Book & Video Reviews

Marshall Terrill, teaming with Wayne Federman and Jackie Maravich pictures us a story of an unwavering young man wanting to please his father. "Maravich" is a book that excites and touches the heart.

The authors really captured Pete Maravich's fascinating life and the contradiction that surrounded his life. This young man was dedicated to basketball. He mastered it, but remained unsatisfied. Then, after finally finding happiness through his Savior, Pistol Pete Maravich dropped dead. Doctors were shocked when they discovered he was born with only one-half a heart. Under such condition, Pete should never have been able to live past his teens. Remarkable, to say the least.

Despite such handicap, Pistol Pete Maravich proved that hard work, dedication, and complete focus on a goal can fulfill a dream. He also learned that once the cheers end people change. I recommend this book to every athlete and their parent.

Ken Lindsay
December 16, 2006

Two hours, forty-one minutes in length, "Better Post Play" explains most every fundamental known to basketball post play. In my opinion, this DVD is the best I have ever seen and truly unmatched for detail. For both coach and player, "Better Post Play" is a slam dunk.

The video contains 10 chapters, plus sections by Indiana Pacer's Jermaine O'Neal and Tamika Catchings. Thanks to excellent video photography and direction, not to mention the excellent presentation by Coach Rick Torbett, this definitive and educational video is fun to watch.

Coach Rick Torbett, author and instructor for "Better Post Play," is highly regarded as a teacher of the game of basketball. He has been honored by prestigious organizations including ESPN and The Atlanta Tip-Off Club. The later is the group that annually presents the James A. Naismith Awards.

Coach Torbett actually earned his reputation in 25 years as a high school coach, building numerous programs into powerhouses. He compiled an overall winning percentage of over 70%, and helped countless players earn scholarships to schools in leagues like the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten.

What makes Coach Torbett so special is his ability to take extremely advanced techniques, and explain them in a way that even children can understand. At the same time, his system is studied and used at basketball's highest levels. "Even NBA coaches have admitted to picking up new techniques from the Better Basketball videos."

Not only get four chapters on scoring from the post, but Coach Torbett's thoughts on the mentality of a great post player, the fundamentals of playing inside, and even two chapters devoted to simply getting open.

It has long been my policy to never recommend products to my treasured readers unless it is a valuable coaching and teaching tool. Well, folks, "Better Post Play" is a tremendous DVD, filled with countless techniques, stressing the importance of fundamental footwork for getting open against both man-to-man and zone defenses. Coach Torbett explains well how important accurate free-throw shooting is to a pivot player. I was happy to see and hear him stress running the floor, face-up moves attacking the defender's front foot, back to the basket moves, counter moves, post defense etc.

The 61 minute interview of Jermaine O'Neal is outstanding. Jermaine articulates well into detail on playing inside, explains his off season training secrets, and how he dominates the defensive end and the boards.

Then, there is a 37 minute interview and demonstration by 2004 Olympic Gold Medallist Tamika Catchings. She discusses playing both inside and outside, her three favorite moves, dealing with the stresses of professional basketball, and even what it takes to become a pro.

"Better Post Play" is truly the new standard for what a sports improvement video should be. 

Make WWW.BETTERBASKETBALL.COM one of your favorite Web sites. Go there and add this DVD to your Library of Basketball Coaching and Playing Tools. This DVD. by far, is the best basketball instructional video devoted to the post player that I have ever seen. BUY it NOW!!!

Reviewed by Ken Lindsay

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Tom Nordland originally published SWISH in VHS video format in 1997. Several years ago, after reviewing this original VHS edition, I became impressed enough to help arrange one of his shooting clinics here in the great basketball state of Indiana.

Today, I received Tom's SWISH 2ä : Learning and Coaching the SWISH Method is a new and revolutionary guide to help develop a consistent basketball shot. I could hardly wait to watch this newest version in DVD video format. Again, I am impressed. Coaches and parents…you better order this latest version, even though you own the original. Let me tell you a little about Tom Nordland:

Tom Nordland was a high school star in Minnesota in the mid-1950s. He was one of those typical Midwestern kids, in days gone by, who spent most of his spare moments shooting hoops in his backyard. All that shooting practice enabled Tom to put a basketball through the hoop consistently, even under pressure. He learned so well; Tom’s Roosevelt High School team of Minneapolis won two state championships. In his senior year, the offense was built around Tom’s accurate outside shooting. That team went undefeated with a 28-0 record. Tom averaged 27 points a game that year and the highlight of the championship game was Tom’s free throw shooting accuracy. He swished 19 of 20 free throw attempts, a record that still stands.

