I scored easily and often in Brazil, noted by locals. In Germany I rebounded nicely after some embarrassing dribbling. I'm a basketball junkie. Ambassador of America's game, it's my duty and birthright to find a pickup game wherever I travel and show locals a few playground basketball moves. From Europe to Micronesia I lace up my high-tops, searching for telltale basketball sounds and sights. International playground basketball has many distinct advantages over domestic basketball. It's easier to join basketball games in Guam than in New York or Philadelphia. Show up, shoot a few jumpers, you're invited to play. Not so in unfamiliar U S inner-city basketball playgrounds without extensive local contacts. Immediately you notice differences from playground basketball here: You rarely find 6'5" guys living to jam the ball down your throat. Basketball players in other countries, curious to see what you can do, pass you the ball (an altogether foreign experience in North American basketball) Representing where basketball was invented, you've got to shake, sink, bake, jam it.
Cultural differences
Although basketball's rules are the same, international basketball is culturally different. In Palau I played basketball on a concrete court in the middle of a jungle. Locals chewed betel nut and spat bright-red juice on the court during the game: dribble, spit, shoot, rebound, spit, pass. In Switzerland I practiced basketball all winter with a local basketball team that ran endless, boring precision drills. They moved the ball like clockwork but their invariable bricks clanked off the backboard. They yelled at me when I broke the drill, cruising to an easy layup. Some places I couldn't find basketball anywhere. In Russia I looked and looked and found only a decrepit old sports institute with a basketball court that last saw action when Trotsky and Stalin went one-on-one. A guy shrugged said in Russian, "Come back during basketball season." With such a distinct lack of passion for basketball you wonder how these guys beat the U S twice in the Olympics. I assumed Australia had basketball hoops over every garage. I saw no basketball courts anywhere. "Now cricket, there's a game you should try, mate," they said.
Height of achievement
My crowning moment came in Bora Bora. Around a corner a basketball game raged on an oceanside playground court between 2 teams of teenagers coached by a fat guy with a whistle. OK, so these kids averaged 5'7", mostly playing basketball barefoot or in flip-flop sandals. They weren't UCLA Bruins but they had good ball-handling skills and court sense. I was waved into a basketball game and promptly started 3 fast breaks ending in no-look passes for teammates' easy layups. Apparently the high-five was not introduced in the South Pacific: When I stuck my hand out to congratulate a teammate he looked at me suspiciously as if I'd tried to kiss him. A century earlier the polytheistic Borans would have named a mountain after me, or at least a basketball playground. Instead I made do with the basketball coach's grudging compliments. After rejecting a shot, grabbing the ball, driving it coast-to-coast and laying it in, the game was over. "Vous jouez bien, eh?" grunted the coach as I left. Damn straight I jouez bien, buddy. I'm from basketball's birthplace.
PHOTO: Basketball with superimposed globe.
RICK BARRY'S BASKETBALL CLINIC
OFFENSIVE CROSSOVER STEP First, fake to whatever side the defender's back foot is. Fake to his back foot, protecting the ball. As the defender responds pull back, place your front foot outside his front foot and drive for the basket.
SHOOTING THE BASKETBALL Hold the ball with your hand directly under it. Hold your wrist so your hand is nearly parallel to the floor, your forearm as straight as possible. Making the shot, follow through with your hand and arm, finishing in a high position. Keep your head up and your eyes on the target.
DRIBBLING Control the ball with your fingertips. Head up, knees bent. Some hand action, very little arm action. Practice dribbling with either hand and not looking at the ball.
TWO-HANDED CHEST PASS Hold the ball with your fingertips, thumbs on top. Passing: step forward, push the ball, follow through. It's a snapping action. Finished your hands reverse position (thumbs downward) Aim the ball at your teammate's chest and snap it away.
DEFENSIVE POSITION One foot in front, knees bent. Bend waist slightly. Keep your head up, one hand high, the other low. Moving around, never let your feet cross. Move by laterally shuffling your feet.
BLOCKING OUT FOR REBOUNDS Start from defensive position. As the ball is shot pivot from your back foot. As you pivot you effectively block your opponent out of the play.
Researchers Seek Cure for Yips
The yips are when with the first movement of the putter, the golfer blacks out, loses sight of the ball and has no idea what to do with the putter or that he holds a putter at all. Tommy Armour, the Silver Scot, a 1920s and '30s pro who won 3 majors.
TWO LAWS of golf: (1) Never say shank (2) If you feel the yips coming on you'll wish the only thing you had to worry about was a shank. The yips, a hiccup in the delicate putting stroke, can send a ball scooting 10 feet past the cup or stop it embarrassingly short of the cup. They can wreck a round, even one's entire game and leave a player in a mental quagmire.
Mayo Clinic of Rochester MN says the yips may not only have psychological origins caused by the pressure of competition, but also a physical cause. The medical condition dystonia, causing tremors and jerking, affects musicians, dentists and others who work with their hands, the clinic reported. Although performance anxiety may cause the yips in many golfers, muscle and nervous system deterioration caused by prolonged overuse may be at the root of the problem for other players.
This is why some get relief and play successfully by changing their grip or switching to a longer putter. Research with 453 Minnesota golfers (average handicap 4.5) who had experienced the yips found that fast, downhill breaking putts were the most likely to produce symptoms. If it's any consolation, they're in good company.
You know those 2-foot downhill putts with a break? I'd rather see a rattlesnake, Sam Snead, all-time PGA Tour win leader (81) said. Mayo research found that players with the yips displayed higher average heart rates and increased muscle activity, especially in the wrists. Next phase of the testing will be - no kidding - a Yips Putting Tournament at the World Golf Village in Jacksonville FL. Participants are sought.
GETTING SERIOUS: Players serious about improving their game will like these numbers:
According to response cards filled out by buyers of Dimension Z fitted clubs, average scores dropped 5-6 strokes. There's 5 6 shots out there for anyone who's a 10 (handicap) or less, double that for a guy who's a 20, promises golf-club manufacturer. You can go the whole route or just buy one
club. People now understand it's very difficult to go into a store and just buy clubs off the shelf.
Archers with crooked arrows don't shoot straight. We can get the arrow to fit the individual.
Customers are fitted for clubs through a system that includes measuring the lie-angle of the clubface at impact, examining ball flight to determine an appropriate shaft flex and length, and making sure grips match one's hand size. Clubs are assembled at Dimension Z's plant in Arvada CO.
As a teacher Bernstein's seen many golf swings and golf clubs. Women typically show up with clubs too heavy for them. Men have clubs with stiff shafts because they somehow feel it's not macho to use anything else even if a more flexible shaft would help them make better shots.
For Swimmers Who Love Numbers
SJSU Aquatic Center pool is 25 yards x 60 meters.
Average temperature = 82 degrees.
10 - 15 short-course lap lanes, less when teams practice.
Depth 3.5 - 13 ft
500 yards = 20 laps
1 mile = 72 laps
1 wheelchair access ramp