Lebron James' Thursday night "Decision" ESPN special, has created crazy reactions from NBA fans and even normally disinterested bystanders alike. During the special, Lebron will announce the NBA team he has chosen to join or stay with, in his quest for an NBA Championship title.
Where will Lebron play the next 5 odd years? Reports suggest his decision is made and he will join Bosh and Wade in Miami, but we won't speculate or add to the confusion.
We know why Lebron can command such attention, he is a phenomenal athlete and basketball player. Along with Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant, he stands as the best of the NBA. There is little doubt that he will make any team he plays on a championship contender.
In Cleveland Lebron has contended for a number of years now, but has still not held the Larry O'Brien trophy. Whichever team he chooses, he will want team mates that complement his game by being skilled where Lebron is weak.
Lebron has very few weaknesses, but one possible weakness is his jump shot. Of course with some hard work it will improve, but if Lebron joins a team with an excellent outside shooter, he will be able to achieve quicker than if he tries to do it all himself. A dangerous skilled offensive partner will also give him more space on the floor as defenders will need to cover another great player.
So Lebron has studied the video and knows which team mates will work best for him. We expect him to join the likes of D-Wade or Derrick Rose in Chicago and benefit from their strengths.
Here is James vs Wade during the 2010 NBA season. The evidence suggests a strong partnership with every possibility of a championship.
The 2010 NBA playoffs are about to begin and the defending champion Lakers look to be a couple of players short of a repeat. The main problem for the Lakers is Kobe Bryant and his dip in shooting form. His shooting has always been his most dangerous weapon and it is not firing now.
Over the last 5 games Kobe has attempted 109 field goals and made only 43 of them averaging just over 39% when his season average is around 45.6%. Kobe suffered, along with other injuries, an avulsion fracture to his right index finger earlier this season. In most games he has managed to continue to shoot reasonably well with this broken finger as can be seen by his season average field goal percentage, but something has changed recently.
Can we blame his finger for his loss in shooting form? Unfortunately we were unable to obtain any video of Kobe that focused on the hand and how he may have changed his grip or the mechanics of his shooting to account for the pain or the cast/bandage on his finger.
But lets take a look at this slow motion video of a basketball free throw and particularly of the hand and fingers at the point of release.
Here is a close up of the hand at point of release. Notice that this recreational player shoots the ball off the fingers of his shooting hand as he should. Our player does not follow through with his wrist correctly, but our focus is on his fingers. We can see that the ball comes off his fingers and that the index finger imparts the last bit of spin and push to the ball. This is expected as the index finger can execute tasks with more control than any of your other fingers, just think which finger you use on your iPhone or iPad to navigate around.
Back to Kobe. It is pretty obvious from the video that the index finger plays an important role in shooting the basketball. But Kobe has had this injury for a while and although it dented his shooting average for a few games in January, it seems to have only recently started affecting him again.
In order to continue to shoot well after the injury in December 2009, Kobe most likely studied his shot on video and made adjustments to the way he executed the final phase of the shot (the ball release). With a cast on the index finger he made and adjustment to keep this finger off the ball and out of the way when shooting and used his middle and ring finger to create the backspin and final push for the shot. He definitely seemed to work it out but he never looked exceptionally fluid with his shooting technique, even when he made the shots.
In the last 5 games something has changed. It is possible that Kobe's finger has healed sufficiently and he is no longer using a splint. The basic wrapping may allow him to use the index finger during shooting once again. The problem may be that the finger is not entirely healed, otherwise it would probably be out of the wrapping altogether. Kobe may be trying to go back to his normal shooting mechanics or simply trying to once again tweak his mechanics to accommodate the new condition of playing with his index finger taped. Either way he will need to find some mechanics that will make him an effective shooter through the play offs as the Lakers will most likely need him to succeed again.
The use of video analysis can assist any athlete in making the necessary adjustments to improve or change mechanics when needed. Of course we do not suggest that you continue to play and change your mechanics if you are injured. Unless you are payed to play, it is better to analyze video and practice to perform correct mechanics that will improve your game and also prevent injury.
Top of the list is Reggie Evans of the Raptors with 21% of the vote, far ahead of Ron Artest of the Lakers with 13% .
No argument here, Reggis Evans is definitely the dirtiest player I have watched. Ron Artest has a been a little subdued since his move to the Lakers, but he is an aggressive defender and gets in opponents faces and has played dirty in the past.
Playing aggressive defense is very different from playing dirty. There is absolutely no reason for dirty play of the likes that can be seen in the video of Reggie Evans below.
Video Analysis can be used in different ways and reviewing dirty plays is one other. Thankfully the number of TV broadcast cameras covering every inch of the basketball court ensures that no dirty play can be missed.
