habit over the past few weeks of basketball practice, has been to: shoot some segments emphasizing wrist-power and other segments emphasizing elbow-power; keep track of whether elbow or wrist was emphasized during a successful shot; keep score of the percentages in the different segments.

I've inspected & taken notes on, 35 basketball instructional web-pages not counting several which, although as informative as the least-informative of those I took notes on, I did not take notes on. 11% of these web-pages came at least close to textually addressing the question of to what extent elbow or wrist should be emphasized during the shot. 26% contained graphics or video which provided hints regarding elbow emphasis vs wrist emphasis. Of those that addressed the matter in text, 50% implied that the elbow should be emphasized, and 50% implied that the wrist should be emphasized. Of those that addressed the matter in graphics or video, 89% implied that the elbow should be emphasized during the shot, and 11% hinted that both should be involved sort of equally.

Looking at the NBA players with the best all-time 3-point shooting percentages, it's difficult to tell from the videos whether the player emphasizes elbow-force or wrist-force in delivering the shot.

One can estimate the amount of elbow-force vs wrist-force in a shooter's technique, by looking at the distance from the head of the shooting hand, and the angle of the shooting hand, at the start of the phase during which the ball is propelled towards the basket-target ( my definitions re how such distances are measured). Note: in my way of talking, a 90 degree angle means the hand is above the head, a 0 degree angle means the hand is in front of the head. The greater the angle of the hand relative to the head at the start of the ball-propulsive phase, the more the wrist will be involved. The greater the distance between the hand and the head at the start of the ball-propulsive phase, the more the wrist will be involved.

The 35 internet instructional pages I looked at, by way of their graphics and videos, on average implied that the ball should be at an 8 degree angle relative to the head at shooting time, meaning just slightly higher than what would be directly in front of the top of the forehead. The range of angle for the hand at start of ball-propulsion implied by the graphics and videos in the internet instructional sources, varied from 0 to 27 degrees.

by way of contrast,the top twenty NBA 3-point percentage shooters of all-time, ranged in terms of the angle of the shooting hand at the start of the ball-propulsive phase, from 0 to 75 degrees, the average being 33 degrees.

Thus I estimate, that the minority of basketball instructors who even come close to dealing with the matter of elbow-force vs wrist-force during a jump-shot, by way of over-emphasizing a low shooting-hand angle at the start of the ball-propulsive phase, overemphasize elbow force. I estimate such instructors give their students the impression that a low hand angle at start of ball-propulsion is right for everyone, whereas the reality is that hand angle at start of ball-propulsion, and consequently the extent to which the wrist-power contributes to the flight of the ball, vary greatly, from 0 to 75 degrees, amongst the best 3-point shooters of all time.

It's annoying to have to face the mystery that the optimal angle for the shooting hand at the start of ball-propulsion, could vary from 0 degrees to 75 degrees. Such mystery means that there is work to do in terms of figuring out one's optimal angle. There would be less work to do if you knew for a fact that the hand should be at a 10 degree angle at start of shooting time for you and also for everyone else.

Though hand-angle at start of ball-propulsion, and amount of wrist-power used vary from shooter to shooter, nevertheless, the shooter is better off if he uses the same hand angle on every shot. The task at hand for a player becomes, to ascertain precisely which hand-angle at start of ball propulsion, is the best for him as an indivual.

One approach: experiment with the hand being at different, premeditated angles varying from 0 to 75 degrees at start of ball-propulsion, and keep track of how the shooting percentages vary depending upon which hand-angle you deliberately used during the shot.Then decide what hand-angle you are going to use based on the scored results. The faster you make up your mind, the greater chance that you will settle on a hand-angle that is not the actually the best one for you.

A second approach: allow the hand-angle used to unintentionally vary from shot to shot by concentrating the mind on aspects of the shot other than hand-angle; when a shot goes in, keep track of what hand-angle was used during the successful shot.

Another approach: simply use the hand angle that feels the most natural and comfortable for you as an individual. This approach entails the risk that if you gave alternative hand-angles enough of a chance in practice, you might find that some hand-angle that is different from the one you have been used to, is actually more natural and comfortable than the one you have become accustomed to.

The hand-angle at the start of the ball propulsive phase, does not necessarily influence the height at which the ball is released. A low hand angle at start of ball-propulsion could result in the same hand-height at ball-release time as a high hand-angle at start of ball propulsion time.

The distance of the ball from the head at shot-time also influences the amount of wrist-power used, the greater this distance the more wrist-power used. The average such distance explicitly stated or implicitly implied amongst the instructional sources is 6" (range: 2"-11"); the average such distance amongst NBA shooters is 6" (range: 3"-8"). As with the hand-angle, the hand-distance should be standardized; the standardization process can involve experimentation or simply settling on what one is most comfortable with.

Drill P6.1-5T-Rev-M

This drill is a modification of P6.1-5T-Reverse. The first kick is R1; next, the right foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, and there is a little skip with the right foot; next, the ball is kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot (L2); next, the left foot hits the ground after kicking the ball and there is a little skip with the left foot; next, the right foot kicks the ball at a 90 degree angle to the right (R3); next, the right foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, and a step is taken with the left foot; next, the right foot kicks the ball to the right at a 90 degree angle (R4); next, the right foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, a step is taken with the left foot, a step is taken with the right foot, and the ball is kicked with the left foot (L5) in a direction between straight ahead and 90 degrees to the right. The ball is kept off the ground but close to the body the entire time.

The statistical scores for this drill are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

Today I noted, that on any touch, the shot straight ahead is the most natural thing to do; the pre-eminent deviation from intended pattern is that the ball is kicked a little too low and far and reached on one bounce with the pattern-prescribed number of steps before the kick on the ball after it is reached, adhered to (two steps).

After the practice ended, I was thinking: what is required is understanding of correct technique on the R3 and R4 touches; things right now are happening too fast for observation of technique used and implementation of techniques, on R3 and R4; I was able to chase down long low balls before they bounced, with one to two steps in between the kick producing the chased ball and the kick concluding the chase of the ball; I would not have been able to catch such balls if I were being strict as I have been, allowing only the foot to hit the ground after the kick, and then a skip with the same foot, prior to the next kick.

I was excited by my ability to make a long low kick on R4, and then catch the ball on L5 after taking a step with the left foot and a step with the right foot after the right foot hit the ground after R4. This happened both with the ball never bouncing between R4 and L5, and the ball bouncing once between R4 and L5. With the ball never bouncing between R4 and L5, 18', 14' (ball arc apex 5') and 11' (ball apex arc 2') were the distances between R4 and L5. With the ball bouncing once between R4 and L5, the distances were 16' and 17'.

I was proud of: being able to reach a ball that was kicked 14' from where it was initially kicked, even though the apex arc of the ball was only 5' (2 steps used to reach ball); being able to reach a ball that was kicked 11' from where it was initially kicked, even though the apex arc of the ball was only 2' (2 steps used to reach ball). Both these events occurred during 'perfect' T5 successes. The two events show quickness and speed.

Today I programmed myself to continue chasing the ball even if there was no hope of putting up a score indicating pattern successfully adhered to for 5 touches; I observed and noted the deviations from pattern that naturally occurred. Not chasing the mis-kicks down and not carrying on best one can has become a habit.

Apex arc of ball during 3-point shot

The graphic shows the approximate flight of the ball, when the ball is shot over a distance of 24 feet from point A, 7 feet above the ground, to point H, the basket 10' above the ground; point H is 24 feet away from point B, which is 3 feet above point A. The reddish-brown line connecting point A, point F, and point H, shows the approximate path of the ball when the ball is shot at the basket from 24 feet away and reaches an apex of 13 feet during flight; the upwards angle of the ball from point A to point F is 21 degrees. The green line connecting point A, point E (15' above the ground), and point H, shows the approximate path of the ball when the ball is shot at the basket from 24 feet away and reaches an apex of 15 feet during flight; the upwards angle of the ball from point A to point E is 28 degrees.

86% of the 35 internet basketball instructional sources I looked at, ignored the matter of how high the ball should go during a 3-point shot. Meaning, this 86% provided no information in either their graphics, videos, or text, that would even hint at how high the apex of the ball should be during flight.

Amongst the few internet basketball instructional sources that even hinted at the answer to the arc-apex question, the answer hinted at for what the apex height of the ball should be, ranged from 12-14 feet, average 13.5 feet.

Observing videos of the top twenty all-time NBA leaders in terms of 3-point shooting percentage, I noted that that the apex height of the ball during their 3-point shots varies from 13-15 feet and averages 13.5 feet.

Thus the instructional sources and the top shooters are in a type of agreement-- the one's advice does not conflict with the other's actual behavior. Problem is, that about 90% of the instructional sources do not bother with even hinting at how high the ball should go when it is at its highest during the 3-point shot. Sort of like, a manual explaining how to drive a car, that never mentions the steering wheel.

NBA Official Rules, Backboard Dimensions: The backboard shall be a rectangle measuring 6' horizontally and 3 1/2' vertically. The front surface shall be flat and transparent. b. A transparent backboard shall be marked with a 2" white rectangle centered behind the ring. This rectangle shall have outside dimensions of 24" horizontally and 18" vertically..... (1) The ball shall be an officially approved NBA ball between 71/2 and 81/2 pounds pressure.

I could not find the exact height of the bottom edge of the backboard. For the purposes of my calculations I have been assuming the height of the bottom edge of the backboard to be 9.5 feet above the ground.

Thus during a 3-point shot when the ball reaches a maximum height of 13 feet during its flight, the ball reaches to about the same height as the top edge of the backboard.

Observing the top shooters, one notes that the closer they are to the basket, the lower the apex of the arc during the flight of the ball.

The graphic this entry shows how, when the pro-distance 24-foot 3-point shot is aimed to reach an arc apex of 13', the ball during its trajectory from point of release to arc apex, travels upwards at a 21 degree angle; when the arc apex is 15' it travels upwards at a 28 degree angle.

The graphic illustrates how when a ball shot from a height of 7 feet travels at an angle that would bring it to an arc apex height of 13 feet, the ball moves upwards 3 feet for every 8 feet that it moves forwards.

This info points to an idea for a drill designed to build up 3-point shooting capability: shooting the ball, with the ball released at a height of 7 feet, at a point on the wall that is 8 feet away horizontally and 10 feet high (thus the 3 feet upwards per 8 feet forwards ratio is adhered to).

Professional players routinely practice with ball-boys on hand to recover rebounded shots, or with big trays of balls nearby which enable a large number of shots to be taken per minute. This indicates that potentially some advantage could be derived from taking a large number of shots per minute during practice. Problem is, most players do not employ servants to rebound for them and do not take forty basketballs to the gym when they head for the gym to practice or play basketball.

'Cright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Cright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). I step straight ahead with my right foot (R 0.5), and, dribble the ball behind my back with my left hand to my right side (brown ball and brown line in diagram); step with my left foot (L 1), catch the ball with both feet off the ground, and land with both feet simultaneously hitting the ground (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a 22' shot. Or I can step with my left (L 3), step with my right (R 4), and take a 10-15' shot so long as the ball is released before the right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: Online-- table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed. The entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today, I practiced the 'Cright' basketball penetration move that I recently invented and named. This move involves a slant to the right. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry.

On every shot, my intent was to: put what I have been considering to be 'extra arc' on the shot. On all the left-handed shots, my intent was to keep the right guide-hand completely off the ball during the shot. On every shot, my intent was that my body should move forwards while remaining upright, during the jump in the shot. I was trying to keep my body straight upright, perpendicular to the ground during the shots, but it seemed to me that my body was leaning forwards during the shots. Today was the first day all these elements were combined into the shots.

Several times, though my intent was to arc the ball the ball did not have much arc on it. Such shots were counted in the score whether they went in or not.

All the shots were shot off the 'Cright' pattern implementing the 3-point 22-foot shot option, with minimal delay between grabbing the ball off the dribble and shooting it.

Today for the first time I allowed my body to move forwards over the 3-point line during the jump in the shot. Previously I had not been doing this because: I had not realized that the shot still counts for 3 if one lands inside the 3-point line after the jump; I felt that moving forwards during the shot would bring me to too close to the defender.

However looking at videos of the best 3-point shooters, I realized that their bodies move forwards during the shooting process, while remaining upright. I figured that I can compensate for the getting close to the defender caused by this forwards movement, by starting the shot further away from the defender.

During the first segment of the day, I noted: 'Well shot, given so many instructs + including new instructs. Good job of implementing all instructs, good job of combining well-shot w/ implementing instructs...new techs add power range, arc, spin, shot will be better'.

The second segment was the star of the day: aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard from 22 feet, I made 7 out of 20, 35%; if the shots that almost went in (according to my strict definition of almost-in) had gone in, the percentage would have been 50%. I felt this was a grand accomplishment, because I was programming myself to do so many different things simultaneously during the shot: shoot with the left hand; put extra arc on the ball; shoot stylishly; emphasize wrist-power, move the body towards the basket during the shot; bounce the ball off the backboard. On top of this I had to execute the footwork and dribble correctly immediately before releasing the shot.

Before each shot, I recited to myself the following code-words indicating what I had to to during the drible and shot: "Stylish R D L catch step Flistarc BB". The 'stylish' reminded me to shoot stylishly. The 'R' reminded me to start with moving the right foot forwards; the 'D' reminded me to dribble the ball to my right behind my back while stepping forwards with the right foot; the 'L' reminded me to step once with the left foot prior to catching the ball off the dribble; the 'catch' reminded me when to catch the ball off the dribble; the 'step' reminded me to step up with my left foot prior to the shot so as to better balance myself; the 'F' in 'Flistarc' reminded me to move the body forwards during the jump shot; the 'list' in 'Flistarc' reminded me to shoot with my left hand emphasizing wrist power (L + (wr)ist); the 'arc' in 'Flistarc' reminded me to put extra arc on the ball; the 'BB' reminded me to aim for the backboard. All this programming myself to do things was in and of itself tiring.

