Luke Harangody's Flipper Shot Analyzed

What a great game last night between Louisville and Notre Dame. When you have the athletes on defense, you can really create chaos and prevent opposing teams from running their offensive sets. That's what the Cardinals did last night, they forced just enough turnovers to make it the difference in the game. The Irish were able to get good shots when they were patient and not rushed by Louisville's pressure, but they wore down in the OT period.

In between game action, ESPN's Jay Bilas did a great segment breaking down Luke Harangody's unorthodox shot, aptly named "the flipper shot." It's kind of like Tyler Hansbrough's shot in that it is really shot from head level except the release is much quicker. Take a look,




Quick Release:

As with most unorthodox moves, there are some good points and bad points. The good of course is the quick release. From catch to release, the flipper is so fast that it almost always catches the defense looking instead of acting. This can be advantageous for smaller players that need to shoot over taller players. In this clip, after Harangody puts his defender to the ground, the help defense doesn't even have to time to react and the ball is already almost out of his hands,


Lack of Follow-Through:

Now the bad. The primary reason why I don't like the flipper shot and why I wouldn't teach it is that there is a lack of follow-through with the wrist and fingers. There is a reason why we teach the follow through, with the index finger as the last finger to roll off the ball. Without a good follow-through, the result is either a lack of rotation or incorrect rotation (side, or top spin),


Summary:

To be honest, I wouldn't teach the flipper shot to anyone but I also recognize there are many ways to accomplish the same thing. Obviously Harangody has practiced it a lot, so much so that he's perfected it. It's like Jim Furyk in golf. Probably the most unorthodox swing you'll ever see in professional golf, but he's gotten it to work for him. Still, just because it was good enough for him to win the US Open, doesn't mean you would start out teaching it to a kid just starting to learn to play golf.

For y'all Notre Dame and Coach Mike Brey fans, check out Mike Brey's DVD on his Full Court Motion Offense. It's a blend of early offense and half-court motion all in one system. Discuss your favorite offenses at the X's and O's Basketball Forum with other coaches from around the world.