Practice: February 1, 2021

February 1, 2021

I recently started using an exaggerated straight-arm pushaway, inspired by Geoff Born. My idea is that I could completely relax my right shoulder at the end of the pushaway and let the arm swing freely through a full arc instead of yanking it down, as seems to be my habit. Maybe I'm not relaxing the shoulder as much as I think I am. Maybe my body just hasn't adjusted to the timing difference yet. This has become something I'm paying attention to in practice.

I plan to practise today on connecting to the feeling of having a completely relaxed right shoulder. If I swing my arm the way that I want to (and believe that I should), I'll feel almost nothing. My idea is that if I do this well, then my shoulder will swing more naturally and repeatably, so that even if it doesn't swing straight, it'll do so in a way that I can compensate for and become accustomed to.

I also hope that, if I do this well, that will regulate the timing between my arm and my feet.

Perhaps most importantly, since I want to feel relaxed in general, if I associated a relaxed shoulder with a productive arm swing, then I expect all this to help me associate the relaxed feeling with both an arm swing and timing that I can trust. Since trust in my shot is a significant mental weakness for me right now, I believe that this practice plan will help me develop more overall trust in my own shot.

Well...

• What do you think about my idea and my practice plan?
• Am I right? Am I wrong?
• What would you advise me to do in this situation?
• Should I be paying attention to something else entirely?

Tell me!