Inspired by the Harlem Globetrotters

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Final Week and TED Talk

Posted by Jeremy S |



Hey guys, so I just got back from Brazil, and I get to present tomorrow. I mean, I knew that I was presenting early in the week, but I didn’t think that it would be THE VERY FIRST DAY BACK FROM BREAK! And I didn’t even sign up for this, I was sick the day sign ups were and all of the slots got taken except for the third one. I mean at least I’m not the very first person; I would have almost no idea how to start. At least I can see 2 people go before me.
            I have very mixed feelings about doing this TED talk. I’m excited about the more casual approach to the actual presentation part, but it’s something I’ve never done before for a school project. I want to be relaxed, but also present what I have learned and gone through.
            I’m also a little nervous about sharing my final product. It has to be an on-the-stage presentation. I’m not showing an edited video or a drawing or something like that. It just adds elements to my presentation that could go wrong. I also am nervous about the criticism. I am very close to being able to do some interesting tricks, and when people see that I am not quite there, they might think that I slacked over the seven weeks of the project. I’m shaking and sweating a little bit right now just thinking about me bouncing the ball off of my foot and it rolling off the stage. Since I’m not as good as the actual Globetrotters, that scene happening isn’t so far-fetched.
            But at the same time, I feel an inner confidence about my project. I feel that I picked an interesting topic and I think that it should be enjoyable for other people to see the skills that I have learned. I feel that I have put a good amount of time into practicing and I’ve really enjoyed this process. The part that scares me is that all of this won’t be evident in my presentation.
            Since my last post, I have continued to improve at a steady pace. I have developed another sub-trick in going off of spinning the ball on my finger. I can now switch which finger I spin the ball on. I can “walk” the ball from my index finger to my pinky, but since pinky fingers are so weak, it is difficult to get the ball back to my index finger. I also can spin the ball on my thumb a little bit. Since I have hitchhiker thumbs, this was easier than you might think.
            I also have improved a lot with the outer roll. My dad suggested that I lean forward to create a more level path for the ball to travel on. This trick has helped me with my consistency. Although I’m still not a total master, I feel much more confident in preforming the trick. If you read my last post, I plan to use the mental tricks when I preform on stage tomorrow. I have confidence, but if I screw up, I have a career as a street performer to fall back on if I don’t get into college!

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Posted by Jeremy S

After Week 5

Posted by Jeremy S |



Ola, followers! My two posts this week will be from Sao Paulo, Brazil! Although I am very busy vacationing, I still have managed to make time to practice my Globetrotting.

            This week, I have decided that I have gotten about as good as I can get at spinning the basketball on my finger. So I have focused mostly on the inner and outer rolls this week. I have taken some pretty big strides this week. I was very nervous last week, because I wasn’t improving with my skills very much. But this week, I have gotten back on the path I envisioned.
As I have said before, I practiced the inner and outer rolls more this week. I have found through practice that, just like the outer roll, if I spin the ball in the direction I want it to go, I have more control over the ball in the inner roll. I spin the ball up in the air along a vertical axis before I roll it along my arms. With this new tactic, I am able to perform the trick more fluidly. Since I learned to do this, I have been experimenting with going directly from spinning the ball on my finger into the inner roll.
With the outer roll, I can’t say that I have had as much success. This trick has been the most difficult of the three. With the other two, I am at the point where I can casually pull of the trick. I can spin the ball on my finger while walking with my eyes closed. I can’t do that with the inner roll, but I don’t need much focus. But with the outer roll, I have to focus very hard on the trick. I still can’t consistently pull it off. I can probably get it all the way across both arms about 1 in 5 tries.
I have found that there is also a mental approach I must have when I perform my tricks. I have found that with self-confidence comes a much greater success. It can be just as simple as telling myself, “You got this.” Also, if I picture myself pulling off the trick in my head, I am more successful as well. This has helped me with the outer roll and the sub-tricks of spinning the ball on my finger.
My biggest strides have come in this area. I have greatly improved in spinning the ball on my left hand. I can do it for a maximum of 5 seconds, and my consistency has improved as well. For the first time, I successfully preformed a sub-trick similar to an “around the world” in soccer. I flick the ball off of my finger, pull my left arm in between the ball and my right hand, and keep spinning the ball on my right finger. I am close to doing this with my left leg also! I can also transfer the spinning ball in between my fingers now; however I can’t keep it spinning long once I transfer. I am confident that I will be able to pull of these three sub-tricks in my presentation and possibly others!
Adeus!

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Posted by Jeremy S

Vlog

Posted by Jeremy S |

The sound about halfway through is me cracking my knuckles. Sorry about the monotone and droopy eyes, but I was running on very little sleep.


