Show A Little Glass In Your Game
#41- Show A Little Glass in Your Game
Learning the Advantages of Using the Backboard
Learning the Advantages of Using the Backboard
by Alan Lambert
Introduction
There is a famous line in an old song by the pop-folk duo Simon and Garfunkel from the late 1960's which said "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?" It would be appropriate to ask the question of today's players "where has use of the backboard gone?" The history of the backboard is colorful and interesting dating back to the earliest days of basketball. The original "peach basket" was tied to a railing overlooking the gym at Springfield, College, and Massachusetts. As the game became more competitive fans would stand up on the running track or walkway overlooking a basket and tip the balls away. The consequence was that someone came up with the idea to place a large flat board between the basket and the fans, and the backboard was born.
Within days of implementation of this new "back" board, players found that they could gauge the angle and use this new tool to their advantage to make shots. The problem today is that players have either forgotten or never learned its full advantage. Arguably the most successful coach of his era and probably of all time, UCLA Hall of Fame Coach John Wooden was renowned for teaching his players to use the glass both in the post and especially off of fast break transition. Coach Wooden's teams won 9 straight NCAA Titles (10 in 11 years) a feat unparallel before or since in collegiate basketball. Coach Wooden believed that if his players practiced making 5-10 foot bank shots at the 45 degree angle off the break and could make them at a rate of about 75-80% these shots were nearly as good as getting a lay-up. For those young players that missed the opportunity to see the great UCLA teams they were almost always successful in transition. Probably the single greatest scoring performance ever in an NCAA Championship Game was by UCLA's Bill Walton’s 21 for 22 field goal shooting performance against Memphis in the 1973 title game. Bill Walton’s' patented move was the up and under using the glass.
The point I want to make here is why, if these players were able to shoot such high percentages using the glass, why isn't the glass being used more by players today? I think the answer is two-fold, lack of understanding of how to use the glass, and lack of practice using the glass. Today's Playground Pointer addresses this problem.
First Things First
The first step in becoming a prolific scorer off the glass is to understand shooting basics off the glass.
Backboard Basics
1. Always shoot the ball off the glass so the ball contacts just inside the small white box just above the rim.
2. The ball should strike the white box on the downward flight of the ball. Failure to arc your shot so that it strikes the box on the downward flight will result in a "flyer" (a hard shot that literally skips off the glass, misses the basket and off the weak side of the backboard).
3. Make your follow-through point on a line above the small white box so that the high follow through produces a high arching shot off backboard.
4. While the backboard does absorb some energy transferred to the ball off a hard drive to the basket, the shot still should be "kissed softly off the glass" as much as possible.
5. Make any 45 degree angle shot within 10 feet of the basket an automatic bank shot to reduce indecision between using the glass and shooting straight at the basket.
6. Use the backboard in the low post when you know you will be receiving a hard foul. The angle characteristics of the glass are consistent even as the amount of energy imparted to the ball changes slightly. This increases your chance of making a shot while being fouls.
7. Put a slight amount of backspin on your shot off the glass just like you do in a regular jump shot ensure the energy imparted into the ball are direct at your target. Side spin or diagonal rotation means you are adding unwanted energy to the ball which will negatively affect your shot consistency and accuracy.
Advantages to Using the Glass
While these basics are critical to becoming a high percentage scorer off the glass maybe a more important question is what are the advantages of using the glass over shooting straight at the basket? Here are some of the advantages of using the glass;
1. The glass gives you confidence to score in traffic, with too much energy on a drive, and over big men.
2. Shooting off the glass allows you to penetrate harder to the basket and still make a high percentage shot. The harder you penetrate the more energy you must either redirect off a quick stop vertically into your jump shot, or the more energy will be transferred to the ball (which you do not want). As I previously stated the glass does absorb some energy and allows you to redirect a little of that added horizontal force to control the shot.
3. Using the glass allows you to get the ball over the extended arms of long-armed shot blockers. You must naturally shoot the ball a little bit higher off the glass, than you normally do in your regular jump shot, to kiss the ball off the glass on the downward flight of the shot. This extra few inches is often enough to get the ball over the hands of a great shot blocker. Notice how many of the NBA's great guards use the glass on penetration into the shot blocking zone near the basket.
4. At the NBA level a shot cannot be blocked once the ball has touched the backboard. While this rule does not apply to International, College and High School levels, the goal tending rule still exists for a shot on its downward arc. If you can automate your shot using the glass near the basket you will have less shots blocked and more goal tending called.
5. Many shots in the low post require the post man to make a quick pivot and power move. It is difficult to control all the rotational force of the body when making these moves and again the backboards ability to absorb some of the extra forces softens shots in the post and increasing shooting percentages.
6. Most defenders are taught to stay between the attacker and the basket and to challenge shots directed right at the basket. Using the backboard slightly alters the target angle to the basket and can help you get off shots that would normally be more easily contested.
7. When attacking the basket in the post, putting the ball off the glass to the baseline side enables the offensive post player to use the basket as a partial shield against weak side defenders coming across the lane to help and having free air space access to block the shot.
Keep these advantages in mind as you add the glass to your repertoire of shots near the basket.
The Backboard Is Your Friend
Here are a few other positives examples in using the glass on the offensive end of the court. Remember that the backboard is your friend as long as you keep your head up along the baseline. Being able to make a reverse spin move, or duck under the basket lets you use both the basket and backboard as teammates when trying to score in close traffic.
Here are a few other positives examples in using the glass on the offensive end of the court. Remember that the backboard is your friend as long as you keep your head up along the baseline. Being able to make a reverse spin move, or duck under the basket lets you use both the basket and backboard as teammates when trying to score in close traffic.
While it's a bit of a fancy move you can also use the backboard to pass to a teammate in fast break transition. It is a lower percentage pass but if you are caught with no other passing angle use the glass as a rebound board to toss the ball off to a trailing big man for the follow-up and score.
The more you use the glass around the basket the more adept you will become to putting more spin or "english" on the ball. While this is not normally a good trait to add to shots, a skilled attacker who is able to put a lot of english on a ball is more able to get off difficult shots around the basket. This is especially true when you have been grabbed or fouled in the act of attacking the basket.
Finally use the glass to keep the ball alive on rebounds until you can get a controlled tip into the basket. It is much easier to tip the ball off the glass to yourself and get the put back than it is to tip it up in the air and tip it a second time into the basket. In fact most teams practice this skill by tapping the ball off the backboard several times prior to completing the putbacks on rebound drills. When you can't control a ball around the basket, tip it off the glass and keep it alive for a teammate.
Check back next month for another Playground Pointers courtesy of The Basketball Highway®.