Still, despite having my mind loaded up with so many commands, I was able to make 7 out of 20 attempts, 35% (percentage would have been 50% if 3 that almost went in had gone in).

After shooting the second segment I noted: 'good job again of well-shot, + implementing commands, several of which were, new commands. Maybe some of these commands should be omitted, so as to enable concentration on others.

Today for the first time the ball was inflated to 8 psi not 7.5 psi. I had the ball inflated to 7.5 psi because the instruction on the ball was to inflate to 7-8 psi. But I noted that according to the official NBA rules, the ball should be inflated to 7.5-8.5 psi.

The white boys I named 'pink-specs', and 'Beatle', were in the gym with me during both the first and second 'Cright' segments. An East-Asian man and what seemed to be his son were in the same side of the gym as me during the second segment.

This same East-Asian man, a few days ago, rebuked this same boy, for kicking a cone marker I was using out of the way. The boy again today kicked the cone marker out of the way, but he only did it once--the man's reaction this time was to simply look tired of rebuking the boy.

'CloFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'CloFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). I start with the ball in my left hand. As I step to my right and forward with my right foot (R 0.5), I move the ball behind my back, from my left hand to my right hand so the ball is to the right of my body. As I step forwards with my left foot, I swing the ball around my back and dribble it behind my back, to my left and forwards, with my right hand, releasing the ball before the left foot hits the ground. After my left foot hits the ground (L 1), I catch the ball after it bounces up, with both feet off the ground and land with both feet hitting the ground simultaneously (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a shot from around 22' (swiveling my trailing left foot up to be even with my right foot prior to the shot if I want), or I can step forwards with my left foot (L 3), step forwards with my right foot (R 4), and take a shot from around 13' so long as the ball is released before my right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'CloFright' basketball penetration move that was first practiced Sept 24 (the Sept 24 log entry describes the move in detail in text).

I started with my left pivot foot 33 feet from the backboard today. I shot the ball from the point on the line in the diagram, that is approx 17 feet away from the basket. As usual there was fast body movement from the start, minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it, and a change of direction in between the start of the dribble and the shot. These shots were taken with the body moving towards the basket at a high speed.

The moves I have been practicing involve a close-in option and a 3-point shot option. The close-in option features the body moving towards the basket at shot-time, at a much greater speed compared to the speed of the body moving towards the basket when the 3-point option is implemented. The 17 foot distance shots today on the close-in option, were thelongest close-in option shots I've taken since Aug 28.

The second segment shooting off the 'Clofright' pattern today, featured 17 foot shots with the body moving towards the basket at a high speed, with the right-hand used to shoot the ball, the intent being to bounce the ball off the backboard and into the basket. During this segment, counting the shots that almost went in according to my strict definition of almost-in, the percentage was 40%--indicating that 17 foot shots with the body moving towards the basket at high speed, could possibly become a viable part of my repertoire at some point in the future.

The difficulty of the 'Clofright' shots taken today was compounded by the fact, that the pickup off the dribble made behind the back with the right hand, was extraordinarily awkward and difficult. At the beginning the ball kept hitting my posterior or my left calf, when I tried to dribble it behind my back to my left with my right hand. Then I realized that I need to swivel my body clock-wise, and arch my back, at the same time that I dribble the ball behind my back, so that the ball won't hit my body during the dribble. Don't understand why it took me so long to realize this.

Having watched the graceful behind the back moves of the pros, I was under the impression that such swiveling and arching was unnecessary and inelegant; I failed to take into account that typically when pros execute the behind the back move, when the pros use the right hand to dribble behind their back, their left foot is in front of their right foot. By way of contrast during 'Clofright', when I dribble to my left behind my back with my right hand, my right foot is in front of my left foot.

The statistical scores for such drills are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

December 1 (see log entry), I noticed weaknesses in my attempts to perform the P6.1-5T-Rev-M drill--there were too many miskicks on R3 and R4. In response I invented two new drills that were done today in the Hemenway Gym: P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-1, and P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-2.

If my mentality now was the same as it has been in the past, I would not have invented new drills designed to correct the problems encountered attempting to perform P6.1-5T-Rev-M. I would have just pressed ahead with doing more of P6.1-5T-Rev-M. This due to: personal bureaucratic inertia, proud stubborn overemphasis on succeeding in doing the exact same thing I had been failing with; vain obsession with accomplishing grand feats a few times, as opposed to lesser feats many times.

By now I've learned by experience that my earlier mentality was a mistake. My earlier mentality failed to sufficiently value: the amount of time spent chasing down the ball after miskicks; the acceleration of performance-improvement produced by changes that give me more chances per hour in terms of attempting the kicks that I've been failing on.

Drill P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-1

The ball is kicked forwards with the left foot (L1); the left foot hits the ground, then there is a little skip with the left foot again before the right foot hits the ground, and the ball is kicked to the right with the right foot (R2); next, the right foot hits the ground after R2, a step is taken with the left foot, and the ball is kicked to the right with the right foot on R3; next, the right foot hits the ground after R3, a step is taken with the left foot, a step is taken with the right foot, and the ball is kicked with the left foot (L4). All this is done quickly with the ball never touching the ground between L1 and L4.

The first hour today, I practiced drill P6.1-5T-Rev-M-corrector-1 (see graphic this entry). P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-1, involves a kick to the right with the right foot on R2, followed by a step with the left foot, and then another kick to the right on R3. Thus in P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-1, the second kick of the run practices the same kick that the third kick of the run practices during P6.1-5T-Rev-M. The result is that with the modification: I get more chances per hour to practice what is the same thing as the third kick in P6.1-5T-Rev-M; and, the ball is in a position that is easier to deal with when I practice what is the same thing as the third kick in P6.1-5T-Rev-M.

P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-1, involves also, a kick to the right with the right foot on R3, followed by a step with the left foot, a step with the right foot, and then a kick with the left foot on L4. Thus in P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-1, the third kick of the run practices the same kick that the fourth kick of the run practices during P6.1-5T-Rev-M. The result is that with the modification: I get more chances per hour to practice what is the same thing as the fourth kick in P6.1-5T-Rev-M; and, the ball is in a position that is easier to deal with when I practice what is the same thing as the fourth kick in P6.1-5T-Rev-M.

An exact transcript of the notes I made during this first hour ('4T' means the P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-1 pattern was adhered to in terms of footwork, kicks, and angles of kicks, with the ball kept off the ground the entire time; additions made to notes after I got home in parentheses):

226 pm: 4T;
231. perfect 4T
236, perfect 4T
240, good 4T
241, cool 4T, R3, LRL R4. fast end segment (this run technically not a 4T success, because of extra step between R3 & R4)
244 pm, very fast, perfectly angled 4T.
246, perfect 4T.
249 4T
250 4T, perfect
252, the B-ball game has ended, new (basketball game) starts.
256 4T, R2 too sharp, but fast and tight.
301 4T, long fast.
302 4T perfect.
304 4T, quick
305, 4T, perfect,
307 second B-ball game ends.
Now just 2 guys shooting hoops
310 fast 4T, off angle.
312 good fast 4T
315 long fast 4T perfect.
316 good small 4T
318 perfect 4T,
319 4T
322 4T, sharp fast
Seg 1, main problem: ISF (insufficient sideways force applied to ball during kick) due to foot not starting to inside of ball (during kick). Gym is cool, air is soft and clean and breathable.

Drill P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-2

The ball is kicked forwards with the left foot (L1); the left foot hits the ground, then there is a little skip with the left foot again before the right foot hits the ground, and the ball is kicked to the right with the right foot (R2); next, the right foot hits the ground after R2, a step is taken with the left foot, a step is taken with the right foot, and the ball is kicked to the left with the left foot on L3; next, the left foot hits the ground after L3, a step is taken with the right foot, and the ball is kicked with the left foot (L4). All this is done quickly with the ball never touching the ground between L1 and L4.

The second hour today, I practiced drill P6.1-5T-Rev-M-corrector-2 (see graphic this entry). P6.1-5T-Rev-M-corrector-2 provides advantages similar to those provided by P6.1-5T-Rev-M-corrector-1.

An exact transcript of the notes I made during the second hour ('4T' means the P6.1-5T-Rev-M-Corrector-2 pattern was adhered to in terms of footwork, kicks, and angles of kicks, with the ball kept off the ground the entire time; additions made to notes after I got home in parentheses):

402 start
406 perfect 4T
408 4T;
409 4T
410 4T perfect, tight fast. ball approx knee high entire time.
411 4T perfect.
412 4T perfect, R2, right-chest, R3 (the ball hit the right side of my chest between R2 & R3)
415 - 4T
416 - 4T, perfect, titely controlled
417 - 4T, perfect titely contr
419 - 4T, perfect.
423 - 4T perfect, long fast tite
424 - 4T, perfect, long fast tite
426 - 4T, perfect;
427 - 4T,
429 - 4T,
431 - break; move to other side, fullct game starting
435 end move
435 - imperfect, but very long & fast;
438 - 4T, perfect, tite fast;
440 - 4T, small
441 - 4T, perfect very tite & fast
442 - 4T, perfect fast tite
443 - 4T, fast, perfect
446 - 4T, perfect;
447 - 4T,
448 - 4T, perfect, long fast tite
449 - 4T, perfect
- after 4T extending w R, LK, R LK naturally (after the fourth touch with the right foot, I was naturally extending the run with the ball kept off the ground, following a pattern involving kick with the left foot, step with the right, kick with the left foot, step with the right, etc).
450 - half the lites went out everything stopped
451 - lites back, resumed.
451 - 4T
runs extending 20' as crow flies (direct distance from first kick to fourth kick; distance is longer combining every segment of the run and adding them together, due to the two turns in the run)
454 - can see how strict every pace drills, have improved LK R LK, RK L RK, titeness, turn ability, control (I can see how the strict drills I've been doing featuring the ball touched on every pace with just a skip in between touches--every kick preceded by what precedes R2 in drill P6.1-5T-rev-M-corrector-2--has improved my ability to run patterns involving the ball kicked on every other pace with a step between kicks)
456 - 4T;
458 - 4T;
459 - 4T perfect;
END 500, 23 student-types in gym

Near the end I ws surprised myself by how totally in control of the ball I was when I extended a 4-touch run by about half a dozen touches, by making a leftwards U-turn while kicking the ball every other step with my left foot, and then kicking the ball on every step with my right and left feet. I'm convinced the difficult strict practices allowing only a skip between touches, with the ball touched on every step, have greatly improved my ability to air-dribble the ball touching the ball on every other step, keeping the ball close to the body but off the ground the whole time.

Overall today, I estimate that most of the runs covered a distance of 20-26 feet (distance measured car odometer style), ball kept off the ground but close to the body the entire time, with two sharp turns during the run. Physically I felt like I was traveling about 10 feet, but actually the distance covered was longer. 26 feet is twice the distance between the top of the basketball backboard and the ground. Retrospectively it's hard to believe I was traveling such distances during the runs; during the practice I felt fatigued and especially during the first hour, somewhat clumsy.

Aside from Soccer technical talk, what my visit to Hemenway Gym was like

I was impressed by what seemed to be a psychological atmosphere at Hemenway Gym. The Hemenway gym spirit struck me as: a cozy relaxed loving spirit; , a spirit that reminded me of the way you feel when you lie down to sleep in a luxurious superior bed, without having any financial worries, during a vacation with people you really like.

The Harvard Law School students have 'got it made' financially. I suspect that people who experience financial stress, err in that they allow their financial stress to damage their spirits. We end up spending alot of time with persons who have allowed their financial stress to damage their spirits, which has the effect of impairing our own spirits.

The Harvard Law School students, are imperfect. Yet they have done a good job with regards to the fundamental ethic of financially caring for one's own family--they have toughly endured all the boring tiring hard work you have to get through to get into Harvard Law School and not flunk out of Harvard Law School. When I was a self-taught Christian in college, my theological error might have been that I was ignorant of or forgot about the importance of being financially successful so as to be able to care for one's family.

Though I was wearing earplugs, I heard the men in the gym emitting little soundbites that I believe had as their subject, ME Hobbs (often I can read lips when people are talking about me, but not when they are not talking about me). They must have been speaking loudly, given how loud they sounded to me despite my ears being plugged with powerful earplugs, and how far away from me they were.

I heard them voice the following soundbites (my interpretation and reaction to the soundbite given in parentheses): 'He's Christ (so if you think I'm Christ, why did you just disappear into the woodwork?); corporations are evil (I'm seen as a righteous victim of evil corporations); that's mate (he had the analytical acuity and soccer savvy to understand that when I achieve consistency with the skills I was practicing in front of him, it will be like a check-mate on the rest of the soccer-world); who you?...he's a genius (he scoffs at his fellow law-schooler as being beneath me Hobbs, who is a genius); he's quick (I'm considered to be physically quick in body movement); he's a running back (he thinks I'm physically built like a tackle football running back...a couple of months ago I was 5' 10", 191 lbs with my clothes off) It's him I can tell! (he can tell that I am IT, IT meaning something very important)'.

The six soundbites described were all emitted by six different Harvard-law-school types; each soundbite was emitted by a different man. Mentally I gave a name to the source of each soundbite , best I could; how exact a mental picture I had re who was the source of the soundbite varied.