Tom attended Stanford University on a basketball scholarship before returning to his native Minneapolis. Here, he played recreational ball, until knee injuries forced him out of the game he loved 15 years later in the 1970s.

Tom is like so many great athletes. They do things by instinct, but couldn’t tell you how they did it. This is often the reason many of our greatest basketball players, John Wooden being an exception, fail as coaches. In Tom’s case it took nearly 40 years for him to become aware of the teaching method he markets as "Swish 2" Learning and Coaching the Swish Method.

Tom writes, "In 1990 at age 50, I was working at a computer company in California, and during lunch one day I decided to shoot baskets for the first time in many years. I had not played or even touched a basketball in six years."

"After about 5-10 minutes of warm-up, I started to swish everything from everywhere within my range! A light bulb came on and I asked myself how it was possible that, 33 years after high school and after years of not playing or even shooting, I could re-capture such great shooting touch. The answers then started to come to me and developed as I practiced and researched shooting. I started volunteering to coach at local high schools, and I even started to write a book, which later became the "Swish" video seven years later in early 1997."

"Since that discovery, I've perfected more and more the coaching of this Method. I've now coached at the jr. high school (middle school), high school, college and professional levels. (I feel that the age of 11-12 is the best time to start learning my Method of controlling the flight of a ball. Kids who are younger than that are usually not strong enough to think about such concepts as "minimizing variables" and "varying arch to control distance."

Today, Coach Tom Nordland conducts shooting clinics nationwide and is available for private coaching in the Bay Area of California. He lives near San Jose and Santa Cruz in northern California.

SWISHä , in VHS format video, comes with a 35-page Swish Workbook and a 2-page Shooting Guide Card. The book follows the order of the video and basically restates the information in writing. Another interesting addition to this book shows the decline in shooting percentages in America during the past few years.

I grew up in the days of the two-handed set shot and was taught to square your shoulders to the basket in launching that shot. The advent of the one-handed jump shot changed the game dramatically. New theories on how to teach it vary then and do so to this day. I like Tom's approach better than any video to date. Now, he has outdone himself with SWISH 2ä , in DVD format video is crystal clear, and more devoted to the coach's viewpoint and how to introduce drills into your program. It does not have the 35 page Swish Workbook or 2-page shooting guide.

I prefer the DVD. In addition to everything above, there are shooting drills included at the end of the video, along with clips of players of varied ages and skills demonstrating their shooting form. Also, with the DVD, there is a menu at the start. If watching from a computer DVD drive, you can click on the menu to jump to the part that you want to review, rather than fast-forwarding through a VCR tape. The 35 page booklet is available as a pdf file on the DVD.

Where this video differs from many shooting video's is that each of the 4-keys in Tom’s Swish Method are practicable building blocks to a proper jump shot. Many great shooters or even some very talented coaches, teach essentially the incorrect technique, leave out essential steps, or fail to provide specific drills to assist the young player or young coach in how to build the shot. Tom’s video excels in this aspect and I commend Coach Nordland for his clarity and purpose in teaching the shot.

I would love to give you more details of Tom’s 4-keys but then that wouldn't be fair to the coach who took the time refining his ideas and methods. Just to wet your appetite however I like the way he measures consistency of shooting free throws using the mathematical formula: Constant UpForce + Constant Release + Constant Arch = 13’ 9". So I don't spoil the rest of the video you will have to see for yourself Coach Nordland’s teaching steps and reap the rewards of money well invested in developing shooting technique.

The video is crisp and clear with quality sound. You will get the message quickly and painlessly. There are literally dozens of teaching tips along with the drills, which I believe, without question, will make you a better teacher and shooter if you add this video to your library.

Also, of particular interest, Coach Nordland's methods work equally well on four completely different size and strength players, including girls and boys, who's shot techniques varied slightly from one another. It makes sense that not every shooter's shot should look exactly the same, even though many coaches try to force players of different body anatomy and limb structure to shoot the exact same shot.

Coach Nordland's methods focus on the common elements crucial to consistently making a shot, and less one mechanically exact shot. I approve and applaud this approach and give my highest rating to this video. It is to the point, filled with teaching points and drills and worth every penny.