Re the nicotine gum, for the four methods used today that were also used in the previous practice, on average the percent of shots that scored or went in was 28.25% today, and 25.75% during the previous practice August 1. For the two methods shot today that have not been used since July 25, the percentage today was 24.5% whereas on July 25 the percentage was 24.5% also. This indicates that the nicotine gum can be dispensed with during a practice session. Today it seemed that as a result of abstaining from nicotine gum during the practice I was more relaxed and enjoyed myself more. True alot of baseball players chew tobacco; but this is not baseball--the basketball shooting is more relaxed and wet-noodle like than pitching or hitting; in basketball in aiming the shot there is the dimension of depth to deal with, in pitching this dimension is not so important.

 

Re the starting to take detailed notes on how shots that scored were shot: I noticed that immediately, as soon as I started taking these detailed notes, my shooting began to become more standardized in the sense that I began to shoot most of the shots with a jump, with good form, and what I would call a proper level of arc and spin. In the first two segments before I started taking these more detailed notes, I shot 25%; in the final four segments after I started taking the more detailed notes I shot on average 28%. Looking only at the methods that were used in the previous practice also, before I started taking the detailed notes I shot 28% using M1, previous practice I shot 26% using M1. After I started taking the more detailed notes today I shot 28% using M3, M6 and M5, whereas the previous practice I shot 26% using M3, M6 and M5.

 

The fact that keeping detailed notes re how balls that went in were shot seemed to have an immediate effect of reducing the variety in terms of the ways that I shot the ball, reminds me that I had earlier noted that one of the best basketball shooters said he shoots every shot the same way, whereas I seem to almost shoot every shot in some different way.

 

Re the number of shots that almost went in but did not, the range was from only 2 in segment 6 using the M5 method, to 11 in segment 2 using the M2 method. The average today was 6.2 shots almost going in per segment. 37 out of 234 shots almost went in but did not; one out of every 6.3 shots almost went in but did not. Prior to today generally it had seemed that about 1 out of every 8.75 shots almost went in. but did not. Thus it appears that the number of shots that almost go in but do not, is not constant from day to day or segment to segment.

 

Eventually with the progression of skill, the shots that almost go in but do not can be expected to go in the basket for a score. On average looking at today's data, this means that when the shots that are almost going in begin to go in, the made/attempts percentage will rise by 57%. This means for instance that looking at the method that achieved the highest score today, M3 in the third segment which was 33%, when the shots almost going in begin to go in, the 33% will rise to 33 x 1.57 = 52%. Beyond this, I estimate off-hand that when I start to practice just one method all the time, this will cause the percentage to rise by 20%; thus I can expect the 52% to rise to 1.20 x 52 = 62%. Beyond this, in late May when I shot with my eyes open on May 23 the percentage was 34%; the first day with my eyes closed the percentage was 20%; the second day with my eyes closed the percentage was 25%. This indicates that I can expect the percentage with my eyes open to be 36% higher than the percentage with my eyes closed, because 34 minus 25 is 9, and 9 divided by 25 is 0.34. Thus in the final analysis I can now say that I am within striking distance of shooting 83% from 24 feet with my eyes open, because 1.34 times 62 = 83.

 

By way of comparison, the best NBA 3-point shooters (NBA 3 point line is 24 feet from the basket, sometimes closer) shoot about 40% from 3 point range; and somewhere I heard that people generally shoot about 5% better (meaning like 45% in practice 40% in a game) in practice than they do in a game.

 

This kind of mathematical projection may seem far fetched but it serves its purposes. I and also sometimes scornful others, have doubts as to whether the kind of practice I have been doing is getting me anywhere. I and others have doubts re whether all the time and energy I have been putting into basketball is worth it. The projection that I am in striking distance of shooting 83% from 24 feet with my eyes open helps me to reason with myself with regards to such doubts. Just as armies are effected by 'morale' so also are individuals and such  projections helps to elevate my morale.

 

Seems that although the rate of improvement in percentage of shots made has not been spectacular with regards to shooting with my eyes closed from 24 feet, there has been a general improvement in accuracy which is reflected in the large number of shots that today almost went in but did not (such shots do annoying things like swirl around the inside of the rim or bounce between the back of the rim and the front of the rim before being vomited out by the basket). Similarly I noticed that although the rate of improvement in terms of pitching strikes with my eyes closed has not been tremendous, it seems that practicing pitching with my eyes closed has greatly improved my velocity, my ability to throw spinning breaking balls, and my ability to throw pitches accurately with my eyes open.

 

Generally both in baseball pitching and basketball, there has been gradual progress which has been masked by the fact that in every month there have been ups and downs; with each month that passes new records have been set.