The soundbites, the imaginative/descriptive name I gave to the source of the soundbite , and my fictional/imaginative biographical tidbit re the source of the soundbite :

'He's Christ' -- Tall Frontally-balding Middle-aged Clean-shaven White-man (TFMCW). TFMCW: is Clint Eastwood's cousin; sports that mean-but-handsome look; a type of super-clerk.
'That's mate' -- Brown-skinned Hefty Arab Oil-sheikh (BHAO). BHAO: is brown-skinned because his white Arab dad married an Afro-American lady.
'Who you?...he's a genius' -- Hefty Ogletree-type black (HOB). HOB is the nephew of Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree.
'He's quick' -- White Voice different from first three (WV). WV's respect for 'quick' white-male-types is typical of white males who have gotten sick of being beaten in the 40 yard dash by black males (quickness is similar to speed but not the same thing as speed).
'He's a running back' -- Light-skinned Black-voice different from first four (LSB). LSB's Afro-american father was a direct descendant of white slave-owner George Washington. His mother was a white-American admirer of George Washington.
'It's him I can tell!' -- Average-height White East-asian Basketball, Money, & Academics Dominator (AWEBMAD). AWEBMAD, an alpha-teen, prior to entering Harvard Law School, dominated his peers in sports and academics. AWEBMAD has found it somewhat disconcerting adjusting to his new environment wherein he no longer dominates his peers.

While driving home, on a road near the Law School, I passed by this tall white-haired bespectacled clean-shaven, heavy but not-fat white man and his white wife, who were both over six feet tall, they were walking down the sidewalk. The man said, 'he's built'. I knew he was talking about me. What he meant, was that I have a physically well-built body (I've heard several people say that about me recently; I suspect the root cause being that running so many miles wearing heavy body-weights in 2009 built up my body).

Sounds like perhaps some people at the gym, did not understand the difficulty of what I was trying to do with the soccer ball. I might be physically built similar to an American-style tackle-football 'running back', but actually, I'm not a tackle-football running back dabbling in soccer as a way of training myself-- my main sport is soccer and I'm getting close to the top in terms of soccer skills. Today, though I am left-footed by nature, I was attempting to make 90 degree turns to my right with my right foot while keeping the ball in the air. Such turns are more difficult than 90 degree turns to the left with the right foot; more difficult than 45 degree turns to the right with the right foot; more difficult than even 180 degree turns with the right foot.

Driving home, I scanned through the radio stations, until about 5:25 PM I heard great classical music that I enjoyed playing on the radio. It sounded like an appropriate sound-track for my activity at Hemenway. I waited and the announcer identified the station as WHRB, Harvard University broadcasting, the same Harvard University that Hemenway gym belongs to. The music playing was Handel's 'Music for the Royal Fireworks'.

'CloFright' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'CloFright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). I start with the ball in my left hand. As I step to my right and forward with my right foot (R 0.5), I move the ball behind my back, from my left hand to my right hand so the ball is to the right of my body. As I step forwards with my left foot, I swing the ball around my back and dribble it behind my back, to my left and forwards, with my right hand, releasing the ball before the left foot hits the ground. After my left foot hits the ground (L 1), I catch the ball after it bounces up, with both feet off the ground and land with both feet hitting the ground simultaneously (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a shot from around 22' (swiveling my trailing left foot up to be even with my right foot prior to the shot if I want), or I can step forwards with my left foot (L 3), step forwards with my right foot (R 4), and take a shot from around 13' so long as the ball is released before my right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'CloFright' basketball penetration move that was first practiced Sept 24 (the Sept 24 log entry describes the move in detail in text). This was the same move practiced during the previous basketball practice.

I started with my left pivot foot 33 feet from the backboard today. Using the close-in option, I shot the ball from the point on the line in the diagram, that is approx 13 feet away from the basket. Five days ago this shot was being shot from 17 feet from the basket, and I was traveling 16 feet from the start point to the shot release point on one dribble. Today, I traveled 20 feet from the start point to the release point on one dribble. My ability to execute the right-handed behind the back dribble to my left is improving rapidly.

The first segment was the star of the day, 45% of the shots went in, 55% counting almost in (from 13', with the body moving at the basket at high speed). First segment, Five out of the first seven shots, 71%, went in, and this without a warmup. Therefore I now suspect that this kind of shot, would be a good shot in situations wherein I have not shot the ball for a long time.

The shooting the rest of the day (13-footers and 22-footers) was not so good. A bunch of Downs syndrome types came into the gym and were somewhat distracting.

One reason the shooting was not so good aside from the first segment, was that I am adding emphasis on high arc, and commanding my body to move forwards during the shots, both of these technical refinements are new. I realize that added technical refinements could at first throw off the shots because I am not used to them.

It's important that I should relax, enjoy myself, and accept it as natural that when I add technical refinements to the shot process this could at first reduce the percentage before ultimately increasing the percentage.

Of the very first 7 shots (no warm-up shots preceded them), 13-footers shot while moving towards the basket at high speed with intent to put extra arc (arc+) on the ball: 5, 71%, were goals (went in the basket); the first 3 goals were shot with what I labeled 'arc-', (significantly less arc than what has been typical in the past); the second 2 goals were shot with what I call 'arc' (as much arc as has been typical in the past).

I kept track of the arc level on the shots that resulted in goals during the shots. On this basis I estimate the following: Shots 1-5, were shot at arc-, 60% were goals; shots 6-9 were shot at 'arc', 75% were goals; shots 10-20 were shot at 'arc+', 27% were goals; during the segment I gradually improved in my ability to put the intended 'extra arc' on the ball; after 10 shots I was able to put the intended extra arc on the ball; as I gradually improved in my ability to put the intended 'extra arc' on the ball, my shooting percentage declined.

1/1 (Ring; H: L, 60*, 6"; arc-, BS-; elbow+, wr-, owu)
2/2 (Ring; H: L, 60*, 6"; arc-, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu)
3/5 (Ring; H: L, 60*, 9"; arc-, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu)
4/6 (Ring; H: L, 45*, 5"; arc, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu)
5/7 (Ring; H: L, 60*, 5"; arc, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu)
6/9 (Ring; H: L, 60*, 8"; arc, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu)
7/14 (Ring; H: L, 45*, 10"; arc+, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu)
8/18 (Ring; H: L, 45*, 5"; arc+, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu)
9/20 (Ring; H: L, 75*, 10"; arc+, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu)
END 1:10 pm T=9/20, A=2.

The above excerpt from my in-practice notes describe the goals during the first segment; they can be understood by the following example: 5/7 (Ring; H: L, 60*, 5"; arc, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu). The 7th attempt produced the 5th goal of the segment; the ball went through the ring did not bounce off the backboard; the hand was to the left of the head at a 60 degree angle relative to the top of the forehead (hand in front of forehead =0 degrees, hand straight above forehead= 90 degrees); the closest distance between the base of the hand at the beginning of the ball-propulsive motion, and the line intersecting with the top of the forehead that runs parallel to the forehead, was 5 inches; the arc on the ball was less than what has been typical in the past; the amount of backspin was what has been typical in the past; elbow-force was emphasized; wrist-force was de-emphasized; the ball was shot while the body was on the way up during the jump.

World-class percentage is achievable via-- (Ring; H: L, 60*, 7"; arc, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu); thus I am confronted with statistical hard facts backing the (unpleasant?) idea that my sports activities should be on two fronts, basketball and soccer, not just soccer.

When attempting to put extra arc on the ball formula implemented should be-- (Ring; H: L, 60*, 8"; arc+, BS; elbow+, wr-, owu).

All-time NBA field goal 2-point-shot career percentage leader amongst guards: #1-- Dave Twardzik 55%; #2-- Mike Glenn 54%; #3-- Ronnie Brewer 53%; #4-- Lewis Lloyd 52%; #5-- Maurice Cheeks 52%.

Looking at the above data, one can see how a 75% percentage on shots from 13', shot at high speed while moving towards the basket, is something to get excited about.

Drill P6.1-5T-M

This drill is a modification of P6.1-5T. The first kick is L1; next, the left foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, and there is a little skip with the left foot; next, the ball is kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot (R2); next, the right foot hits the ground after kicking the ball and there is a little skip with the right foot; next, the left foot kicks the ball at a 90 degree angle to the left (L3); next, the left foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, and a step is taken with the right foot; next, the left foot kicks the ball to the left at a 90 degree angle (L4);next, the left foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, a step is taken with the right foot, a step is taken with the left foot, and the ball is kicked with the right foot (R5) in a direction between straight ahead and 90 degrees to the left. The ball is kept off the ground but close to the body the entire time.

The statistical scores for this drill are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

The first 8 minutes today, I completely forgot to skip after L1, meaning the LF hits the ground after L1, then a little skip is taken with L1, and then the ball is kicked on R2. The first 8 minutes my pattern was: kick ball on L1, foot hits ground after L1, foot kicks ball on R2. The first 8 minutes I was baffled at my incompetence. This incident serves to underscore the importance of the skip with the foot.

Common natural deviations from intended pattern: ball kicked straight ahead on L4; ball kicked at an angle significantly less than 90 degrees on L4; ball reached on a bounce after L4; ball kicked not kicked far enough on L4; ball not kicked far enough on L3; body spins clockwise in a half-circle between L4 and R5.

On R5 I shot the ball straight ahead with the right foot. These R5 shots were very powerful and accurate, more powerful than the shots I was blasting prior to the past few weeks of air-dribbling drills. The power of the shots illustrated the importance of ball control on the touches immediately preceding the shot. The improvement in ball control produced by the drills I have been doing, was I aver, the main engine of improvement in shot-force level.

The R5 shots were powerful despite the 90 degree turn to the left on L4. The step with the right after L4, and then the step with the left, prior to R5, were enough to allow me to put tremendous force into the shots on R5.

The R2 kick became good today during the second segment. Seems that at this time, the R2 kick does not become good until after about an hour of practice. The R2 involves several subtle difficult aspects, when executed according the the doctrine that I have evolved. Combining all these subtleties is difficult until my body has become somewhat warm and loose.

The most interesting exciting runs today, did not count as 5T successes in the score, meaning pattern adhered to over 5 touches. The most interesting exciting runs today, featured errors such as: the angle on L4 being so different from 90 degrees that the run could not be counted as a 5T success; the ball bouncing between R4 and L5; the ball slightly out of reach on R5. But these runs showed speed, length of distance travelled, tight ball control, correct sharp 90 degree turns, the ball apex height being high between touches.

The first page of my notebook notes for today can be viewed online. Clicking on the image will blow it up to a size wherein even my handwriting is legible.

'CloFleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'CloFleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). I start with the ball in my left hand. As I step to my left and forward with my right foot (R 0.5), I move the ball behind my back, and dribble the ball behind my back to my right before my left foot (L 1) hits the ground. After my left foot hits the ground (L 1), I catch the ball after it bounces up, with both feet off the ground and land with both feet hitting the ground simultaneously (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a shot from around 22', or I can step forwards with my left foot (L 3), step forwards with my right foot (R 4), and take a shot from around 13' so long as the ball is released before my right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

The first thing I did was to finish the Clofright series--I shot a segment from 22' with the right hand aiming for the ring; and I finished the left handed aim for the ring from 22' segment that was interrupted on Dec 7.

Today I practiced the 'CloFleft' basketball penetration move that I first practiced Sept 27. The move is described diagrammatically and in text in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved an effort to: emphasize wrist-power; put high-arc on the ball; shoot stylishly .

I started with my left pivot foot 33 feet from the backboard. I shot the ball from a point that is on the arrow-line in the diagram and 14-15 feet from the basket, with fast body movement from the start, and minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it.

The star segment was the first segment shooting off the Clofleft pattern; this segment involved left-handed shots from 15' while moving towards the basket at high speed. I shot 45% (9/20), 55% counting almost-in. Of the shots that went in (15-footers shot whilst running at the basket at high speed), 88% had at least extra arc on the ball; 38% featured extremely high apex of arc; and 75% of them featured extra-high level of backspin on the ball. I shot very stylishly on all the shots that went in. The style was somewhat off on the majority of the shots that did not go in.

This 'star' segment was the first segment of the day involving left-hand shooting with the body moving fast towards the basket. Despite the complete lack of warm-up, the percentage was high from the fourth shot taken onwards. This star segment was a milestone in that it marked the attainment of high percentage on a very difficult shot, despite the implementation of the new emphasis on arc and style, all sans warm-up.

I put page 2 of today's hand-scribbled in practice notes up online. Clicking on the image will enlarge it to the point where it is easily readable. This page contains the notes taken while the shots went in during today's 'star' segment. The teacher who supervises the Downs-syndrome types watched this segment I could tell he was impressed.

The boys from the Cambridge School of Weston who took over the gym when I ended my practice, seemed happy to see me.

To be exact, the first shot of the segment recorded as having gone in (1/2), was not a 15-footer, but rather a 22-foot 3-point shot. The segment previous to today's 'star' segment, involved such left-handed 3-point shots, this led to me accidentally shooting the second shot as a 22-footer. This accidentally shot 22-footer had extremely high arc, when it plomped into the net after traveling through the ring without touching the ring, it was falling almost straight downwards; it was such a classic shot that I decided to avoid 'offending the gods' by not counting it in the 9/20 total reported for the segment.

Drill P6.1-5T-M-Corrector-1

After the ball is rolled back with the left foot, and then flipped up with the left foot, the ball is kicked forwards with the right foot (L1); the right foot hits the ground, then there is a little skip with the right foot again before the left foot hits the ground, and the ball is kicked to the left with the left foot (L2); next, the left foot hits the ground after L2, a step is taken with the rightfoot, and the ball is kicked to the left with the left foot on L3; next, the left foot hits the ground after L3, a step is taken with the right foot, a step is taken with the left foot, and the ball is kicked with the right foot (R4). All this is done quickly with the ball never touching the ground between R1 and R4.