In European soccer, video replays of fouls and off the ball incidents can be reviewed after the game and players can be fined and/or suspended based on the video evidence.
Here is a video of Reggie Evans dirty play against Chris Kaman in the 2006 playoffs. He was not suspended for this action although he was fined.
The NBA however is not generally dirty. There are very few occasions when it would be necessary to review the video and suspend a player.
But, did Evans really expect to get away with this, when there are 3 or 4 camera angles focusing on the play. If the cameras and the notoriety of playing dirty and being seen by millions cannot prevent this type of play, then perhaps the NBA should employ a similar strategy to soccer and suspend players for dirty off the ball incidents.
Kobe Bryant is one of the three best players in the NBA. However, there can be no doubt that he makes more unbelievable and impossible shots than anyone still playing professionally on a basketball court
Take a look at this one from the LA Lakers Game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. There is no need to try and spot the trick, he is shooting over the backboard.
Kobe can make these incredible shots time after time, because of two important facts.
He practices making shots from almost anywhere on the court. To learn how to shoot the ball over the backboard , you need to try it and try it often. It may seem like a waste of time but professional athletes practice trick shots to give themselves more options on the field. Having a practiced trick up your sleeve also confuses your opponent who in the professional leagues has probably seen and knows how to defend the regular shots. Practicing trick shots happens in all sports. Take a look at Roger Federer and his trick shot winner at the US Open in 2009.
Practice is important, but what also makes this shot and many other of Kobe's trick shots possible is that he uses flawless shooting technique. Take a closer look at his mechanics in the video above as he shoots.
Kobe gets up in the air and squares his shoulders so that he is facing the net.
He keeps his elbow high.
He paints the ball with his hand, allowing the ball to roll off his fingers rather than pushing it toward the basket.
He shoots the ball on a high arc, taking advantage of the size of the basketball rim (2X the diameter of the ball).
Take a look at this video of Kobe shooting free throws. Notice that his arm mechanics here are pretty much the same as for the over the backboard shot against the thunder. Shoulders squared to the basket, elbow high, paints the ball with his hand and launches the ball on a high arc.
By using good mechanics for all his shots, Kobe is ready to try any trick shot at any time.
The NBA playoffs are now in full swing. King Lebron James is showing us all why he deserves the MVP and why the Cleveland Cavaliers must be considered the favorites for the title. Free throw shooting in the playoffs is even more critical than during the regular season and therefore we bring you a second installment of our video analysis of the basketball free throw.
In March we introduced the Video Analysis of the Basketball Freethrow and compared two different subjects and their respective shooting techniques. We focused on the angle of release in particular. This week, we captured video of our Subject 1 from March, to see if he was able to use the video analysis to make improvements. Once again we will use video analysis software to determine and quantify whether any significant improvements have been made with his technique.
As you may recall from our first analysis, it was noted that this subject could improve his chances of making a successful free throw by increasing the angle of release of the ball, so it falls on more of a downward arc as it gets closer to the hoop. Let's take a look at some stillshots that were created with some analysis software.
This week we filmed our video at a different court and set up our camera on the right side of the subject so we could see his right arm more clearly. Unfortunately in the earlier video (top photo), we needed to set up on the left side of the subject for lighting reasons. In order to compare the subjects free throw technique, we used our analysis software to create a mirror image of the subject from the March video (top photo). This allows us to watch the video and study the still shots with more clarity. When we mirror the image, it looks as if the subject in the mirror image is left handed, but of course this is not the case. The mirror image function of video analysis software is very useful for comparing left and right handed players or comparing video of movement in different directions, as we do here.
Ok, let's get onto the analysis. For the "before" shot (subject with blue shirt, top photo), we see the angle of release is 48 degrees from horizontal. For the "after" shot (subject with red shirt, bottom photo), the angle of release is 61 degrees from horizontal. This is approximately a 27% increase in the angle of release from the first to second shot. As we mentioned in the March post the higher the angle the higher the arc of the free throw. Therefore, we can safely say the ball will be coming down in more of a downward arc as it approaches the rim. If the subject continues to shoot with the technique seen in the more recent shot; this will likely result in more free throws made.
The video below shows a side by side view of the subject's free throw attempts in full motion.
Besides the improvement in release angle we can also note how the subject follows through on each shot. Although it would be easier to see from a behind or front-on view, we can still see that the "before" subject follows through across his body, whereas the "after" subject follows through more towards the hoop. Following through towards the hoop is going to help the subject's chances of shooting the ball towards the middle of the hoop, rather than to one side or another. For obvious reasons a ball moving straight toward the hoop is more likely to go in to the basket.