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Posted by Jeremy S

After Week 3

Posted by Jeremy S |



Major changes:

            I no longer plan to have a “routine” of tricks as my final product. As I have practiced the tricks individually, I have found that there is no real way to transition in between them smoothly. For example, there is no way for me to go from rolling the ball along my shoulders, to spinning it on my finger in one move. I have to catch the ball with both hands to create the necessary amount of spin on the ball to keep it on my finger for more than 2 seconds. Instead of a routine, I will just have to display the tricks by themselves.
            Also, my final product will be mostly based around spinning the ball off of my finger. In case you guys were envisioning my final product to be something else, I unfortunately have to say that I can’t do much off of rolling a ball along my shoulders or on my forehead (which I still have to start).
            This isn’t really a setback, but I haven’t experienced much improvement with spinning the ball on my right finger this week. My consistency and length haven’t improved that much. I can’t get a “good” spin that much more often, and there I can’t keep the ball on my finger for a considerably longer period of time.
            Now, to conclude this update on the lighter side:

            In a different sense, I have improved greatly in spinning the ball on my finger. I have found that I can do several tricks off of this one basic trick. These sub-tricks are what will compose most of my final product. I have been experimenting this week with these tricks. Here is a list of things I have tried, in descending order: spinning the ball a few feet in the air and catching it on my finger; spinning the ball on my finger and bouncing it a few times a couple inches in the air; spinning the ball on my left index finger; transferring the ball from one finger to the other; spinning the ball, dropping it, catching it back on my finger off the bounce and get it spinning again. I know these are confusing, but they will make more sense in my final product.
I have tried a few others, but I haven’t had enough success to even say that I have made any progress with them. With the inner roll and outer roll (I just started calling it that) I have improved slightly, but I haven’t made huge strides. I hope to perfect these tricks over my spring break in Brazil and I will check in with you guys then!

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Posted by Jeremy S

After Week 2

Posted by Jeremy S |



Great news followers! I have continued in my progress at mastering my Globetrotting skills.
            
            This week I continued to practice without any video instruction. Unlike one of my followers, I have found that practicing on my own has benefited me greatly. Through experiment, I have learned just as much as the instructional videos have taught me.

            I have continued to practice the two tricks that I did last week, I can also say that I have added a new trick to my repertoire! I don’t believe that there is an official name for this new trick; however it can be easily explained, as I have mentioned it before in previous posts.

            This trick is where you roll the basketball along your arms and shoulders behind your head. I struggled in learning this trick last week since I had no instructional videos to learn from. However this week, through much practice, I have found a tactic that helps me with the trick. I have learned to spin the ball in the direction I want it to roll.

            I have also made progress toward mastering the other two tricks that I have practiced these past two weeks. In spinning the ball on my finger, I can now keep the ball spinning once I have it on my finger for a short period of time.

            Also, with the inner roll, I can now keep the ball rolling multiple times around my arms and chest. In the coming weeks, I will continue to master these tricks. I also plan to add two more tricks to my arsenal of Globetrotting, which I will then unleash in my final product!

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Posted by Jeremy S

After Week 1

Posted by Jeremy S |



Fellow bloggers, I am pleased to share that I have made significant progress in my dribbling venture!

We have had the week off for baseball, since it is the week prior to tryouts. The coaches had to organize all of their paperwork and decide which field that tryouts will be conducted on.  This has given me considerable time to practice my dribbling skills.

I have viewed a few videos on YouTube, which provide me with the proper instruction on preforming two of the tricks I plan to incorporate into my final product. The video that I found most helpful was one that included two current members of the Harlem Globetrotters! Unfortunately, I cannot recall which members were in the video. These two members went over two of the most common tricks that each member of the Harlem Globetrotters must master, spinning the ball on one finger, and the “inner roll.” As I believe I have mentioned before, the inner roll is where you roll the basketball along one arm, across your chest, and out along the other arm.

I practiced these two tricks this week. They keys to spinning the ball on one finger are:
1.      Spinning the ball as hard as you can
2.      Spinning the ball on a perfectly vertical axis
3.      Placing you finger directly on the axis of rotation

Thanks to these keys I have made progress in mastering this skill. The key to the inner roll is to sway your body with the movement of the ball. As it comes in towards you, lean back, and as it goes away, lean back up to normal.

Two other tricks that I intend to master, I am struggling a bit with. These are spinning the ball on your forehead, and rolling the ball along your arms and shoulders behind your head. Hopefully, these skills will come to me in the coming week!
 
After reading the comments section, I have decided to take a suggestion from a commenter. My new plan is to gradually build on my dribbling routine, starting with one skill, and adding a new one each week, versus compiling all my skills in the final week. Thank you readers, and keeping commenting!

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Posted by Jeremy S
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