Drill P6.1-5T-M-Corrector-2

After the ball is rolled back with the left foot, and then flipped up with the left foot, the ball is kicked forwards with the right foot (R1); the right foot hits the ground, then there is a little skip with the right foot again before the left foot hits the ground, and the ball is kicked to the left with the left foot (L2); next, the left foot hits the ground after L2, a step is taken with the right foot, a step is taken with the left foot, and the ball is kicked to the right with the right foot on R3; next, the right foot hits the ground after R3, a step is taken with the left foot, and the ball is kicked with the right foot (R4). All this is done quickly with the ball never touching the ground between R1 and R4.

The statistical scores for such drills are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

I noticed weaknesses in my attempts to perform the P6.1-5T-M drill. My response was to invent two new drills that were done today in the Hemenway Gym: P6.1-5T-M-Corrector-1, and P6.1-5T-M-Corrector-2.

The first hour today (349 PM - 453 PM), I practiced drill P6.1-5T-M-corrector-1 (see graphic this entry), in the Multi-purpose room.

I succeeded in adhering to the footwork and ball work pattern prescribed by P6.1-5T-M-corrector-1, 28 times. I recorded 20 of the runs as being perfect, and 4 as being perfect and fast.

Mike Evans, Manager of the Harvard Varsity Basketball team, was in the 'Multipurpose Room' with me during this time. We discussed 3-point shooting techniques in basketball.

The second hour today (507 PM - 621 PM), I practiced drill P6.1-5T-M-corrector-2 (see graphic this entry), in the Multi-purpose room.

I succeeded in adhering to the footwork and ball work pattern prescribed by P6.1-5T-M-corrector-2, 30 times. I recorded 12 of the runs as being perfect, 5 as perfect and fast, and 1 as perfect long and fast.

The third hour today (630 PM - 730 PM), I again practiced drill P6.1-5T-M-corrector-2; I was dissatisfied with my performance the secound hour.

Third hour, I succeeded in adhering to the footwork and ball work pattern prescribed by P6.1-5T-M-corrector-2, 46 times. I recorded 24 of the runs as being perfect, 4 as perfect and fast, and 8 as perfect long and fast. The 'perfect, long and fast' runs covered about 24 feet measuring distance odometer style, all with the ball kept off the ground and close to the body during the zig-zags.

I was pleased with how the third hour produced better results than the second hour.

In the Multi-purpose room with me third hour: A hetero East-asian couple practicing their dance moves; a hetero white couple practicing their dance moves; a guy jumping rope.

'CloFleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'CloFleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). I start with the ball in my left hand. As I step to my left and forward with my right foot (R 0.5), I move the ball behind my back, and dribble the ball behind my back to my right before my left foot (L 1) hits the ground. After my left foot hits the ground (L 1), I catch the ball after it bounces up, with both feet off the ground and land with both feet hitting the ground simultaneously (L 2 and R 2). At this point I can take a shot from around 22', or I can step forwards with my left foot (L 3), step forwards with my right foot (R 4), and take a shot from around 13' so long as the ball is released before my right foot hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: I have put up online, a table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today again, I practiced the 'CloFleft' basketball penetration move that I first practiced Sept 27, and then practiced again Dec 9. The move is described in the graphic this entry. All the shooting done today involved an effort to: emphasize wrist-power; put high-arc on the ball; shoot stylishly .

I started with my left pivot foot 33 feet from the backboard. First, I shot two 20-shot segments, with the ball released from a point that is on the arrow-line in the diagram and 12-14 feet from the basket, with fast body movement from the start, and minimum delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it.

Next, I shot three 20-shot segments with the ball released 22 feet from the basket.

The notable thing today was that a large number of shots were scored as almost having gone in. This on the basis of a strict definition of almost-in which counts as almost-in: shots that swirl around the rim and then pop out; shots that hit the rim on one side and then hit the rim on the other side before popping out ( shots that hit the rim, hit the backboard, and then hit the same side of the rim are not counted as almost-ins).

On the right-handed shots aiming for the backboard, shot while moving fast at the basket from 13', I shot 20%, the percentage would have been 35% counting almost-ins.

From 22 feet: left-handed aiming for the ring, I shot 35%, percentage would have been 45% counting almost-ins (first long distance shots of day, no warm-up); right-handed aiming for the ring from 22', I shot 15%, 30% counting almost-ins; left-handed aiming for the backboard , I shot 15% but 35% counting almost-ins. There were also several shots that almost went in that I did not score as almost-in because they did not meet my established definition of almost-in.

I expect that with the passage of time, the shots that are almost-in now, will become actual goals.

Today there were about three shots that went in which ended with the outside edge of my shooting hand facing the basket karate-chop style on the follow-through.

It is still difficult to standardize the technique on the 22' shots, based on observation of what was done when a shot went in.

Take for example the following observations recorded during the 35% from 22' segment (first long distance shots of day, no uncounted warmup shots): 1-- LSH (hand in front of left side of head at start of ball propulsion phase of shot), 75* (hand at 75 degree angle relative to top of forehead at start of ball propulsion), 14" (hand 14" from line that intersects with top of forehead at start of ball propulsion); 2-- L (hand to left of head at start of ball propulsion), 60*, 12"; 3-- L, 60*, 10"; 4-- C (hand in front of middle of head at start of ball propulsion), 60*, 10"; 5-- C, 60*, 10"; 6-- C, 60*, 8"; 7-- L, 60*, 8".

Looking at the above numbers, one can see that the indication is that I should standardize at a 60 degree angle, with the hand about 10" from the line that intersects the top of the forehead. Yet confusion remains, re whether these results indicate that the hand should be to the left of the head (3 shots), or in front of the head (3 shots), at the start of the ball-propulsion phase of the shot.

Repeatedly today I had the feeling that if I practiced a given type of shot for more than 20 shots in a row, my percentage would go up. Yet I realize that the same shot done lots of times in a row does not correspond to actual game conditions.

Drill P6.1-5T-Rev-M

This drill is a modification of P6.1-5T-Reverse. The first kick is R1; next, the right foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, and there is a little skip with the right foot; next, the ball is kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot (L2); next, the left foot hits the ground after kicking the ball and there is a little skip with the left foot; next, the right foot kicks the ball at a 90 degree angle to the right (R3); next, the right foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, and a step is taken with the left foot; next, the right foot kicks the ball to the right at a 90 degree angle (R4); next, the right foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, a step is taken with the left foot, a step is taken with the right foot, and the ball is kicked with the left foot (L5) in a direction between straight ahead and 90 degrees to the right. The ball is kept off the ground but close to the body the entire time.

The statistical scores for this drill are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

I felt surprisingly clumsy the first hour. All those hours done doing the drills that are supposed to 'correct' my weaknesses when doing this drill, and ta-da! continued clumsiness. However, the scores today were much better compared to 12/01 the first day this drill was done, indicating that aside from spontaneous subjective emotional assessment, the corrector drills have produced much improvement. The drill done today was more difficult than the drill done the previous soccer practice, and this produced the illusion of a lack of progress. I suspect that it is important to overcome the demoralizing effect of such illusions.

Seems that even when I am improving at a fast pace, nevertheless, the first 15 minutes or so of the practice, manifest little improvement. Meaning, there is a warm-up period at the beginning of the practice, during which little improvement is visible (I score everything from the first attempt, there is no uncounted warm-up with me).

One of the corrector drills was named 'P6.1-5T-Rev-M-corrector-2'. During the practice it occurred to me that this corrector drill should be changed, so as to eliminate the step with the right foot after L4. Thus the new changed version would end with L3, skip, L4.

The most common natural variations noted today: ball hitting chest between R4 and L5; ball hitting head between R4 and L5; body making a counter-clockwise half-circle turn between R4 and L5. As stated previously, eventually, these common natural variations can be executed deliberately as opposed to accidentally.

During the practice I felt like I need more than two hours of practice in a row in order to accelerate improvement with these very difficult moves (or perhaps two or more days in a row doing soccer, as opposed to soccer every other day). The fellow I mentioned earlier who wrote about the proper approach to violin practice said that there is less improvement in the third hour than there is in the first and second hour. But this is soccer not violin.

By the third hour of practice, the first two kicks are more competent, this results in more chances with the subsequent kicks; the third kick is more competent resulting in more chances with the kicks after the third kick.

Problem is, that open gym time is a disappearing endangered species, increasingly available only at unusual times such as 530 AM, and never available for three hours in a row. Open-gym-time is being killed off by predators such as: basketballers who think open gym means them taking over the gym for a full-court game; bizarre practices such as people being able to reserve the entire court to themselves on just two hours notice (Hemenway Gym, Mike Evans agrees with me on this); red-headed female karate instructors who want nobody in the gym while they teach their three grade-school age students, because the noise of others in the gym allegedly reduces the rate at which students learn.

'Nearleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R1) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my left with my left hand. Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (R2, L2), with the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: online -- table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I'm left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

First segment shot, I shot 5/20, 25%, using my right hand, aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard, shooting off the 'Clofleft' pattern to complete the 'Clofleft' series. These were the first shots of the day with no uncounted warmup; they were shot stylishly with emphasis on wrist-power, aiming for the backboard, attempting extra ball-arc, with the body moving forwards during the shots. The shooting started off hot, at one point I was 3/8, then things cooled off.

These first 3 shots, shot without prior warmup with the off-hand, were shot as follows: C (ball in front of the middle of the head at start of ball-propulsion phase of shot), 60* (shooting hand at 60 degree angle relative to line of top of forehead at start of ball-propulsion phase of shot), 8" (shooting hand 8" from line of top of forehead at start of ball-propulsion phase of shot); C, 60*, 7"; LSH (shooting hand in front of left side of head at start of ball-propulsion phase of shot), 60*, 7".

These first 3 shots were the most stylishly shot shots of all the shots in this segment. The ball was released early in the jump on all three shots, with the body moving towards the basket during the shot. During this segment, the shots involving the ball released while the body was on its way up were shot very well, the balls released with the body at the apex of the jump were shot very badly.

Thus as of now it appears that I should shoot the right-handed long-distance aim-for-backboard shots with the hand at the start of the ball-propulsion phase at: a 60 degree angle relative to the top of the forehead; 7" from the top of the forehead line; and to the left of the head; and, the ball should be released while the body is on its way up, not when the body is at the apex of the jump.

Note: I've found that about half of the best 3-point shooters release the ball while the body is on the way up, and about half release the ball at the apex of the jump. When during the jump the ball is released, is something one can wisely leave up to the individual.

Next I started a series of the 'Nearleft' pattern which was first practiced Sept 28, when the starting point was 30' from the basket and the ball was released 13' from the basket. Today the starting point was 33' from the basket on the 'Nearleft' segments, and the ball was released 13' from the basket. Thus, the distance travelled on the one dribble and the footwork prior to the shot, has increased by approx 23%.

'Nearleft', is a fast move; the speed of movement towards the basket at time of shot was at least as fast as it has ever been (since Aug 28). The shots today involved minimal delay between grabbing the ball and shooting it. On all the 'Nearleft' shots today, I attempted to: emphasize elbow-power, put extra arc on the ball; shoot stylishly.

The first half of the first 'Nearleft' segment shooting right-handed aiming for the backboard, I was thinking-- these shots are difficult because: the ball is released after the right foot hits the ground whereas with most of the moves I've been practicing the ball is released after the left foot hits the ground; the speed of this move necessitates ultra-quick ball-catch & ball-release movements; and, the body is moving sideways relative to the basket at shot-release time. It seemed to me that elbow-power overpowers these shots because the body is already providing so much propulsive energy by way of the fast movement towards the basket during the shot.

The second half of the first 'Nearleft' segment the shooting was much improved, almost all the shots were well shot. The style that worked with these shots was: C (hand in front of middle of head at start of ball-propulsion phase of shot), 80-90* ( hand at 80-90 degree angle relative to top of forehead at start of ball propulsion phase...90 degrees would be hand directly above top of forehead), 8" (hand 8" from line intersecting top of forehead at start of ball propulsion phase), apex J (ball released at apex of jump). Seems on such approx 13'-distance shots when shooting right-handed releasing the ball at apex of jump is better, whereas when shooting left handed, releasing ball while body moving up is better.

I had to quit the gym during the Cambridge School O' Weston basketball practice. I returned around 430 PM and shot 10/20 on a 13' left-handed aim for the backboard segment off the 'Nearleft' pattern. I noted that on these shots sometimes the nature of the footwork and ballwork prior to the shot is such that avoiding use of the backboard is very definitely more natural than using the backboard.

The first 3 shots that went in during this 10/20 segment were, despite being the first shots taken in 1.5 hours, classic--shot ultra-stylishly, with extremely high apex of arc during ball-flight, and extremely high level of backspin on the ball. During these first three shots-- the numbers for hand position were: L, 75*, 12"; the ball was released while the body was on its way up; at the end of the shot and the follow-through, the index finger was pointing at the basket.

Prior to and during the 10/20 segment I had been mentally, and also physically while shooting the ball up into the air a few feet before and in between the shots, focusing on a style which I suspect may be the best: lots of backspin sans use of the wrist.

During the practice, I was convinced that the reason I was able to enjoy shooting every shot that was shot, was that I was concentrating on shooting as stylishly as possible.

Last segment the young black basketball tutor and his white student, took over the basket I had been shooting at; I quietly watched for ten minutes while the boy did his free throw practice and his shots from the corners of the free throw line, because he was like a schoolbus that has wandered out onto an airplane runway.

During the first segment of the day I shared the basket I was at with an East-Asian boy and his counselor from Eliot Community Services. The East-asian boy chose to sit down under a basket and watch. I wonder if they understood that I was at that time, a lefty shooting right-handed.

