Reynolds 1

Camille Reynolds

UWRT 1104

Professor Blair

10 May 2017

Second Nature

The first time I ever shot a basketball was entirely too embarrassing. I shot the ball for the

first time in my life and AIIIRRRRBAAAAALL!, is all I heard come from my big brothers

mouth after seeing me struggle to properly shoot a basketball. I was in the sixth grade and my

brothers coach, Coach Ben, decided to build up a girls basketball team. He decided to make me

his first subject. He told me that the first thing I need to learn how to do is shoot. I remember

looking up at my coach, telling him how quick of a learner I am. He smirked and said to me,

That doesnt matter Cam, its going to be a long road until you get this right. I laughed

thinking how hard can it be? but sure enough, my coach was right. Although Coach Ben was

only my coach for a short period of time, I still valued the fact that he introduced me to

basketball. With that being said, secondary discourses are learned through social institutions

such as school, church, work, etc. Secondary discourses can include anything from waitressing,

doing makeup, playing a sport, etc. In my case, learning how to shoot a basketball became a

secondary discourse that I struggled with for quite some time. I learned the basics of how to

shoot in grade school but with different coaches, trainers, and teams, my skills strengthened over

time throughout high school. There are many aspects that make up the proper way to shoot. The

language, accessories and uniforms, the actions that a good shooter must take to shoot well, and

the attitude and values are all things that I had to learn, grow, and develop over time to make

myself a master of shooting as well as skilled in this secondary discourse.

To begin, I dont think I was ever aware of the amount of different words and terms that

were associated with basketball. In particular, with shooting alone, there are so many different

words. There are also different types of shots that one can shoot in order to score. For example, a

jump shot is the shot you typically see players shooting when they arent shooting a three -

pointer. A jump shot is a shot that is made while at the peak or height of ones jump. A three

pointer is shot from the outside arc of the basketball court.

When I first had to learn the basics of shooting, Coach Ben gave me an analogy that

would help me remember how Im supposed to look after finishing a shot. He said, Your right

hand should always look like you are about to grab something out of a cookie jar when you

finish shooting. Just remember to always grab the cookie. This tip has stayed with me

throughout all of my life. In high school, this was a major tip that I used to explain to my

teammates how to shoot. To continue, some other words that one must be familiar with when

trying to learn how to shoot are, guide hand, and follow through. Depending on if you are

right or left handed, your guide hand should always be slightly bent by the end of your shot. Its

purpose is to establish control of the ball while you shoot. I struggled with the placement of my

guide hand at first because I always felt like it was awkwardly just hanging there. If youre

planning on picking up basketball and you try shooting for the first time, youll see what I am

talking about. My first coach never fixed my guide hand and never told me that it had to be bent.

During the summer before my freshman year of high school my second coach, Coach Zak,

instructed me on how my guide hand should look when I shoot. Coach Zak was my travel

basketball coach. I played AAU competitive basketball up until my junior year of high

school. Coach Zak was short, African American, had a low cut hairstyle and had a smile

that could light up the room. He laughed at me the first time he saw my shot in that hot, broken
 Reynolds 3

down gym and said, Cam, why is your hand looking like that? The problem was, I would

always end with my guide hand straight up instead of slightly bent. Coach Zak gave me a good

tip about my guide hand; he said, Keep it quiet. In other words, dont let it move. Eventually

after constant practice, I figured out the key to keeping your guide hand quiet; always make

sure your thumb of your guide hand is pointed back directly towards your head.

Coach Zak was pretty much the person altered my whole shot. He completely

changed my overall form. If you didnt know, a shooters form is basically just the way a

shooter shoots. Besides my guide hand being all messed up, Coach Zak said that as a

shooter he didnt see my confidence or swag. At first, I was confused and mad as to why

he wanted to change my shot because I thought I was already a good shooter. Like I said, I

was basically when a freshman when I met Coach Zak and I always made shots during

middle school basketball. Anyway, I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was a hot

summer day and the Florida heat was so real. The gym that we were working out in was

broken down, dusty and had no AC. The doors were cracked open but that barely helped

with the heat. Besides me already being familiar with the language of shooting, the day

Coach Zak changed my form, is the day I learned how to truly be a shooter with

confidence, a hard working attitude, and most importantly, a shooter with swag.