Following through towards the hoop on a free throw (or jump shot) helps ensure the player moves the ball towards the target throughout the shot, rather than having to rely on perfect timing to get the ball going towards the hoop. Minimizing this error of the shot going left or right makes it easier for the subject to now focus most of his attention on the angle of release relative to horizontal.
Remember to use your video camera, so that you can see and analyze your own free throws. Once you see your shot you will have a better understanding of how to improve it. We hope this posting helps you get the most out of your free throw practice sessions. Whether you need to make free throws to get into a pickup game at a park, or your team's relying on you to hit the game winning foul shot, the ability to make free throws consistently is an important skill for every basketball player to have.
We know why you visit our blog, to learn how to capture and analyze sports performance. Today we present our first videos and some biomechanical analysis done with free video analysis software.
Before we begin, we want to remind you that our intention is to show you the tools you can use for the video analysis of sports. We are biomedical engineers who have done research and work in sports performance analysis, but no one can be an expert on all sports. Therefore, although our biomechanical analysis is correct, our coaching tips (which we will minimize) should be evaluated with a professional coach in the appropriate sport, and must be evaluated on an athlete-by-athlete basis.
With the NCAA basketball tournaments about to begin and the regular season of the NBA about to end, we know many of you are spending a lot of time either watching or playing basketball. In honor of March Madness, our videos this week are of a basketball free throw. We have video of two subjects with very different techniques shooting a free throw. We have set up our camera on the side of the subject, as we wanted to evaluate the subjects ball release angle. The two videos can be seen below. Notice that both the free throw shooters are right-handed therefore it would have been more appropriate for us to shoot the video from the other side of the court, so that we would have a clear view of the right arm. However, in this case, lighting conditions and other background interference meant that shooting from the left side of the athlete would result in a sharper image to analyse. We were, however, lucky that in both videos we can see enough of the shooting arm and ball to evaluate the release angle that we are interested in.
With these two independent videos there is already so much we can analyze. We can see that Subject 1 jumps quite high off the ground for his free throw and also falls forward, while Subject 2 goes up on his toes. As the camera was set up in almost the same position, we can immediately notice that Subject 2 is quite a bit taller than Subject 1 and we can take that into account in our assessment. Subject 1 is jumping in order to gain more height on his free throw. This is causing the ball to come out of his hand at a flatter angle.
A feature of many free video analysis software is that we can compare two subjects side by side. When comparing 2 subjects, it is important to also synchronize the video to a specific event. In our comparison video below, we have synchronized the two subjects' free throws at the point of ball release. We need to synchronize video for comparison because not all videos are the same length, as some subjects may take longer to shoot their free throw than others. If we tried to analyze two videos of free throws that were not synchronized, we would have a very difficult time ensuring that we could see both subjects releasing the ball at the same time. The free video analysis software we used allows us to synchronize side by side video, but not to save it out as an avi. We therefore used a well-known video analysis software to create the synchronized view you see below:
If you are a basketball coach, you can probably see a few things that can be improved for both
Subject 1 and Subject 2. Please send us your comments or coaching tips if you have suggestions. We however are going to suggest some improvements for subject 1 based on a little bit more video analysis we did with a free video analysis software package.
Here are two freeze frame images of Subject 1 (top) and Subject 2. Using free video analysis software, we have calculated the angle of release for both subjects, and zoomed in on their arms and the ball at this release point. Subject 1 released the ball at 48 degrees to horizontal while Subject 2 released the ball at 79 degrees to the horizontal.
Now for some basic physics. The diameter of the basketball rim should be exactly twice the diameter of the basketball. In other words, two basketballs can fit through the hoop at the same time (if everything is perfect and there is no net). During a free throw or any basketball shot from the outer court, we are throwing the ball on an arc. The ball needs to move forward as well as up (for most of us) to get it into the net. The ball can either move on a flatter arc (Subject 1) or on a steeper arc (Subject 2). On a flatter arc the ball will not go as high but will move forward further and quicker; on a steeper arc, the ball will go higher and not as far. This means a free throw on a steeper arc will come down straighter and take advantage of the size of the basketball rim, while a flatter free throw will need to be far more accurate as a ball moving forward is more likely to hit the rim.
Subject 1 should try to put his free throw on a higher arc to take advantage of the physics described above. He can see immediately from this video analysis that his free throw is at a 30 degree flatter angle at release than Subject 2 and while practicing his free throws, should concentrate on releasing the ball on a higher angle. Once Subject 1 has some time to practice, we will get another video of him and see how he has improved.
Hope you enjoyed this first full Video Analysis. Remember that you too can do this type of in-depth analysis. All you need is a video camera and a little understanding. Follow us to get more tips, tricks, and understanding in using your video camera to analyze different sports.
We are happy to answer any questions or hear from you, please leave us a comment.
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