Drill P6.1-5T-M

This drill is a modification of P6.1-5T. The first kick is L1; next, the left foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, and there is a little skip with the left foot; next, the ball is kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot (R2); next, the right foot hits the ground after kicking the ball and there is a little skip with the right foot; next, the left foot kicks the ball at a 90 degree angle to the left (L3); next, the left foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, and a step is taken with the right foot; next, the left foot kicks the ball to the left at a 90 degree angle (L4);next, the left foot hits the ground after kicking the ball, a step is taken with the right foot, a step is taken with the left foot, and the ball is kicked with the right foot (R5) in a direction between straight ahead and 90 degrees to the left. The ball is kept off the ground but close to the body the entire time.

The statistical scores for this drill are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

Date / 5-touch on-pattern runs per minute / number perfect / minutes in segment / Method

12/8: .25; 4 perfect; 60 mins; AF1 applied to 2nd kick of runs

12/8: .52; 7 perfect; 30 mins; AF1 applied to 3nd kick of runs

12/15: .52; 20 perfect, 16 perfect long fast; 60 mins; AF1 applied to all kicks of runs starting with 2nd

12/15: --; 8 (1st 20 mins)/10 (last 40 mins) perfect long fast; 60 mins; AF1 applied to all kicks of runs starting with 2nd

12/15: --; 26 perfect long fast; 60 mins; AF1 applied to all kicks of runs starting with 2nd

Looking at the stats above, you can see how today's performance doing P6.1-5T-M, excelled the previous practice doing P6.1-5T-M. Today, the first hour was in terms of successful 5-touch runs per minute, as good as the second hour on December 8, doing a drill of the type wherein the second hour performance is better than the first hour performance. Today, the number of perfect runs can be inferred to have been much more than the number of perfect runs December 8. Today there were large numbers of runs that were perfect long and fast, whereas a week ago Dec 8, I did not even bother keeping track of runs because there were so few, quite probably because there were none at all.

Today for the first time, starting with the last 40 minutes of the second hour, I was able to consciously and deliberately apply the 'AF1' method to every kick of the run starting with the second kick of the run. Previous to today, I had been able to apply the 'AF1' method only to the second kick of the run. The 'Af1' method involves: putting body-force, leg-force, and ankle-force into the kick; the foot starting the kick to the inside of the ball, the side of the ball closer to the opposite foot.

Before today, I had been unable to willfully apply the 'AF1' method to every kick starting with the second kick; I had only been able to apply the 'AF1' method to the second kick of each run. The reason for this was that after the second kick of the run, things were happening so fast, and so unpredictably, with the ball at kick-times appearing in such difficult to handle positions, that it was impossible for me to deliberately apply the 'AF1' method to the kicks after the second kick. But today my mind became able to keep up with events, and I was able to apply the 'AF1' method to every kick of the runs starting with the second kick of the run.

All the runs counted as 'perfect long and fast' today: covered a distance of 21-31 feet in length (distance measured odometer style; involved three 90-degree-angle turns (R2, L3, L4); featured 5 touches with the ball kept off the ground the whole time; adhered to the footwork-pattern prescribed for P6.1-5T-M; proceeded at a quick speed.

After today's practice I felt more convinced than ever that the skills being practiced will be mastered quickly, result being super-stardom.

The second hour today was done with the body in a crouched position from the second kick on, whereas the first hour was done with the body in an upright position from the second kick on. After the second hour I noted, application of the AF1 method to all the kicks starting with the 2nd kick, when the ball is well-controlled, produces the following differences compared to application of the AF1 method to just the 2nd kick of the runs: faster, longer, more tightly controlled, more sharply angled runs; runs that are great until loss of control on the 4th touch; a reduction of the mental stress of every kick being different; loss of ball-control due to excess body and ball speed at time of the 4th touch; slow body and ball speed when an attempt is made to slow down the excess speed.

After the second hour I noted: excessively strictness regarding applying the AF1 methods to every touch of the run starting with the 2nd kick, results in loss of ball-control; as of now it appears that, ultimately the ideal solution would be, AF1 on every kick as a rule, but with toleration of exceptions to the rule.

After the third hour (body crouched, AF1 applied to all kicks starting with 2nd) I noted: This (body in crouched position from second kick on) produced runs that were a little slower and shorter compared to those produced by the upright style; with thiscrouched method, balls do not travel as high as they do using the upright method; but the consistency ws much better with the crouched method, compared to the upright method; the control was tighter with the crouched method.

'Nearleft' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearleft' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (33 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my left with my right foot (R1) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my left with my left hand. Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (R2, L2), with the left foot (L2) in front of the right foot (R2). Then using the front left foot (L2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the right foot (R3), step forwards with the left foot (L4) and release the ball before the left foot (L4) hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Note: online -- table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I'm left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Started out with ' Nearleft', shooting running shots at high speed with quick release, from 13'. During the segment I was thinking, 'maybe the first shots, shooting without warmup, on this kind of shot, are better aiming for the backboard, because when not warmed up, one lacks skill in terms of the depth of the shot'. During this segment, a young black guy wearing a red YMCA lifeguard T-shirt, verbally noted how a large number of the shots I was taking were going 'in and out'. This segment I recorded that the percentage was 35% on 20 shots but would have been 60% if the shots that went 'in and out' (my strict definition of 'in and out', had been counted as having gone in.

This first segment ( 13' on the run), all of the shots that went in were taken with the shooting hand at a 75 degree angle, and the base of the shooting hand 8-13" from the top-of-forehead line. Five of the shots that went in were shot with the shooting hand to the left side of the head, two were shot with the shooting hand in front of the left edge of the head. The two best shots of the seven that went in, were shot with the shooting hand in front of the left edge of the head, and with the shooting hand 12" from the top-of-forehead line.

During this first 13' left-handed off-backboard running-shot segment, which was the first segment of the day, with no warmup shots preceding it, after the first 5 shots, the percentage was 7/15, 47%, and 12/15, 80%, counting the almost-ins (strict definition) as in.

The rest of the shots of the day were shot from 23 feet.

The first 20-shot 23' shots segment was shot right-handed, aiming for the backboard. During this segment, I noted that when emphasizing elbow-power, overemphasis on elbow-power can result in inaccuracy.

At the beginning of this segment I finally learned to do the dribble 'n shoot stylishly, but slowly, without maxing out on speed. Up till then, for me 'stylish' had always meant maxing out on speed, and I had had trouble doing the dribble 'n shoot stylishly, but slowly. Then for the rest of the segment I shot stylishly, but with the dribble 'n shoot speed slowed down to less than it has ever been since August 28. All the shots that went in this segment were shot with, at beginning of ball-propulsion phase: the shooting hand directly in front of the middle of the head; the shooting hand at a 60 degree angle relative to the top of the forehead; and, the shooting hand 8-9" from the top-of-forehead line.

Next 20-shot segment, was left-handed aiming for the backboard, from 23'. This segment was shot with the dribble 'n shoot slowed down also. All of the shots that went in featured, at beginning of ball-propulsion phase: base of hand to the left of the head; base of hand 7-8" from top-of-forehead line; hand at 60-75 degree angle relative to top of forehead.

Next 20-shot segment, was right-handed aiming for the ring, from 23'. This segment also, was shot with the dribble 'n shoot slowed down also. Two of the shots that went in stood out in terms of style, feel, and level of accuracy. Both these shots involved, at start of ball-propulsion phase of shot: shooting hand in front of middle of head; base of shooting hand at 45 degree angle relative to top-of-forehead line; base of shooting hand 7" from top-ofe-forehead line.

Next 20-shot segment, was left-handed aiming for the ring, from 23'. This segment also, was shot with the dribble 'n shoot slowed down also. All eight of the shots that went in featured, at start of ball-propulsion phase of shot: shooting hand in front of left edge of head; base of shooting hand at 60 degree angle relative to top-of-forehead; base of shooting hand 5-9" from top-of-forehead line. 5 of the 8 shots that went in this segment, featured ' BS++', meaning the backspin was even more than ' BS+', which indicates unusually high level of backspin. 4 of the shots that went in were scored as at least ' arc+', meaning unusually high level of arc, in terms of arc-level.

During this 8/20 segment, all of the shots were shot with the shooting hand in front of the left edge of the head; I suspect the reason for this is that I had in my studies found out that this kind of style is popular with the best 3-point shooters, the result being that I was semi-consciously or unconsciously influence to shoot with the hand in front of the left edge of the head. Prior to today, very few of the shots I had ever taken were with the shooting hand in front of the left edge of the head. Moral of story: it can be dangerous to standardize style too early.

The final segment of the day, was shot with the left hand aiming for the ring from 23', with the number of attempts not kept track of. This segment I relaxed, experimented, tried to put extra arc on the ball, put extra movement forwards into the body during the shot, etc.

During this last unscored segment: 4 goals were scored with measurements at LSH, 60 degrees, 5-10"; 2 goals were scored with measurements at L, 45 degrees, 6"; 1 goal was scored with measurements at LSH, 45 degrees, 6". During this segment, 5 0f the 7 shots that went in, featured BS++ (even more than what I call an unusually high level of backspin), and 4 featured arc++ (apex of arc of ball in flight even more than what I call extra-arc).

Overall, of the 27 long-distance 23-foot shots that went in today, at least 14 (52%) featured what I call BS++, and at least 5 (19%) featured what I call Arc++. The long-distance shots were truly spinning like a top today.

All the long distance shots were shot with the body on the way up during the jump; all were shot with the body moving forwards during the jump. Generally today, I got the impression that the earlier in the jump the ball was released, the better a chance the ball had of going in.

Note: online -- table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28. I'm left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

At this point I stop to analyze the basketball shots data gathered from Aug 28 - Dec 16 over about 4 months. At this point perhaps you should stop to analyze the same data before reading my analysis, so as to see how your analysis compares with mine.

Each move ('Nearleft', 'Farleft' etc) has been practiced for left-handed aiming for backboard, left-handed aiming for ring, right-handed aiming for backboard, right-handed aiming for ring, for both close-in and long-distance shots, 20 shots each segment. I call this a series. A group of series featuring shooting from a given distance I call a series-group.

First I consider series that involved shots from 13-15 feet.

The first series-group I look at: the first four series that involved shots from 13-15 feet. The chrono midpoint of this series-group was August 31. During this series group, I shot 16.5% from 13-15'.

The second series-group: the last four series before the introduction of shooting stylishly, which involved shots from 13-15'; the chrono midpoint of this series-group was Sept 22; during this series-group I shot 21.8% from 13-15'.

The third series-group: The three series featuring 13-15' shots, which were shot after the introduction of shooting stylishly and before the introduction of attempting to put extra arc on all the shots; the chrono midpoint for this series group was Oct 27. During this series-group, I shot 23.3% from 13-15 feet.

The fourth series-group: The three series shot after the introduction of attempting to put extra arc on every shot, which involved shots from 13-15' -- these three series were shot stylishly, and also attempting for extra arc; the chrono midpoint for this series-group was Dec 09. During these three series I shot 26.3% from 13-15'.

Looking at the above data, one can see that I improved with the passage of time, and this was not interfered with due to the introduction of stylishness or attempting to put extra arc on the ball. One can see that if the proportional-improvement per unit-of-time in the shot-percentage continues at the present rate, in 161 days (5.3 months), I will be shooting 55% on running shots from 13-15' (same percentage as all-time NBA field goals percentage leader amongst guards Twardzik), even if a quarter of the shots are shot with the left aiming for the backboard, a quarter are shot with the left aiming for the ring, a quarter are shot with the right aiming for the backboard, and a quarter are shot with the right aiming for the ring.

Next I consider series that involved shots from 21-23 feet.

The first series-group I look at: the first four series that involved shots from 21-23 feet. The chrono midpoint of this series-group was Sept 12. During this series-group, I shot 19.5% from 21-23 feet.

The second series-group: the last four series, shot before the introduction of shooting stylishly, which involved shots from 21-23'; the chrono midpoint of this series-group was Sept 22; during this series-group I shot 17.8% from 21-23'.

The third series-group: The three series featuring 21-23' shots, which were shot after the introduction of shooting stylishly and before the introduction of attempting to put extra arc on all the shots; the chrono midpoint for this series-group was Nov 12. During this series-group, I shot 16.5% from 21-23 feet.

The fourth series-group I introduce: The four series I shot after the introduction of attempting to put extra arc on every shot, which involved shots from 21-23' -- these four series were shot stylishly, and also attempting for extra arc; the chrono midpoint for this series-group was Dec 03. During the four series in this series-group, I shot 21.8% from 21-23'.

Looking at the above data, one can see that my percentage from 21-23' did not improve until after I added both stylishness, and also attempting to shoot with extra arc on each shot. One can see that if the shot-percentage continues to improve at the same proportional-change per unit-of-time rate it improved at after the introduction of the combination of stylishness and attempting to shoot with extra arc on every shot, in just 58 days, two months, I will be I will be shooting 47% on shots from 21-23' (same percentage as all-time NBA 3-point percentage leader Anthony Morrow), even if a quarter of the shots are shot with the left aiming for the backboard, a quarter are shot with the left aiming for the ring, a quarter are shot with the right aiming for the backboard, and a quarter are shot with the right aiming for the ring.

The innovation of the body moving forwards during every 21-23 foot shot , was introduced for every 21-23 foot shot starting December 2 . Thus the introduction of body-move-forward during 21-23' foot shots coincides with the introduction of attempt 'extra-arc' on every 21-23 foot shot. Thus it could also be said that I did not improve in terms of 21-23' shot percentage, until I introduced the innovation of body-moving-forwards during 21-23 foot shots.

