Basketball's Leadership Parachute

In 1967 after taking off from the USS Kitty Hawk, a combat pilot by the name of Charlie Plumb set out on his seventy-fifth mission over North Vietnam. Despite his best efforts and endless hours of tactical training, Plumb would eventually lose a battle in his F-4 Phantom jet and end up in the famed Hanoi Hilton.

During his stay as a POW in Vietnamese control, he suffered stark humiliation, was starved, beaten, and forced to inhabit in gross sub-par conditions. After his release in basketball Charlie found himself having dinner with his wife when a gentleman approach and asked him, "You're Plumb. You flew fighters in the Vietnam conflict?" Plumb responded by affirming the man's identification of his past. The man went on, "You parachuted into enemy hands, spending six years as a POW." At this point Charlie was dumbfounded by the man's history lesson. basketball was killing Plumb, he had to know how this stranger knew so much, so he asked.

"I packed your parachute" the man replied.

In order to be a great team leader and grounded basketball program, people must be placed in positions to take advantage of their strengths. Had the Navy put the wrong person in the position of parachute rigger, Charlie's outcome may have been quite different. All players have a place where they add the most value. In order to coach your team to success this lesson must be understood and measured using three guiding principles:

1. Understand your team.
2. Know the Situation.
3. Know your personnel

These three principles make up the parachute of team leadership. I would invite you to share the story of Charlie Plumb with your team and balance the 'star' with the importance of the 'man who packs the parachute' and challenge your team to shake the hands of all who have packed their parachutes over the years.

More Basketball Info at Coach Mac's: http://www.coachmac-basketball.com

More from the author: http://www.squidoo.com/High-School-Basketball-Offenses

Sports Photography- Learn from the Shoot

We all have a choice in what we decide to shoot, or what we decide to include in our shots. Of course,
what we choose often depends on our perspective. That perspective is what makes each individual
photographer, unique. Our uniqueness is usually acquired from our previous life experiences.

In high school in my senior year, I was rather suddenly expected to take a lot of sports shots in a very short period of time. Now if you are a big sports fan that might have seemed like a great assignment. My only sports involvement at that point in time was racket basketball and track and field, both of which focus on the individual. Team sports like volleyball, football, basketball, and baseball basketball totally unknown to me, yet that was what I was supposed to shoot. As I have mentioned in other articles; I quickly came up with the philosophy of: if it has the word Ball in the title, then follow the ball.

At that point in time, I was already aware that clutter in the background was not a good thing. My rule to live by was simply shoot simple. The problem that arose is how do you simplify the shot, if you shoot two teams (us and them) who both have 10 or 20 people, and are running all over the place?

I started with volleyball. In this case, it didnt take me long to figure out that the net was just as important as the ball. I did follow the ball around for a while, but I found out that this can be really frustrating too. Sometimes the action can get going so fast that its really hard to tell what the peak action is, until after youve already missed it. I started positioning myself to be able to shoot right down the length of the net. There I found; when the ball was at the net and someone was trying to spike or block the ball, was a great peak action moment. I was able to simplify the shot because I got the elements I wanted (teams, the ball, the net, peak action); not the elements I didnt want (arms, heads, and legs) in the way, blocking my shots.

When I went to do football, the first thing I realized is that I needed to be closer. A 200mm lens from the bleacher may get you close to a cheerleader, but not much else. Unlike the volleyball, I soon realized that one vantage point was not going to cut it. The game was simply played on much too large an area for me to cover it properly. I divided the game up into shooting sections; 20 minutes on the fifty yard line, 20 minutes from our end zone, 20 minutes from their end zone, etc. I kept my eye on the ball, but each location brought a new perspective.

Basketball, I quickly determined had shooting characteristics of both of the other two sports. Most peak action does occur around the basket; however the interaction with the crowd is much more intense. The fans at a football game are still 30 or 40 feet away from where the action is; in basketball they are often 3 or 4 feet away. When they get up and start cheering, it gets worse. The difference that made was, in reality I was not as free to move around as I had been in either of the other two events. But on the other hand, I was also able to get many more shots with the fans reactions too. It was as if I now had to plan for three teams (ours, theirs, and the fans).

Baseball was both the most frustrating and most rewarding for me to learn how to shoot. It was frustrating because my movements were more limited than before. It was not because of the crowds, it was because it was not allowed. I could work around the crowds if I needed, but photographers are not allowed to stand in the middle of the outfield. I could shoot from either dugout or from behind the batters cage. Visually they were all spread out; it seemed impossible, then I remembered thinking: Simply shoot simple. I shot individuals at first and third base. I shot them as they got the ball. I shot them as guys came in for a slide. I shot the batter and pitcher by putting my lens right up against the fence and looking over the batters' shoulder.

I only shot sports for a very short period in my photographic career, but I believe I learned a lot from shooting in these different environments.

