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INTRODUCTION

The Hands- On Basketball was designed by Chris Haas at age 9 to teach the art of shooting a basketball to other children. Christopher designed the Hands- On Basketball as a school project. Though it isn't the first basketball with hand positions for shooting, it is by far the best. A 9 year old understood what other children needed, and he understood that the world wasn't populated by right- handed people only. His design sense and entrepreneurship was immediately recognized, not only by Sportime, but by local media. National exposure of the exclusive Sportime version quickly followed on ESPN and in National Geographic World.

The Hands- On Basketball features right and left hand color coding as well as ball rotation. It wasn't easy to visually provide hand placement cues for both right and left handed shooters. This was accomplished with clear color coding; red for righties and blue for lefties. As an example, the "Off Hand" for righties is red, as is the thumb and pinkie positions on the "Shooting Hand." Black is used to indicate all common hand contact positions (finger tips on the "Off Hands" and the middle three fingers and palm on "Shooting Hands"). As an added benefit, the ball is striped in bright contrasting panels of highoptic yellow and orange. This striping provides positive feedback of the rearward rotation of a correctly released ball.

TECHNIQUES OF FUNDAMENTAL SHOOTING

Stance:
The player's feet should be shoulder- width apart with the foot under the shooting hand slightly ahead of the other foot. The knees should be slightly bent and the shoulders should be square to the basket.

Head Position:
The player should keep their head and eyes on the rim of the basket. During the shot the player's eyes should follow the ball all the way to the rim.

Hand Position:
Hold the ball with both hands, level with your chin and over the leading foot. Place the shooting hand under and behind the ball. The player's hand should cover the handprint that is provided. Remember that red is for righties and blue is for lefties; the shooting and nonshooting hand positions are marked on the ball. There should be a slight space between the ball and the palm of the hand. The player's nonshooting hand should be placed to the side of the ball, with fingertips resting on the black dots covering the handprint provided on the side of the ball. If your hands are placed correctly, your shooting arm will be at a right angle with your elbow and in a straight line with the basket. Your wrist will be bent.

Execution:
Look at the front of the rim of the basket and bring the ball up just above your forehead. Release the ball with a straightening of the knees, a push of the arm and a flick of the wrist. Don't forget to follow through, in which the player's arm reaches for the ceiling and the shooting hand "waves good- bye" to the ball. This will provide a high arc on the ball and a slight backspin needed for a nice soft shot.

GAMES TO PLAY USING THE HANDS- ON BASKETBALL

Pivot and Shoot
Pivot to face the basket, shoot a jump shot or set shot. Retrieve the ball and dribble to a similar spot. Pivot and shoot from there.

Dribble and Shoot
Stand at the top of the "key". Dribble the ball to a position on the baseline. As you pick up the ball, square your shoulders to the basket and do a set shot or jump shot. Rebound the ball, dribble the ball to the top of the key and start over again.

Around the World
Place seven spot markers on the basketball court around the "key" area. The object of the game is to make all seven shots (one from each spot) before your partner does. You and your partner alternate shots.

CHRISTOPHER
Partner A shoots the ball; if successful, partner B must make the same shot. If partner B misses he or she is given a letter of the word CHRISTOPHER. If partner A misses the shot, partner B need not make the same shot. Partner B becomes the leader. The first one to gather all the letters and spell the word CHRISTOPHER loses.

Twenty- One Up
Stand at the free- throw line. To start the game the shooter must take a free-throw shot. If the basket is made it counts two points. If the shooter misses and rebounds the ball before it touches the ground, they may take a second shot from the spot where they rebound the ball. They earn one point if successful. The first person to reach 21 points, wins.

Invisible Man
Imagine you are playing a great NBA star. You make a basket, you get two points. If you miss the NBA star gets one point. You can shoot from anywhere on the court. Dream you are in the NBA finals.

Basketball Golf
Place numbered markers, one through nine, on the basketball court. Starting on number one, the player shoots the ball and rebounds the shot. Keep shooting at the spot until you score a basket. When you make a basket, go to the next number and shoot until you make it from there. Count the total number of shots taken to complete the nine hole course. The lowest number of shots wins.

Hot Shot
Make as many as you can in a certain amount of time. 24 seconds, 30 seconds, 1minute, etc.