Another innovation that coincided with the 21.8 percentage on the 21-23 feet shots during the fourth series-group of Dec 2-16: releasing the ball while the body is on the way up during the jump shot. The first two series of this series-group, releasing the ball while the body is on the way up was optional but the usual thing. The last two series, attempting to release the ball while the body is on the way up became mandatory. In the future I could experiment with making it mandatory to attempt to release the ball at the apex of the jump instead.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T-Reverse, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-Reverse is the reversed, mirror image of P6.1-5T. It involves the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked forward with the right foot, approx 4.5 feet on R1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot on R3; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L4; the ball touched on R5. The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time. After a foot kicks the ball, that foot skips (two steps in a row). These skips are the only foot movement allowed between kicks. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain.

The statistical scores for today are recorded in a soccer score table available online. The natural comparison for today, is Nov 16th, the last time this drill was done. However, during the two weeks prior to Nov 16th, I had done the P6.1-5T drill for six hours, and I had done the P6.1-5T-Reverse drill for 2 hours on Nov 14th. By way of contrast, today, I had not done either P6.1-5T, or P6.1-5T-Reverse, for a month.

November 16th, the first hour, my score was: 0.33 (number of runs adhering to prescribed ball and footwork pattern for five touches with ball kept off ground per hour); Perfect=11; perfect & fast = 3; perfect & long = 3; perfect, long & fast = 3 (Dec 18 standards applied retroactively).

November 16th, the second hour, my score was: 0.47; Perfect=7; perfect & fast = 0; perfect & long = 0; perfect, long & fast = 6 (Dec 18 standards applied retroactively).

Today December 18th, the first hour, my score was: 0.33; Perfect=13; perfect & fast = 0; perfect & long = 8; perfect, long & fast =5 (Dec 18 standards applied retroactively).

Today December 18th, the second hour, my score was: 0.55; Perfect=20; perfect & fast = 0; perfect & long = 5; perfect, long & fast =15 (Dec 18 standards applied retroactively).

On every run rated perfect long and fast from Nov 16 - to today Dec 18: the ball was kept close to the body but off the ground the entire run while the ball was kicked 5 times; there were three 90-degree angle turns; a distance of 18-27 feet was covered measured odometer style; the speed of the movement of body and ball during the run was fast.

Comparing the second hour of today Dec 18 to Nov 16, one can see how the activities engaged in between Nov 16th and Dec 18th, produced very significant improvement.

Between Nov 16 and Dec 18: I practiced the P6.1-5T-M, P6.1-5T-M-Reverse, P6.1-5T-M- Corrector-1, P6.1-5T-M-Reverse-Corrector-1, P6.1-5T-M- Corrector-2, P6.1-5T-M-Reverse-Corrector-2 drills.

I had suspected that the P6.1-5T-M and P6.1-5T-Reverse-M drills, by lengthening out the distance between touches, would help me to overcome the problem of kicking the ball too short when performing the P6.1-5T and P6.1-5T-Reverse drills. It appears that such has turned out to indeed be the case.

Today for the first time I was able to apply the Af1 method to all the kicks after the 2nd kick in the P6.1-5T-Reverse drill; last time I did P6.1-5T-Reverse, I was unable to apply the AF1 method to the kicks after the 2nd kick, because everything was happening too quickly and unpredictably. The AF1 method involves, body-force, leg-force, and ankle-force all put into the kicks; the foot starting to the inside of the ball during the kicks.

Things turned out as I expected today: after about 20 minutes of clumsiness due to the AF1 method being applied to every kick, the application of the AF1 method to every kick insofar as reasonably possible, produced runs of a quality I had never attained to before.

I could tell today that this newfound ability to apply AF1 method to every touch on P6.1-5T, will allow me to quickly master and perfect P6.1-5T and P6.1-5T-Rev, the result being super-stardom; after today's practice I felt more confident re the future than I've ever felt.

About a dozen of the runs today were super-hero-like, covering 23-37 feet with the ball in the air never touching the ground, yet kept close to the body, and featuring three 90-degree turns, five touches on the ball, the ball touched on every pace with just skips between paces.

Prior to a run that was performed at 633 PM, I saw a tall middle-aged East Asian man in the gym doorway looking at me. He nodded his head to me. I performed the run, it was my best run of the day up till that time. I looked at the East Asian man. He gave me the thumbs-up.

Then I ran into this same East Asian man in the locker room. He faced me and made a little bow, and formally and emphatically stated, with a smile: "Sir, you are an excellent soccer player!". He said his name was Steve Chang. He said he had been watching me practice.

I sat down on the bench in the locker room and said to the people in the locker room: "extracting a compliment from you people is like wringing water from a stone". None of the people in the locker room reacted at all to my statement, except for this tall East-Asian man who looked over his shoulder and smiled at me.

I've been alternating between: shooting left-handed aiming for the ring; shooting left-handed aiming for the backboard; shooting right-handed aiming for the ring; shooting right-handed aiming for the backboard. Of all these methods, shooting left-handed aiming for the ring has produced the best results. Therefore I decided to take a detailed look at the history of such shots.

August 28 - Dec 16 Basketball Shot from 11-15', left-handed, emphasizing elbow and emphasizing wrist.

I've been shooting series after series, each series involving 20 running shots from 11-15', shooting left-handed, aiming for the ring (left-handed aiming for the ring has been my most effective method). The x-axis represents the number of goals made out of 20 attempts in a series. The y-axis represents the series, the first series for which there is data represented as #1 and the last as #25. The black line represents the shooting emphasizing elbow-power, and the red line represents the shooting emphasizing wrist-power. The area labeled 'Shots shot stylishly ', represents the time period during which I was attempting to shoot stylishly on every shot. The area labeled 'Shots shot stylishly with extra arc w/Body moving forwards ', represents the time period during which I was attempting to, on every shot: shoot stylishly; put extra-arc on the ball, move the body forwards during the shot (on 11-15' shots, the introduction of body-moves-forward during-shot did not change things as the body already was moving forwards during shots prior to the introduction of the innovation). The numbers in black near the points on the graph, represent the average distance of the ball at release point from the basket, in feet.

Graph of Progress in Shooting left-handed aiming for the ring on 11-15' shots released while moving towards basket at high speed

The above graphic shows, regarding shooting from 11-15' feet while emphasizing wrist power: I improved steadily until the introduction of 'shooting stylishly'; then, as expected, the introduction of 'shooting stylishly' impaired performance; then, the introduction of the combination of shooting stylishly, and attempting to put 'extra arc' on every shot, resulted in improvement that brought me back to the percentage I was at before I introduced 'stylishness' into all the shots.

The above graphic shows, regarding shooting from 11-15' feet while emphasizing elbow power: I did not improve prior to the introduction of 'shooting stylishly'; then, suprisingly, the introduction of 'shooting stylishly' improved performance; then, the introduction of the combination of shooting stylishly, attempting to put 'extra arc' on every shot, resulted in continued improvement in performance.

The introduction of the body moving forwards during shots effected only the 21-23' shots --the body was already moving forwards during the 11-15' shots , before the introduction of body-move-forwards during-shots.

August 28 - Dec 16 Basketball Shot from 21-23', left-handed, emphasizing elbow and emphasizing wrist.

I've been shooting series after series, each series involving 20 running shots from 21-23', shooting left-handed, aiming for the ring (left-handed aiming for the ring has been my most effective method). The x-axis represents the number of goals made out of 20 attempts in a series. The y-axis represents the series, the first series for which there is data represented as #1 and the last as #25. The blue line represents the shooting emphasizing elbow-power, and the red line represents the shooting emphasizing wrist-power. The area labeled 'Shots shot stylishly ', represents the time period during which I was attempting to shoot stylishly on every shot. The area labeled 'Shots shot stylishly with extra arc w/Body moving forwards ', represents the time period during which I was attempting to, on every shot: shoot stylishly; put extra-arc on the ball, move the body forwards during the shot.

Graph of Progress in Shooting left-handed aiming for the ring on 21-23' shots released while moving towards basket at high speed

The above graphic shows, regarding shooting from 21-23' while emphasizing wrist power: I improved steadily until the introduction of 'shooting stylishly'; then, as expected, the introduction of 'shooting stylishly' impaired performance; then, the introduction of the combination of shooting stylishly, attempting to put 'extra arc' on every shot, and moving the body forwards during the jump in the shot, resulted in improvement that brought me back to where I was before I introduced 'stylishness' into all the shots.

The graphic shows, regarding shooting from 21-23' feet while emphasizing elbow power: I did not improve prior to the introduction of 'shooting stylishly'; then, suprisingly, the introduction of 'shooting stylishly' improved performance; then, the introduction of the combination of shooting stylishly, attempting to put 'extra arc' on every shot, and moving the body forwards during the jump in the shot temporarily impaired performance for about 40 shots, however this impairment was subsequently recovered from.

Stylish shooting was introduced September 26, 81 days prior to the most recent basketball practice on Dec 16. The combination of stylish shooting, putting extra arc on the ball, and moving the body forwards during the shots was introduced Nov 22, 24 days prior to the most recent basketball practice. Whatever impairments in field-goal and 3-point-shot percentage these innovations produced, had been recovered from by Dec 16.

Retrospectively I do not regret having experienced temporary performance impairments caused by the innovations introduced.

The introduction of ' stylishness', has increased the speed of the run-dribble prior to the shot, increased the vertical elevation of the hand at shot-time, reduced variation in technique from shot to shot, increased enjoyment, and reduced stress.

The introduction of attempting to put ' extra arc' (more than the level of arc I was usually putting on the ball prior to Nov 22) on the ball has standardized the shots, meaning that whereas previously prior to shooting I had no idea if I was going to shoot the ball with lots of arc or with little arc, now on every shot the expectation is the same: ' extra arc'. Realistically speaking I need extra arc in games, due to the height and large 'wingspans' of the pterodactyls who will be blocking shots.

The introduction of moving the body forwards during the jump in the long-distance shots, means that now my technique in this aspect is the same as the technique used by all the best 3-point percentage shooters in NBA history. Subjectively, I find moving the body forwards during the long distance shots to be natural, and productive of elegant style. Intuitively I feel that moving the body forwards during the shots, is the way to go in the future.

'NearRight' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.5) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 1). Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (L2, R2), with the right foot (R2) in front of the left foot (L2). Then using the front right foot (R2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the left foot (L3), step forwards with the right foot (R4) and release the ball before the right foot (R4) hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28.

I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'NearRight' basketball penetration move , which was last practiced October 13 & 18. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot; the shots were shot 'stylishly', with an attempt to put 'extra arc' on the ball. On all the shots I was moving towards the basket during the shot, at almost sprint-speed.

I started with my left pivot foot 36 feet from the backboard today (Oct 13 I started from 30' doing 'NearRight'). Both Oct 13 and today the shots were released 13' from the basket. Thus the distance traveled on the NearRight move is up from 17 feet to 23 feet, up 35% over approx 5 weeks.

Today I felt as if I understood the mechanics of the shots better than I ever have; I sort of felt as if my mind had grown new neurons, synapses, brain-cells etc as a result of which things that previously mystified me had become easily comprehended; my general feeling was that the majority of the time when a shot is a failure, the problem is divergence from proper style. My thoughts during the practice, developed and edited after the practice:

The first segment, I although left-handed, shot 7/20, 35%, right-handed aiming for the ring, without taking any warmup shots prior to the start of the shooting. Some of the shots that went in were accidentally shot with elbow-power as the dominant force. During the shooting, it seemed elbow-powered shots are natural for this kind of shot. Could be that since the previous segment was wrist-powered, the wrist-power habit was simply hard to break.

23 feet from start to shot-point on one dribble is a long way to travel doing this move; traveling 23 feet on one dribble on this move requires a high level of speed towards the basket which makes the shot difficult.

Looking at the shots taken the first segment, the evidence indicated that the optimal style of shot for such shots is: hand at 75 degree angle relative to top of forehead at start of ball propulsion; hand 13" from top of forehead (arm almost straight) at start of ball propulsion; ball released at apex of jump; ball-propulsion phase started with hand in front of head.

The second segment using my left-hand aiming for the ring, I did not shoot as well as I did the first segment even though I am left-handed. The first half of the segment I was hesitant and did not apply stylishness fully; I shot sort of half-stylishly. While shooting, I felt that as a left-handed person since earliest youth, I had developed bad habits that were infecting my shot-style; as a youth I did not shoot stylishly, I was physically weak shooting with an adult ball; I developed the habit of usually (too often) releasing the ball while the body was on its way up on such shots.

By way of contrast, my observations today during this and the previous segment indicated to me strongly, that during shots such as the ones I was shooting, aiming for ring not backboard, the ball should be released when the body is at the apex of the jump; at the apex, the forwards and upwards movement of the body declines significantly, reducing the depth-perception and accuracy problem. During the shooting I felt that I had reached a stage where the less stylishly I shot the ball, the less accurate the shots. I felt as if my left arm being stronger than my right was actually a problem in that it was causing shots to be overpowered.

During the second segment the evidence indicated shots of the type shot during the second segment should be shot as follows: hand to the left of the head at start of ball propulsion phase; hand at 75 degree angle relative to top of forehead and 13" from top of forehead at start of ball propulsion phase; ball released at apex of jump.

The third segment was shot right-handed aiming for the backboard. The percentage was only 15% but I felt optimistic nevertheless at the end of the segment. The last 10 shots of the segment were shot well. I felt that this kind of shot is difficult when aiming for the backboard whle emphasizing wrist-power, because it is shot from 13', a sizeable distance, and when shot in the correct style, is shot in such a way that it is difficult to get elbow-power into the shot, because the arm is almost straight.

