Session Five

Phase Three: Force producing movements 2

As stated in Session Five the most important muscles of the force producing movements are the trunk, knees, arms and wrist. There are certain angles and degrees at which these muscles need to be close too, for them to be able to correctly produce movement. The timing of the movements is that the knees and hips are extended first; followed by shoulder flexion, then elbow extension and wrist flexion.

During knee extension the shooting shoulder should be flexed to the horizontal position so that the arm is almost parallel with the floor (Alexander & Way, 2014). This increases the elbow flexion, which should be therefore increased to around 130 degrees. Shoulder flexion produces the majority of the upward force for the elevation of the ball; therefore the shoulder flexion range of motion should be around 80 degrees (Vaughn, 1993). This movement is then followed on by the extension of the elbow joint, which also helps to assist in the force producing movement (Alexander & Way, 2014).

Below is a picture of my elbow flexion angle during the force producing movement.

Fig 1: Here I am showing a shoulder flexion of 46 degrees. This is not the correct shoulder flexion, it is meant to be around 80 degrees. Therefore this shot would not have had enough force to produce the upward movement.

Design of session:

1.     Major focus on muscle production and body alignment

2.     Practice on distal to proximal loading without shooting

3.     Conduct 5 sets of 10 practice shots

Results of session:

·      The session went well as I was able to understand which muscles needed certain amount of force in order for the ball to enter the basket.

·      37 out of 50 shots went into the hoop, giving me roughly a 75-80% shot rate.

Reflection:

This session built on my knowledge after the first session of force producing movements, it allowed me to further understand the extent of the force that needed to be applied in order for the ball to project upwards an hopefully into the basket. I have mastered the amount of force that needs to be applied and combined the overall movements.

References:

Alexander, M., & Way, D. (2014). Mechanics of the Basketball Free Throw. Manitoba: University of Manitoba.

Vaughn, R. E. (1993). Intra-individual variability for basketball free throws. Paper presented at the International Symposium of Biomechanics in Sports, 11th, University of Massachussetts, Amherst, MASS.