To continue, when it comes to the accessories of a shooter, be comfortable. You want to

make sure you have loose fit clothes. There are no different uniforms for shooters. The uniforms

in basketball are all the same no matter what position you play. Players have the option to wear

sleeves, knee pads, elbow pads, compression shirts or pants, with their uniforms. Personally, I

found myself wearing compression long sleeve shirts during all of my games and practices. As a

shooter, the compression on my arms allowed me to move more freely and I felt cool,
 Reynolds 4

temperature wise, throughout the games. As far as shoes go, there are so many different styles

and types of shoes. For shooters, I have seen some shooters wear a lot of the same styled shoes.

Shooters typically wear shoes with good ankle support a specific type of low rise basketball

sneakers. A lot of the shoes shooters wear are Nikes. The Nike Zooms, Kobes, or Hyperrises are

all shoes that I see popular shooters wearing. Stephen Curry and James Harden both wear Nike

Zooms and they are two of the best shooters in the NBA. I wore hyperrises because Coach Zak

suggested them to me after seeing my beat up, worn out Nikes that day in the gym. I dont even

remember the full name of the shoe, thats how old they were. I suggest wearing mid-calf black

or white Nike socks with your shoes. They can be any brand, not necessarily Nike, but youll

look better if you wear a branded name. While playing high school ball, people would ALWAYS

compliment me on how they liked my long sleeve compressions or my shoes. Ultimately,

shooters always look good. They look so swaggy because their appearance alone shouts

confidence.

One of the main actions that a good shooter must take in order to shoot well include a lot

of focus. To be a good shooter, you have to be focused on where you want the ball to go at all

times. For example, in a game, it is important to keep your eye on the target (the net) at all times

as soon as you catch the ball. This helps increase your accuracy with where you want the ball to

go. I remember my coach used to always tell me how important it is to keep your eye on the

basket. Another important action a shooter must take is making sure that their shot is consistent.

To be consistent it is important for shooters to practice. For example, every time I trained with

either Coach Zak or my high school basketball coach, Coach Gunn, they both would always

make me put up 100 shots before the start or end of practice. In high school, before games, it was

double that. Dont forget to put up your shots this afternoon, were constant texts I would get
 Reynolds 5

from Coach Gunn on game days. Whenever I put up shots, I always started extremely close to

the basket. This was called form shooting. This was helpful for me because once I put up 25

shots on each side of the rim, I got into my rhythm and was able to make more shots throughout

the course of the game. I remember one game in particular during my senior year, I had

about 28 points by the end of the game and almost all of them were jump shots or 3

pointers. At the end of the day, as clich as it sounds, practice makes perfect.

Furthermore, as I stated before, shooters have confidence. Their attitude, their

appearance, everything about them screams confidence. All players in basketball should have

confidence but its something about shooters; they're just so different in the way that they play

and move on the court. I think its the faces they make when they know they hit a shot or the way

they skip back down the court after making a three. Have you ever seen Stephen Curry after

he shoots? He finishes his shot with such confidence that its hard not to be a fan.

Sometimes he will keep his shooting hand in the hair or hell turn to the side and clench his

fist. Anyway, going back to that hot, broken down gym that I mentioned before, while I was in

there the day Coach Zak corrected my shot, he asked me what makes my shot different from

everyone else's. I said, I dont know, isnt it supposed to look the same? He replied and said,

No, you have to add something to make your shot your own. So what are you going to add?

When I said I didnt know what to add he said, Keep shooting until you know. At first, I was

mad that he told me to keep shooting because I was tired. This gym had no type of working AC

and the lights were barely working. Ten minutes into me missing shots and making some, I

started to pick up the paste. I hit about twenty shots in a row. After the eighth shot that I hit, I did

some weird nod with my head and ran back to the starting point. I realized that that was my

thing. That was what made me different. After this day in the gym, in almost every basketball
 Reynolds 6

game that I have played, after every shot I made I did that weird nod with my head, smirked, and

ran back for defense. The little movements or actions shooters do after making a shot shows the

type of confidence they have. When they feel the shot, they're going to let you know. It takes

hard work to get your shot right. Once you have your shot with the correct form, theres no

stopping you once you get into that rhythm. Confidence and a hard working attitude are key for

shooters.

In conclusion, learning a secondary discourse can be rather difficult. It took me time to

get to where I am today in regards to shooting a basketball. Today I can confidently say that

shooting a basketball has become second nature to me. The best thing about secondary

discourses is all the other lessons that you can learn outside of learning whatever it is you are

trying to do. I learned a lot about myself and life through basketball. I discovered how strong and

hardworking I am and to never give up on anything no matter what the circumstances are. A

piece of advice to those who want to pursue this secondary discourse; look good, be confident,

know your words and keep practicing.