During and after the third segment, I came to the tentative conclusion, that the third-segment type off-the-backboard shot should be released while the body is on its way up, as opposed to when the body is at the apex of the jump. These wrist-powered 13-footers, shot with the arm almost straight, are such that it is difficult to generate the power needed to bounce the ball off the backboard and through the ring, if the ball is not released before the body reaches the apex of the jump. By way of contrast I found that releasing the ball at the apex of the jump worked very well when the intent was to avoid use of the backboard. The shots that were goals this third segment featured the following specs: hand angle 75 degrees, forehead-hand distance 13", ball propulsion started with ball in front of head.

The fourth segment, I shot well, at 3 for 5, left-handed, bouncing the ball off the backboard. The specs for the shots that went in were: hand to left of head, hand at 75 degree angle relative to top of forehead, hand 13" from top of forehead (arm almost straight). On all of the shots that went in this segment, the ball was released slightly before the apex of the jump, validating the idea that had occurred to me the previous segment re such shots: the emphasis on wrist-power, the nature of the most effective style (arm almost straight when ball released), the 13 foot distance from basket at ball-release time, result in the need to release the ball slightly before the apex of the jump, when aiming to bounce the ball off the backboard.

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T, Touch ball every step with changes of direction

P6.1-5T is an abbreviated version of P6.1 (P6.1 is described in the Sept 1 log entry this page). It involves the ball flipped up and kicked forward approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R2; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L3; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right on R4; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left on L5. All this is done with the ball off the ground. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the curtain. The gray line represents the wall at the far side of the curtain.

The statistical scores for today are recorded in a soccer score table available online. The natural comparison for today, is Nov 11th, the last time this drill was done and also scored. However, during the week prior to Nov 11th, I had done the P6.1-5T drill for four hours. By way of contrast, today, I had not done either P6.1-5T, for a month (but I had done P6.1-5T-Reverse for two hours two days ago).

November 11th, the first hour, my score was: 0.10 (number of runs adhering to prescribed ball and footwork pattern for five touches with ball kept off ground per hour); Perfect=3; perfect & fast = 0; perfect & long = 1; perfect, long & fast = 0 (Dec 18 standards applied retroactively).

November 11th, the second hour, my score was: 0.32; Perfect=12; perfect & fast = 0; perfect & long = 2; perfect, long & fast = 0 (Dec 18 standards applied retroactively).

Today December 21, the first hour, my score was: 0.48; Perfect=27; perfect & fast = 3; perfect & long = 0; perfect, long & fast =21 (Dec 18 standards applied retroactively); perfect long and fast PLUS=6.

Today December 21, the second hour, my score was: 0.57; Perfect=30; perfect & fast = 2; perfect & long = 7; perfect, long & fast =19 (Dec 18 standards applied retroactively).

On every run rated perfect long and fast from Nov 11 - to today Dec 21: the ball was kept close to the body but off the ground the entire run while the ball was kicked 5 times; there were three 90-degree angle turns; a distance of 18-31 feet was covered measured odometer style; the speed of the movement of body and ball during the run was fast.

Comparing the second hour of today Dec 21 to Nov 11, one can see how the activities engaged in between Nov 11th and Dec 21, produced very significant improvement.

Between Nov 11 and Dec 21: I practiced the P6.1-5T-M, P6.1-5T-M-Reverse, P6.1-5T-M- Corrector-1, P6.1-5T-M-Reverse-Corrector-1, P6.1-5T-M- Corrector-2, P6.1-5T-M-Reverse-Corrector-2, and the P6.1-5T-Reverse drills.

I had suspected that the P6.1-5T-M and P6.1-5T-Reverse-M drills, by lengthening out the distance between touches, would help me to overcome the problem of kicking the ball too short when performing the P6.1-5T and P6.1-5T-Reverse drills. It appears that such has turned out to indeed be the case.

Today for the second day, I was able to apply the Af1 method to all the kicks after the 2nd kick in the P6.1-5T drill; last time I did P6.1-5T, I was unable to apply the AF1 method to the kicks after the 2nd kick, because everything was happening too quickly and unpredictably. The AF1 method involves, body-force, leg-force, and ankle-force all put into the kicks; the foot starting to the inside of the ball during the kicks.

Things turned out roughly as expected today (as was the case previous soccer practice): after about 10 minutes of clumsiness due to the AF1 method being applied to every kick, the application of the AF1 method to every kick insofar as reasonably possible, produced runs of a quality I had never attained to before.

Again, today I could tell today that this newfound ability to apply AF1 method to every touch on P6.1-5T, will allow me to quickly master and perfect P6.1-5T and P6.1-5T-Rev, the result being super-stardom; after today's practice I felt more confident re the future than I've ever felt.

About TWENTY of the runs today were super-hero-like, covering 23-37 feet with the ball in the air never touching the ground, yet kept close to the body, and featuring three 90-degree turns, five touches on the ball, the ball touched on every pace with just skips between paces.

After the first hour I became too hungry to continue, today was the first time in memory such a thing happened to me. I drove to Dunkin' Donuts, ate two egg-cheese-sausage wraps and two orders of hash-browns, and returned to the Y for the second hour of practice.

During the second hour, I realized that when putting body-force into the first kick of the run (such was the method applied during the second hour), the result is that the feet end up too close to the ball on the second kick of the run, end-result being that both the second and the third kicks of the run are often thrown off. I also realized that the way to deal with this problem is to kick the ball a longer distance on the first kick when body-force is emphasized, compared to the distance the ball is kicked on the first kick when leg-force not body-force is emphasized.

During the second hour, I realized that the scoring system I am now using makes a big thing out of runs that are 'perfect, long and fast', which could be a source of conflict with my desire to chip the ball up to higher than head high on the kicks. If the ball is chipped to higher than head high on the kicks, and at the same time the runs are at a high speed, the runs become so long that I run out of space to complete the run in the little community room. Runs that combine head high chips with perfection length and speed, are more difficult to accomplish, there is a greater risk of failure, compared to runs that combine kicks that send the ball to an apex that is just waist high, with perfection length and speed. Hence the desire to achieve a score showing a large number of perfect long and fast runs, conflicts with the desire to achieve high apex-of-arc ball-heights between kicks. I suppose the problem could be resolved by simply additionally noting whether the ball reached an apex of higher than head-high between touches. Possibly certain hours could be specifically dedicated to achieving high arc-apexes.

The first 20 minutes of the first hour was done in the gym; the remaining 40 minutes of the first hour was done in the 'Community Room' which is a small carpeted room about 20' x 22' in dimensions. During the first 20 minutes of the first hour, a white-skinned East Asian walked into the gym wearing his white Aikido Robe. He watched as I executed a run that lasted for only four touches not five. But the run was fast, well-angled, and covered about 20 feet measured odometer style. After he saw the run he smiled at me and gave me the 'thumbs-up'.

'NearRight' basketball penetration pattern & drill

'Nearright' starts with the left foot as the pivot foot (36 feet from the basket backboard today). Then I step to my right with my right foot (R 0.5) as I dribble the ball on a slant to my right with my left hand. Next I step with my left foot (L 1). Then with both feet off the ground I grab the basketball after it has bounced up from the floor and land on right and left feet simultaneously (L2, R2), with the right foot (R2) in front of the left foot (L2). Then using the front right foot (R2) as the pivot foot I step forwards with the left foot (L3), step forwards with the right foot (R4) and release the ball before the right foot (R4) hits the ground. Each green cross is diagrammatically speaking 1 foot from the green crosses closest to it. This move is designed to accord with NCAA rules.

Table containing all my basketball shooting stats since my return to basketball on August 28.

I am left-handed, thus I favor the left foot as the pivot foot; the entire practice there were zero uncounted warmup shots.

Today I practiced the 'NearRight' basketball penetration move , which was last practiced October 13 & 18, & Dec 20. All the shooting done today involved emphasis on use of the wrist in powering the shot; the shots were shot 'stylishly', with an attempt to put 'extra arc' on the ball.

First, I finished up the segment that I started on Dec 20--running 13' shots, left-handed off the backboard. On all the shots I was moving towards the basket during the shot, at almost sprint-speed. Dec 20, shooting at the end of the practice, I shot 3/5; but today finishing out the segment I shot only 3/15. This was a classic example of the brutal punishment my shot-percentage suffers, due to me not allowing myself any uncounted warmup shots.

Each' series' I shoot 40 shots from approx 22', in four different ways; and, 40 shots from 11-15' in four different ways (eight 20-shot 'segments'); I alternate between a series emphasizing the wrist and a series emphasizing the elbow. Hence, it is always true, that when I am shooting, I am shooting a shot that I have not practiced in at least four days.

Example: If I've already shot 140 shots, seven 20-shot segments in a practice, and the eighth 20-shot segment of the practice, involves shooting right-handed aiming for the ring from 24', those last 20 shots shooting right-handed aiming for the ring from 24', will be the first time in at least 4 days, featuring me shooting right-handed aiming for the ring from 21' or further. This despite the fact that the 20 shots shooting right-handed aiming for the ring, are the last 20 shots of the practice.

I practice basketball every other day; at least one day a week I abstain from exercise; I alternate between a series emphasizing wrist-power and a series emphasizing elbow-power; I usually do not complete an entire series in one day. Therefore in fact, there has almost always been an interlude of significantly more than 4 days, in between a 20 shot segment shooting a type of shot and another 20 shot segment shooting the same type of shot.

Thus one begins to understand how difficult it is to achieve high percentages under the conditions I am operating in. I force myself to operate in such conditions because : I want to develop the ability to shoot a shot well even though I have not shot it in a long time; I want to understand which shooting techniques are effective when one has not shot a given type of shot in a long time; realistically speaking I see myself as a substitute not a starter.

During the first 3/15 segment today, I shot 0/5 the first five attempts, and then 3/10 the last 10 attempts. There were alot of boys running around while I was taking these shots.

Second segment, I achieved a new personal all-time record for shooting from 21' or more using the right-hand, aiming for the ring (I'm a lefty): 7/20, 35%; these shots were taken from 24', because the starting point was 36', and I slowed down the dribble-run prior to the shot. Five of the 7 goals, featured arc of at least arc+ (arc- = low arc, arc = avg arc, arc+ = extra arc, arc++ = more than extra arc). All 7 of the goals featured at least a normal, significant level of backspin.

The technique specs during the seven goals in the 7/20 segment: C 75 10; R 60 o9; RSH 60 09; C 75 13; C 75 08; RSH 60 07; RSH 60 07. Interpreted: I succeeded using two methods for hand position at start of ball-propulsion phase; one method involved hand to right of head, at a 60 degree angle relative to top of forehead and 8 inches from the top of the forehead; the other method involved hand in front of head, hand at 75 degree angle relative to top of forehead, and hand 10 inches from top of forehead.

The analysis in the above paragraph, provides a much better picture than simply averaging out the stats for the seven shots would.

The 7/20 right-handed 24' shots segment was witnessed by several boys including (whimsical names I give them): Junior Obama, Mohawk Black-boy, bepectacled-Black-boy, and East-Asian-boy.

The third segment, immediately after shooting great right-handed, I shot a terrible segment (3/20, 2 goals accidentally off backboard) shooting left-handed aiming to avoid the backboard. It was as if I had become temporarily right-handed. It reminded me of how, when I was a boy in grade school in the US, when I would try to speak French in French class, Hindi words would come out instead, because I had spent the previous year in India speaking Hindi.

During this terrible third segment, I felt that a vicious cycle developed: the shock of missing, and missing badly, led to a reduction in stylishness; the reduction in stylishness led to more lack of accuracy; the continued lack of accuracy led to further reductions in stylishness. I felt that the shock of throwing up lots of very bad shots, resulted in me regressing to bad habits I picked up in childhood, such as: starting the shot with my hand near my shoulder, using both hands to power the ball sticking the elbow of the shooting hand out sideways too much, using too much elbow-force. By way of contrast, when shooting right-handed I never regress to bad childhood habits, because I never shot right-handed as a child.

During the third segment, I was able to more effectively implement the command I gave myself to put extra arc on the ball, than I was during the second segment shooting right-handed, because I am a lefty. The result was that the arc apexes on the balls shot with the left were higher than on those shot with the right hand. This in turn may have impaired the percentage shooting left-handed, because I am not used to putting such high arc on the ball.

Fourth segment, I shot an unusual segment, whose results will not be included in the totals. I shot stylishly, left-handed aiming for the ring, aiming to put extra arc on the ball, emphasizing wrist-power, with body moving forwards during the shot, with ball released while body on way up (same as previous disastrous segment). But this fourth segment, I only counted as attempts, those attempts on which I adhered to proper style.

During the fourth segment, I shot 7/15, 47% (53% counting a shot that almost went in). Six of the 7 pro-distance 24-foot 3-point goals were recorded as at arc++ (huge amount of arc); one was recorded as at arc+. All 7 were recorded as at BS++ (extreme amount of backspin). The shots that went in this segment were towering, skyscraping shots, ball spinning like a top. It's difficult to judge the arc apex of a shot watching from the shooter's perspective, but I estimate the arc apex on these shots was around 16 feet.

The fourth segment validated my suspicion that the main reason the shooting was so bad the third segment, was that feeling shocked by my poor shooting, my shooting became less and less stylish as the segment wore on.

During the fourth segment, the specs on the shots that went in were: LSH 60 9; LSH 60 9; LSH 60 6; LSH 75, 10; LSH 75, 8; LSH 75, 9; LSH 75, 8. Looking at these specs, I see a pattern: LSH 60-75, 6-10 (at start of ball-propulsion phase: ball in front of left side of head; bottom of hand at 60-75 degree angle relative to top of forehead (90 would be directly above top of forehead); bottom of hand 6-10 inches from top-of-forehead-line.

