Out Soon! Confessions of an Aspiring Basketball Player

Like so much in life, I started with good intentions.

I’d planned to throw a basketball into a basketball hoop, the regulation 15’ away from the hoop, 26 times and to time how long this took me.  And do this for 26 days with the intention to shorten that time daily.  

The first challenge was to find a basketball hoop and fortunately for me, our neighbours had one stuck on the side of the kitchen wall, facing their driveway the width of which is 18 feet (plus or minus).  They willingly agreed for me to use the hoop: probably because they’re away for much of the day and were probably privately relieved that they weren’t about to witness the bounce bounce pause thwack bounce bounce missed again dammit monologue that was to follow.

So, the first challenge was rapidly met and soon after the second challenge of having independent verification was addressed too.  If Captain Tom had his witnesses, then so would I. Yvette the care worker volunteered to adjudicate the challenge and I gratefully accepted her offer.  

So, Day One dawned and all seemed straight forward enough.  I measured out a throw line 15’ from the hoop (informally known as the ‘Charity Stripe’ I was reliably informed) with a measuring stick. Yvette started her stopwatch. 

I vaguely remembered the advice from the BBC sports presenter, Tahir, on how to throw a basketball: BEEF, an acronym for “Balance” (yep, got that); Eyes on the target” (doddle); “Elbows at right angles” (er… what?) “Follow Through” (of course, what else, it’s just like tennis.)

What could possibly go wrong?

(Extract from our forthcoming publication, Confessions of an Aspiring Basketball Player)