4 ms·

The NBA is at the top right of the graph (for basketball skills) so you shouldn't see any such weird anomaly there. Suspect its actually just a biological thing

The NBA is at the top right of the graph (for basketball skills) so you shouldn't see any such weird anomaly there. Suspect its actually just a biological thing that your hand eye coordination worsens at the 'extreme' heights

saghm 4y ago
I've also heard that since it's necessary to arc the shot a reasonable amount for the ball to go in (or else it will hit the rim and bounce away), being shorter than the hoop can actually be an advantage. If the hoop is above you, the ball already has to travel vertically to be able to get there in the first place, but if you're close to the same height, you have to throw it relatively higher to achieve a good arc. It tends to be harder to aim at something if you need to add extra height before hitting it; the angle and speed needed to accurately throw a ball at a target is easier to "calculate" with hand/eye coordination if you throw directly at it rather than trying to throw the ball up in the air and have it hit the target on the way down. That said, it still seems reasonable that if you're going to be paid millions of dollars a year to throw a ball in a hole, it wouldn't be crazy to be expected to practice and get good enough not to miss if literally no one is trying to block you (e.g. free throws). I guess that if you're good enough at the other skills, it still helps your team win enough to sign you even if you don't get good at that, but it still feels like fairly low hanging fruit...
- matthewowen 4y ago
  And yet all those short good shooters jump. I know that sounds facetious, but like, there’s a reason no one jumps on a free throw. It’s easier if you don’t. But you have to jump to get your shot over a defender. If you are sufficiently tall, you could just… jump less, so that your release height is the same. I actually think the bigger reason is simply that there are more important skills for tall players to work on. If your main job is rebounding , it is better to work on rebounding than shooting. Of course, the changes to how NBA teams play over the last decade or so have changed this, which is presumably why you now see more players who are both tall _and_ good shooters.
  - amusedcyclist 4y ago
    Yeah most tall players are better shooters than in the past. But with the exception of Kevin Durant, none of them shoot like the short guys
  - saghm 4y ago
    As a short person who has been fairly decent at free throws in the past but would probably be completely unable to make even an easy shot with someone trying to block me, I always need to jump just to get enough force behind the ball to throw it in the right arc. Obviously I'm probably still shorter and definitely way less strong and and skilled than even the shorter NBA players, but I do wonder if jumping is more necessary for smaller people in general since it's less strenuous to generate the force from your legs compared to your arms.

saghm 4y ago

I've also heard that since it's necessary to arc the shot a reasonable amount for the ball to go in (or else it will hit the rim and bounce away), being shorter than the hoop can actually be an advantage. If the hoop is above you, the ball already has to travel vertically to be able to get there in the first place, but if you're close to the same height, you have to throw it relatively higher to achieve a good arc. It tends to be harder to aim at something if you need to add extra height before hitting it; the angle and speed needed to accurately throw a ball at a target is easier to "calculate" with hand/eye coordination if you throw directly at it rather than trying to throw the ball up in the air and have it hit the target on the way down. That said, it still seems reasonable that if you're going to be paid millions of dollars a year to throw a ball in a hole, it wouldn't be crazy to be expected to practice and get good enough not to miss if literally no one is trying to block you (e.g. free throws). I guess that if you're good enough at the other skills, it still helps your team win enough to sign you even if you don't get good at that, but it still feels like fairly low hanging fruit...

matthewowen 4y ago
And yet all those short good shooters jump. I know that sounds facetious, but like, there’s a reason no one jumps on a free throw. It’s easier if you don’t. But you have to jump to get your shot over a defender. If you are sufficiently tall, you could just… jump less, so that your release height is the same. I actually think the bigger reason is simply that there are more important skills for tall players to work on. If your main job is rebounding , it is better to work on rebounding than shooting. Of course, the changes to how NBA teams play over the last decade or so have changed this, which is presumably why you now see more players who are both tall _and_ good shooters.
- amusedcyclist 4y ago
  Yeah most tall players are better shooters than in the past. But with the exception of Kevin Durant, none of them shoot like the short guys
- saghm 4y ago
  As a short person who has been fairly decent at free throws in the past but would probably be completely unable to make even an easy shot with someone trying to block me, I always need to jump just to get enough force behind the ball to throw it in the right arc. Obviously I'm probably still shorter and definitely way less strong and and skilled than even the shorter NBA players, but I do wonder if jumping is more necessary for smaller people in general since it's less strenuous to generate the force from your legs compared to your arms.