This marks approx the second or third practice in which I have noticed something not previously noticed: the ball-propulsion phase during successful shots starting with the left shooting hand in front of the left edge of the head. This LSH style first emerged after I noticed that many of the best NBA 3-point shooters of all time, have been right-handed shooters who started the ball propulsion phase with the ball in front of the right side of the head (RSH). Seems that although I did not deliberately and consciously decide to start shooting in the LSH style, I was semi-consciously or unconsciously influenced by my observations of the top NBA shooters.

Today's experience served to reinforce my conviction, that I to some extent, tend to be led astray in the direction of unwarranted pessimism, due to my superficial interpretation of events such as several shots in a row being shot badly.

Drill NS-S18

After the ball is rolled back with the left foot, and then flipped up with the left foot, the ball is kicked forwards with the left foot (L1); next, the ball is kicked on every step, alternating between kicks by the left foot and kicks by the right foot, until a distance of at least 18 feet has been travelled. The ball is kept off the ground the entire time. There is no skipping between steps.

Drill NS-LTL18

The ball is kicked on every step, alternating between kicks with the left foot and kicks with the right, until a total distance of at least 18' has been travelled; the ball is kept off the ground but close to the body the entire time. There is no skipping between steps. After the ball is rolled back with the left foot, and then flipped up with the left foot, the ball is kicked forwards with the left foot (L1); next, the ball is kicked forwards with the right foot ( R2); next, the ball is kicked to the left with the left foot ( L3), at a 90 degree angle; from this point on the ball is kicked on every step as the body and the ball proceed in a straight line.

Drill NS-LTR18

The ball is kicked on every step, alternating between kicks with the left foot and kicks with the right, until a total distance of at least 18' has been travelled; the ball is kept off the ground but close to the body the entire time. There is no skipping between steps. After the ball is rolled back with the left foot, and then flipped up with the left foot, the ball is kicked forwards with the left foot (L1); next, the ball is kicked forwards with the right foot ( R2); next, the ball is kicked to the right with the left foot ( L3), at a 90 degree angle; from this point on the ball is kicked on every step as the body and the ball proceed in a straight line.

The statistical scores for such drills are recorded in a soccer score table available online.

Intro Note: By skipping between steps on which the ball is kicked, I mean: after kicking the ball, a foot hits the ground, and then the same foot hit the ground again before the other foot kicks the ball.

When I was sleeping before waking up and going to this evening's practice, I had a dream: I was walking forwards at a rapid pace, touching the ball on every step with alternating left and right feet, keeping the ball off the ground the entire time, without skipping between steps.

When I awoke, I resolved to overcome personal bureaucratic inertia, and test out what I saw in the practice. Indeed the new drills done today involved alot of extra work in terms of producing the new diagrams you see in this log entry.

Up until around 3 months ago, I had always felt too clumsy to march forwards air-dribbling the ball without skipping between steps. Even when I got to the point where I could consistently sprint 15 yards touching the ball on every third step with alternating left and right feet while keeping the ball off the ground but close to the body, I could not march forwards touching the ball on every step.

It was because of my clumsiness regarding moving while touching the ball on every step, that I resorted to skipping between steps when touching the ball on every step. About three years ago, I became adept at moving forwards at a brisk pace, touching the ball on every step with alternating left and right feet, while skipping between steps.

Then around 3 months ago, I noticed that as a result of lots of practice involving skipping between steps, I had suddenly become adept at traveling a dozen feet in a straight line, touching the ball on every step, without skipping between steps, whilst keeping the ball off the ground. I noticed this purely by accident, fooling around between runs involving skips between steps.

Then on December 3, while at Harvard's Hemenway Gym, during the second hour I noticed myself making a u-turn while sometimes touching the ball on every step without skips between steps.

Then last night I had the dream about walking forwards at a brisk pace keeping the ball off the ground touching it on every step, without skips between steps.

During today's practice, I repeatedly succeeded in: travelling 20 feet while keeping the ball off the ground, touching the ball on every step, without skips between steps; travelling 20 feet in similar fashion but with a 90 degree turn made in the middle of the journey, using the left foot to kick the ball to the left; travelling 20 feet in similar fashion but with a 90 degree turn made in the middle of the journey, using the left foot to kick the ball to the right--all without skipping between steps.

This evening I discovered to my surprise, that when not skipping between steps I am now approximately as competent as I am when skipping between steps, this despite the fact that all the practices I've been doing involved skipping between steps.

I found that generally, when keeping the ball off the ground, touching the ball on every step, and not skipping between steps, I cover about 3.3 feet in distance horizontally with each step.

Yet it would be wrong to dismiss the skips-between-steps style as useless. When skipping between steps, the usual distance covered per step is about twice that covered per step when not skipping between steps. Skipping between steps serves to generate ball and body momentum during kicks that will be followed by one to three steps before the next step (such kicks require power that is hard to generate when not skipping between steps). If for example the left foot kicks the ball, the left foot hits the ground, the left foot takes a skip, and then the right foot kicks the ball, this can set up a very powerful kick when the right foot finally kicks the ball, because the skip helps to align the body and the ball into optimal positions.

Were it not for the long hours of practice involving skips between steps, I would never have developed the ability to move and to turn without skips between steps (remember of course, need I repeat myself ad-nauseum, all this involves the ball being kept off the ground).

The soccer star I saw shining in the darkness in a dream (see 11/27 log entry), was skipping between steps while air-dribbling the ball. Sometimes a skip between steps is the natural thing to do, and sometimes it is not, thus it is optimal to be competent both skipping between steps and also not skipping between steps, when touching the ball on every step, moving around while keeping the ball off the ground.

Note: the Dec 21 practice, the ball was inflated accidentally to 16 psi because a pressure gauge needle had become defective. I was wondering why my feet were hurting.

Estimating Ball Arc Apex for on-target 24' Shots

The thin gray lines, represent lines intersecting with the apex of the arc and my eyes, for 24' shots of various apex arc levels, when I am shooting baskets at the Y. At the Y, the ceiling is approx 26' above the ground, and the wall behind the basket is approx 7' behind the basket.

Estimating Ball Arc Apex for on-target 21' Shots

The thin gray lines, represent lines intersecting with the apex of the arc and my eyes, for 21' shots of various apex arc levels, when I am shooting baskets at the Y. At the Y, the ceiling is approx 26' above the ground, and the wall behind the basket is approx 7' behind the basket.

It's difficult for me to judge what the apex arc of a ball I have shot was, watching the ball from the shooter's perspective. At the same time, it is important for me to be able to estimate what the apex arcs on shot ball have been.

If I can estimate what the apex arc on a shot ball was: I can compare results sorted by apex arc of ball in flight; I can deliberately shoot at an apex-arc level that I've found to be especially successful; I can be aware of when I am shooting at an apex-arc level that is extremely, unusually high; I can tell whether it is the apex-arc level or some other technique factor that is producing a good or bad percentage.

In contrast to the deep, detailed, studious approach to apex-arc levels you see in this log entry, most alleged basketball coaches and teachers completely ignore apex-arc level when 'teaching' jump-shot and 3-point shot technique.

This despite the fact, that a shooter who does not have a method or natural ability for estimating apex arcs, is like a pilot who does not know the altitude of the plane he is flying.

The method I came up with for estimating apex-arc levels, is described in the graphics above. By noting what object lines up behind the ball when it is at its apex, with the background object, the ball at apex, and my eyes all being points on a line--I can estimate the apex arc of the ball in feet.

Estimating Apex Arc of Ball During Well-targeted 24' shots, at the Waltham Y Basketball Court:

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 16' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a point on the ceiling, 4' in front of the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 11' directly above the top edge of of the backboard.

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 15' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a point that is on the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 8' directly above the top edge of the backboard.

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 14' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a spot on the wall behind the basket, that is 3' below the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 6' directly above the top of the backboard..

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 13' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a spot on the wall behind the basket, that is 6' below the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 4' directly above the top of the backboard.

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 12' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a spot on the wall behind the basket, that is 9' below the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 1' directly above the top of the backboard.

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 11' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a spot on the wall behind the basket, that is 12' below the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 1' below the top edge of the backboard.

Estimating Apex Arc of Ball During Well-targeted 21' shots, at the Waltham Y Basketball Court:

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 16' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a point on the ceiling, 5' in front of the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 11' directly above the top edge of of the backboard.

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 15' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a point that is 1.5' in front of the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 8.5' directly above the top edge of the backboard.

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 14' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a spot on the wall behind the basket, that is 2' below the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 6' directly above the top of the backboard.

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 13' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a spot on the wall behind the basket, that is 5' below the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 4' directly above the top of the backboard.

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 12' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a spot on the wall behind the basket, that is 8' below the edge where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that is 2' directly above the top of the backboard.

When ball is at an apex of arc that is 11' above ground, at the point where the ball starts its downwards descent, the ball will be on the line running from my eye-position as I stand after the shot, to a spot on the wall behind the basket, that is 11' below the edge of the gym where the ceiling intersects with the wall behind the basket; this line intersects with a point that intersects with the top edge of the backboard.

Here is the Online Calculator I wrote the programming code for this morning:

Directions for Use of Program: 'Shot Release Height': the distance above the ground in feet, at which the shot is released. 'Distance of Apex': the distance between the point on the floor directly underneath the shot-release point & the point on the floor directly underneath the point where the ball reaches its apex during its arc in flight (my term for this is 'horizontal distance'). 'Apex': how far above the ground the ball is when it reaches its apex, measured in feet. 'Shot Angle': the angle at which the ball travels upwards on its way to it's apex point. 'Basket Distance': the distance between the point on the floor directly beneath the Shot Release Point, and the point on the floor directly underneath the point at which the ball reaches the basket height of 10' (my term for this kind of distance is 'horizontal distance').

This program could help me to make computations involved in creating charts such as those found in the previous entry, quickly and easily, for various shot distances and ball release heights. The program produces results that are more accurate than those produced visually by way of drawing on a graph (the graphs in the previous entry were produced visually not programmatically).

This program could for example, help me find what the shot angle would be for an on-target shot from 18', that reaches an apex of 14', with a shot-release height of 7'. Answer: the shot angle is 32 degrees, the ball reaches the apex of 14' at a horizontal distance of 11.4 feet from the shot-release point. Such could be useful if for example I decide to standardize my shot angles so that I am shooting with the same shot angle on all my shots.

If I decide to shoot 18' shots using an apex of 14', the program, by revealing that for an on-target shot from 18' the 14' apex should be 11.4' in horizontal distance from the shot-release point, makes it easy to figure out how far from the wall I should be, and how high the target on the wall I shoot at should be, if in practice I want to simulate 14' apex shots from 18' by shooting at a point on the wall.

Such intelligently guided shooting at spots on the wall, could help me to develop an understanding of what various distance and apex shots feel and looks like; thus I could develop the skill of judging what apex and angle a shot was at intuitively.

I expect to eventually use this program as a sub-program in a larger, more powerful program.

Here is another Online Calculator (basketball calculator #2) I wrote the programming code for this morning:

Directions for Use of Program: 'Shot Release Height': the distance above the ground in feet, at which the shot is released. 'Angle': Angle at which the ball is shot upwards (90 degrees = straight up to ceiling, 0 degrees = straight ahead parallel to floor). 'Distance of Apex': the distance between the point on the floor directly underneath the shot-release point & the point on the floor directly underneath the point where the ball reaches its apex during its arc in flight (my term for this is 'horizontal distance'). 'Apex Height': how far above the ground the ball is when it reaches its apex, measured in feet. 'Basket Distance': the distance between the point on the floor directly beneath the Shot Release Point, and the point on the floor directly underneath the point at which the ball reaches the basket height of 10' (my term for this kind of distance is 'horizontal distance').

This program could help me to make computations involved in creating charts similar to those found in the Dec 25 entry, quickly and easily, for various shot distances and shot-angles. The program produces results that are more accurate than those produced visually by way of drawing on a graph (the graphs in the Dec 25 entry were produced visually not programmatically).

The typical shot-angle for the best shooters, when the ball is released from a height of 71 on 24' shots is around 25 degrees. Suppose I decided the wise strategy was to shoot free throws at the same angle, 25 degrees. This program could help me find what the ball's arc apex would be for an on-target shot from 15', shot at an angle of 25 degrees, with a shot-release height of 6.5' (free throws are released lower than jump-shots). Answer: the ball's arc apex would be 11.7', the ball would reach the apex of 11.7' at a horizontal distance of 11.25 feet from the shot-release point.

If I decide to shoot 18' shots using a shot-angle of 25 degrees, the program, by revealing that for an on-target shot from 18' with a shot-angle of 25 degrees, the apex would be 12.7' reached at a horizontal distance from the shot-release point of 12.2', makes it easy to figure out how far from the wall I should be, and how high the target on the wall I shoot at should be, if in practice I want to simulate 25 degree shot-angle shots from 18' by shooting at a point on the wall.

I expect to eventually use this program as a sub-program in a larger, more powerful program.

I have put up online in a separate page, a new online calculator, Calculator #3, that is more powerful than Calculators #1 or #2.

I have put up online in a separate page, a new online calculator, Calculator #4, that is more powerful than Calculators #1 or #2.

The powers of Calculator #4, have been enhanced. It is now capable of taking input regarding the height of the basketball court ceiling, and the distance from the basket being used to the wall behind the basket, to produce output regarding the point on the wall behind the basket (or the ceiling) that will visually line up with the line connecting the eyes watching the ball at its apex and the ball at its apex, when the ball is shot upwards at a given angle. This allows for the angle of the shot ball as it travels upwards, to be estimated when shooting the ball during practice.