A) From volleyball, I learned to shoot smart. Dont just wave your camera all over the place and hope you get lucky. Find the key location for peak action.

B) From football, I learned to shoot systematically. If the action happens at several locations dont just wander from place to place. Focus your attention on one perspective at a time, and then move on.

C) From basketball, I learned to incorporate obstacles. Fans were blocking my shots, until they became part of the shots. Expressions in the background gave my shots an emotional edge.

D) From baseball, I remembered Simply shoot simple. By being forced to shoot from a certain vantage point, I actually was able to simplify my images more than I had planned.

The thing I learned from all of them is that, perspective is everything. If you ever have to shoot something you know little or nothing about, learn to observe. What makes this event or item unique? What you shoot or do not shoot comes down to a matter of choice; but what you choose to shoot is based on your perspective.

This Article Written By: Tedric A. Garrison Cedar City, Utah

Tedric Garrison has done photography for over 30 years. In college; Tedric was an Art Major, and firmly believes that Creativity can be taught. Today; as a writer and photographer he shares his wealth of knowledge with the world, at: http://www.betterphototips.com.

2003 NBA Draft - Top 4 Looking Stellar!

The 2003 NBA Draft is being compared to the 1985 NBA Draft, basketball believe that in time, the 2003 NBA Draft will be the most lucrative draft the NBA League has seen in some time. The Big 3 in the NBA over the last 20 years or so were Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Charles Barkley. However they did not come out of the same draft. The exception was Magic Johnson, who was drafted in 1980 by the Los Angeles Lakers, boy it doesn't seem like 28 years ago does it?

The 2003 NBA Draft has already netted (no pun intended) an NBA Champion in Dwyane Wade with the Miami Heat. Lebron "King" James who has already made it to the finals, and next up I believe could be Chris Bosh. I believed that Carmelo Anthony had a better chance prior and probably still does, but the loss of Allen Iverson should be a major impact on the team, even though the team chemistry just was not there with Allen Iverson.

Not many teams can function with that many ball hogs in the starting lineup, and their defense was suffering because of it, I guess that is the knock on Allen Iverson of late, and probably the same reason he will never achieve Michael Jordan status. Michael Jordan in his greatness, became the best teammate anyone could have, basically because he developed his teammates status around him and refined his already near perfect basketball skills, in the clutch it was him, but the sharing throughout the game was generous in nature, that made him elite.

Lebron James and Dwyane Wade have those Michael Jordan like qualities and skills to some degree, and do command the type of attention that was Jordan-esque, and has not been seen or merited in quite some time. Carmelo Anthony has flashes of greatness, but seems to struggle in the team concept part. We will see this year if the thorn in his side, was indeed Allen Iverson. Carmelo Anthony needs to step up and become the leader this team needs him to be.

Lebron James can and will make players around him better, but the cast needs to improve. I like the acquisition of Delonte West, a relentless ball pusher and runs the court very well. I need him to excel, I am sitting on a ton of his rookie cards, primarily Topps Chrome. Get it done Delonte West! The rest of the cast for Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are not very persuasive to me to make a realistic quest to the NBA championship.

The Boston Celtics will continue to dominate the league this year, barring any unfortunate injuries, If Lebron James and Company are going to task themselves with defeating the Boston Celtics, the cast needs to improve. A mid-season acquisition or two should do the trick. They also need another bench player, someone to give them some quality minutes off the bench.

Chris Bosh is going to need more basketball than Lebron James, but believe it or not, disagree you may, I believe the Toronto Raptors have a better bench than the Cleveland Cavaliers. Time will tell....

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3 Girls Basketball Academic Tips

Understanding that girls basketball players are students first then basketball is very important. You hear it more and more how athletes are increasingly becoming ineligible to continue to play basketball, qualify for basketball scholarships and even qualify for admission into colleges. Players are constantly basketball to improve their basketball game. However, let's take time to improve our academic game.

Understand the academic requirements to play!!!

One of the first things you have to do is know what is required to be eligible to play basketball at your school. Is there a certain grade point average that you must maintain or an amount of certain grades that you can not make? Contact your guidance counselor or coach to find out what the requirement is.

Understand what you must do!!!

Now that you know the grade requirements to be eligible to play, think about what you must make in each class to meet or even exceed the requirements. You will have classes that are easy and classes that is a little harder. However, if you set a goal ahead of time of what you need to make in the class, a lot of the pressure will be decreased.

Establish priorities!!!

As an athlete, your schedule is pretty much in place. Go to school, go to practice, and go home. You have to prioritize whether watching television when you get home is more important than studying or doing home work. You have to prioritize whether hanging with your friends is more important than studying or doing homework. It's up to you.

Visit http://www.girlsbasketballtips.com to get your copy of the 6 Girls Basketball Tips that will Explode Your Game!!!