When Larry Silverberg and his colleague Chau Tran began studying the science of the basketball shot in the early 2000s, Iowa star Caitlin Clark was just a toddler but had yet to walk to the 3-point line, let alone pull up from 5 feet behind the arc. But even with Clark, Stephen Curry and the explosion of the 3 still years away, the jump shot became among the academic focuses for Silverberg and Tran, both of whom are basketball fans and professors in North Carolina State’s mechanical and aerospace engineering department. “Basketball,” Silverberg says, “is highly predictable.”
Formulas that predict whether a pull-up will go through a 10-foot hoop with an 18-inch diameter take into account factors such as release height, launch angle, release speed and backspin. It’s why for years now, robots capable of shooting like top-tier basketball players have developed. Although Clark is no Cue6, her proficiency from deep often looks automatic.
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In dissecting the shooting skills of Clark, who broke the women’s Big Ten, NCAA and major-college career scoring records this season, Tran picks up on the 6-foot guard’s high release point. Silverberg notices the arc on her jumper and how her 3-pointer appears to travel on an ideal trajectory. “She’s shooting an optimal shot,” Silverberg says. In the video below, watch Clark’s similar release on four different shots.
For Clark, however, her success season after season, jumper after jumper is not a direct result of any scientific review. Instead, Iowa assistant coach Abby Stamp says, “It’s about reps.” Whether intentional or not, the two concepts align in Clark’s jumper. “When you watch the really good shooters, they all practice the principles that we see in the math,” Silverberg says.
This is what fans will see throughout March as Clark leads No. 1 seed Iowa, which begins the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. After drawing the toughest region in the brackets, Clark will need her shot to go in now more than ever to lead the Hawkeyes back to the Final Four.
Long before any possible March Madness heroics, Kevin O’Hare began working with Clark the summer before her junior year of high school. In their workouts, the most important numbers they track are how many of Clark’s attempts she makes and from which locations they are attempted. He says they write everything in her phone’s notes app.
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Nowadays, Clark’s private shooting sessions generally consist of the following: She spends five to eight minutes around the basket, working on her form, gradually taking a step back and adding her guide hand. Then, she goes into a 300-shot routine, which consists of 100 free throws with a goal to make 90, followed by 100 mid-range jumpers with a goal of hitting 80 and finally 100 3-pointers with a goal to make 70. From there, they move into off-the-dribble combination shooting, where Clark tries to make 70 to 75 shots out of 100. Clark then attempts to make 50 of 100 logo 3s. That’s all within just over an hour, with ballhandling and defensive slide drills weaved between the shooting sets. Time devoted to defensive work is often greater when Clark doesn’t hit her shooting goals. “Every kid hates (it), but obviously it is really good for you,” O’Hare says.
O’Hare and Clark have made only small mechanics adjustments over the years. For instance, O’Hare says that as Clark has gotten stronger, she has tinkered with how she catches passes, working to receive the ball on her side, instead of at her stomach. The change allows her to get into her shot faster, by catching it closer to her shooting pocket. It keeps the basketball in motion. “You’re able to get more force on the ball, because the ball moves constantly,” says John Fantanella, a professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy and the author of “The Physics of Basketball.”
O’Hare, who is also a coach at Clark’s high school alma mater, Dowling Catholic in West Des Moines, Iowa, downplays his impact on Clark’s success. Her shot mechanics have been honed since she began playing the sport as a child. “Through a ton of coaches her whole life, through her dad and mom, and with practice and repetition,” he says. “When we got together, it was all really good.
“You could get a monkey to train her, and you’d get the same results at the end of the day,” he added.
This year, those results have consisted of Clark averaging a career-high 31.9 points per game. She led the nation in above-the-break 3-pointers (11.9 per game) — nearly three more than any other player — while shooting 38 percent on such attempts, according to CBB Analytics. Elite at multiple facets, she ranked first nationally in assists per game, too.
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“She has a good clean shot pocket and good clean release, seemingly always,” says John Carter, CEO of Noah basketball, a company whose shot-analyzing technology is used by nearly every NBA team and countless major men’s and women’s college programs.
Carter acknowledges that top shooters, such as Clark, Curry and New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, might have variations in form and body type. Yet in analyzing his company’s research, he says, “They do certain things the same, every single one, without fail. … They all shoot with a trajectory that comes into the rim very close to 45 degrees. That’s where you get the best control.” Consider that if a shot’s entry angle varies, it could create a “spray effect” at the rim and is more likely to rattle out.
In the elite shooters he’s studied, Carter, like Silverberg and Tran, also says they aim deep in the basket and launch shots that travel to the rim in a straight line. O’Hare confirms that he and Clark discuss not missing short on shots. Like Curry, he observes, Clark’s 25-foot 3-pointer looks just like her 22-foot 3-pointer.
Iowa installed the Noah system in its practice facility. But Stamp says the Hawkeyes coaching staff uses it primarily to map players’ shooting strengths and weaknesses. They don’t often relay minutiae, like where the ball literally passes through the hoop, to players, especially not to Clark, who appears to be doing just fine without the possible information overload. Plus, whether you’re a coach now looking to slow her in the NCAA Tournament or a professor in aerospace engineering, the conclusions about Clark’s game are the same.
