WHOOPS! An Oversight that Sidelines NBA Players
- Sep 2, 2014
- 3 min read
The 2011 NBA eastern conference finals pitted the Indiana Pacers against the Miami Heat. The Pacers were up two games to one. In game four the Pacers were up 10 points in the middle of the third quarter and with a win would be poised to win the east and compete for their first NBA title. Danny Grainger, their all-star leading scorer, took a long range jump shot and landed on LeBron James foot. He rolled his ankle, tore ligaments and was out of the series. Miami went on to win the series and the NBA championship.
This injury was what motivated me to begin studying contemporary sports from an injury prevention perspective using my experience working in Occupational Safety, and from a performance perspective using my experience as a martial arts instructor.
Grainger’s injury was catastrophic for the Pacers. Commentary in the media contained nothing about how to prevent this type of injury from occurring. Apparently these types of injuries “just happen”. That is not true. It is a preventable injury. It’s caused by lack of awareness and sloppy landing technique.
The first lesson when sparing is to “protect yourself at all times”. Not some of the time, not most of the time, but all the time. It doesn’t happen often but occasionally a boxer or MMA competitor gets knocked out attempting to bump gloves with an opponent at the beginning of a round. They assume that their opponent is going to bump gloves and instead they come out swinging. That assumption is a mistake. You can offer to bump gloves and still “protect yourself at all times” by anticipating that your opponent may throw a punch when you extend your arm and being ready to defend appropriately. Once the bell rings or the sensei says begin you protect yourself at all times.
NBA players are not “protecting themselves at all times”. After shooting a jump shot they become spectators watching the ball in flight. They land with no regard for how they land or what they are landing on. They assume they won’t land on an opponent’s foot instead of assuming that they will and defending themselves appropriately.
Studying the movement techniques of contemporary athletes, it’s not uncommon for tennis and baseball players to execute a “split step”. This is performed to maximize the athlete’s first step moving laterally. When returning a serve in tennis the player is taught to jump and to time their jump so they are at their apex when the opponent hits their serve. On the way down based on the location of the serve they determine which leg they are going to land on. If they need to move right to get to the serve they land on their left foot, keep the right elevated and drive off the left leg laterally to the right. If they need to move left they land on the right foot, keep the left elevated and drive laterally left off the right leg. Infielders in baseball sometimes use this technique to maximize their ability to move laterally to field line drives.
Tennis and baseball players can look at the horizon when jumping and change their lower body position before landing. When shooting a mid to long range jump shot NBA players typically are jumping as high, or higher, than tennis and baseball players executing the split step. After the shot is released why can’t NBA players look down and modify their lower body posture if needed? Are they inferior athletes when compared to their contemporaries in tennis and baseball? No. They simply lack the awareness that they can look down and change the landing position of their feet. They shoot jump shots the way everyone else shoots them. The way they have been shot for years. It only takes a moment to look down and adjust your landing posture. Watching the ball in flight does nothing to increase shooting percentage. Failing to protect yourself by glancing down while on the way down can be season ending. Since there is no performance advantage gained by watching the ball, why do it?
If tennis and baseball players can jump and adjust the position of their feet upon landing so can you as an aspiring basketball player. This can’t be fixed with a conversation. An elite athlete has ingrained this technique mistake into their subconscious through countless repetitions. Re-training is the only solution. It must be done correctly and for sufficient duration for the subconscious to acquire it. When practicing jump shots make it routine to glance down and adjust your feet. With daily practice this will become second nature.
Until next time,
Sensei Gil
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