“She’s phenomenal,” Tran says. “You can’t stop her.”
theathletic.com
Formulas that predict whether a pull-up will go through a 10-foot hoop with an 18-inch diameter take into account factors such as release height, launch angle, release speed and backspin. It’s why for years now, robots capable of shooting like top-tier basketball players have developed. Although Clark is no Cue6, her proficiency from deep often looks automatic.
Advertisement
In dissecting the shooting skills of Clark, who broke the women’s Big Ten, NCAA and major-college career scoring records this season, Tran picks up on the 6-foot guard’s high release point. Silverberg notices the arc on her jumper and how her 3-pointer appears to travel on an ideal trajectory. “She’s shooting an optimal shot,” Silverberg says. In the video below, watch Clark’s similar release on four different shots.
For Clark, however, her success season after season, jumper after jumper is not a direct result of any scientific review. Instead, Iowa assistant coach Abby Stamp says, “It’s about reps.” Whether intentional or not, the two concepts align in Clark’s jumper. “When you watch the really good shooters, they all practice the principles that we see in the math,” Silverberg says.
This is what fans will see throughout March as Clark leads No. 1 seed Iowa, which begins the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. After drawing the toughest region in the brackets, Clark will need her shot to go in now more than ever to lead the Hawkeyes back to the Final Four.
Long before any possible March Madness heroics, Kevin O’Hare began working with Clark the summer before her junior year of high school. In their workouts, the most important numbers they track are how many of Clark’s attempts she makes and from which locations they are attempted. He says they write everything in her phone’s notes app.
Advertisement
Nowadays, Clark’s private shooting sessions generally consist of the following: She spends five to eight minutes around the basket, working on her form, gradually taking a step back and adding her guide hand. Then, she goes into a 300-shot routine, which consists of 100 free throws with a goal to make 90, followed by 100 mid-range jumpers with a goal of hitting 80 and finally 100 3-pointers with a goal to make 70. From there, they move into off-the-dribble combination shooting, where Clark tries to make 70 to 75 shots out of 100. Clark then attempts to make 50 of 100 logo 3s. That’s all within just over an hour, with ballhandling and defensive slide drills weaved between the shooting sets. Time devoted to defensive work is often greater when Clark doesn’t hit her shooting goals. “Every kid hates (it), but obviously it is really good for you,” O’Hare says.
O’Hare and Clark have made only small mechanics adjustments over the years. For instance, O’Hare says that as Clark has gotten stronger, she has tinkered with how she catches passes, working to receive the ball on her side, instead of at her stomach. The change allows her to get into her shot faster, by catching it closer to her shooting pocket. It keeps the basketball in motion. “You’re able to get more force on the ball, because the ball moves constantly,” says John Fantanella, a professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy and the author of “The Physics of Basketball.”
O’Hare, who is also a coach at Clark’s high school alma mater, Dowling Catholic in West Des Moines, Iowa, downplays his impact on Clark’s success. Her shot mechanics have been honed since she began playing the sport as a child. “Through a ton of coaches her whole life, through her dad and mom, and with practice and repetition,” he says. “When we got together, it was all really good.
“You could get a monkey to train her, and you’d get the same results at the end of the day,” he added.
This year, those results have consisted of Clark averaging a career-high 31.9 points per game. She led the nation in above-the-break 3-pointers (11.9 per game) — nearly three more than any other player — while shooting 38 percent on such attempts, according to CBB Analytics. Elite at multiple facets, she ranked first nationally in assists per game, too.
Advertisement
“She has a good clean shot pocket and good clean release, seemingly always,” says John Carter, CEO of Noah basketball, a company whose shot-analyzing technology is used by nearly every NBA team and countless major men’s and women’s college programs.
Carter acknowledges that top shooters, such as Clark, Curry and New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, might have variations in form and body type. Yet in analyzing his company’s research, he says, “They do certain things the same, every single one, without fail. … They all shoot with a trajectory that comes into the rim very close to 45 degrees. That’s where you get the best control.” Consider that if a shot’s entry angle varies, it could create a “spray effect” at the rim and is more likely to rattle out.
In the elite shooters he’s studied, Carter, like Silverberg and Tran, also says they aim deep in the basket and launch shots that travel to the rim in a straight line. O’Hare confirms that he and Clark discuss not missing short on shots. Like Curry, he observes, Clark’s 25-foot 3-pointer looks just like her 22-foot 3-pointer.
Iowa installed the Noah system in its practice facility. But Stamp says the Hawkeyes coaching staff uses it primarily to map players’ shooting strengths and weaknesses. They don’t often relay minutiae, like where the ball literally passes through the hoop, to players, especially not to Clark, who appears to be doing just fine without the possible information overload. Plus, whether you’re a coach now looking to slow her in the NCAA Tournament or a professor in aerospace engineering, the conclusions about Clark’s game are the same.
“She’s phenomenal,” Tran says. “You can’t stop her.”
Why is Caitlin Clark's shot so pure? Engineers explain the mechanics
Engineers, her trainer and researches break down why the Iowa star is among basketball's best shooters.
theathletic.com