 

 

I felt nauseated during the entire practice today because of a nightmare I had the night before practice, but still I did not have a bad day, which reminds me of how two days ago I felt a little nauseated due to having consumed (a reasonable amount of) alcohol the night before but still performed well. The night before today's practice I had a pleasant dream and also a nightmare, but in the end in the practice the memory of the pleasant dream was more than cancelled out by the memory of the nightmare.

 

In the nightmare, I was part of some kind of naval detachment that was dressed in civilian clothes. We were using some kind of scaffolding to hang on to the top of the very high side of some kind of naval ship. We were peering over the side wall of the ship looking at what was going on on the deck of the ship about 50 feet below. Down on the deck there were these demons. Some of them looked like fish with human-like eyes; others looked like human beings about ten inches tall. One of the ten inch tall ones looked like a miniature version of a tall thin white male with a big brown mustache, he was angry at us. Their habitat appeared to be these pools and puddles of water on the deck of the ship. They were dangerous demons because of their aggressive zeal for destroying human souls and bodies and their competence in the art of destroying human souls and bodies. The guy next to me was a brown-skinned clean-shaven American black guy who was armed with micro-nuke hand grenades or something like that. He kept shouting about how he was going to use these micro-nuke hand grenade type things on the demons on the deck of the ship below, but he never did. I grew frustrated with him and started shouting at him telling him to use his weapons on the demons but he did not. I began to feel tired of the struggle and let myself fall into the water below outside the ship. I sank below the water and began to swim away underwater. Then I felt inside of myself, that micronukes had finally been used on the demons and that this had disrupted their success in sort of eating up living human souls and bodies. One of the demons swam by me without seeing me; it looked like a big fish about twice as big as me, and had big human like eyes but the whites of the eyes were a yellowish color instead of white. The use of the micronukes had disrupted this demon-fish's consumption of human souls and bodies but had not destroyed it. One of the fish demons almost got me by the heel. When it almost got me by the heel I could feel inside, what it was like to be consumed by one of these fish demons and in the process lose not just your life but also your soul, feeling this was a very nauseating feeling (a feeling which to a lesser extent stayed with me during today's practice). Then later I saw a demon sitting on a bus that was crowded with people. This demon had a round head like a human child, but fish-like scales instead of skin on its head and face. It had a big eye in the middle of its forehead. It had a ten inch tall white man with longish black slightly waved hair and a black beard and mustache in its hand. This man was not a demon like the ten inch tall men on the naval boat we were looking into. Looking at him I thought he was John the Baptist or something like that. The demon with an eye in the middle of its forehead put the man inside of its mouth and used the man's blood as lipstick.

 

In the pleasant dream, I was on the Waltham High School football team (American style helmeted tackle football). I was in a huddle with my team-mates, I was not the quarterback, I was on the side of the huddle. As far as I could tell all my team-mates were white their complexion was something between 'ruddy' (the Bible says King David was 'ruddy') and tanned. We were all brave and good...seemed like being around brave and good people made me brave and good. Then I was on the porch of this gigantic house. The wood of the house had been stained this color that was somewhere between crimson and dark brown. The porch of the house was huge, it stuck out about 30 yards from the wall of the house, and went on, sometimes turning at angles for at least 100 yards in both directions from where I was on the house. The gigantic house reminded me of this house that I have thought, belongs to a beautiful white female who lives in Waltham. The gigantic house belonged to the city of Waltham. There was a gigantic dining room in the house that was big enough to accomodate hundreds of people. I was standing on the porch of the house, speaking with a white man who was about six feet two inches tall dressed in dark slacks and a white long-sleeved collared shirt. I could not see him clearly but there seemed to be something somewhat heroic and virtuous about him--half of me thought he had a mustache and half of me thought he was clean-shaven I could not clearly see him. I told him that he should take these long planks of wood that were about 25 feet long and about a yard wide and colored the same color as the porch of the gigantic house, and put them up on the outside of of the porch sticking straight up perpendicular to the floor of the porch, because there was a danger that this evil neighboring town might start bombarding the house with rocks.

 

Prior to the practice I had dreams about basketball. In one dream I was practicing doing right handed layups (I am left handed). In another dream, I played Kobe Bryant one on one in basketball and Kobe beat me 145-101. In yet another dream I was at a fun resort and had a friend named 'Walter Ayerya' (I have never met or known or even heard of a 'Walter Ayerya').

 

During the practice I was confused re why the percentage went down in segments 4 and 5; there seemed to be so many different possible suspect factors. But when I got home and typed out the stats and notes from the notebook into the computer, the answer became obvious--which shows why keeping notes can be useful. In segments 4 and 5 I was drinking the 'relaxed' type of 'Vitaminwater'; in segments 1-3 I was drinking the 'energy' form of 'Vitaminwater'; in segment 6 I was drinking simple 'electrolyte' water. The 'relaxed' type of 'Vitaminwater' is made to relax the person drinking it; it contains Jackfruit, Guava, and Theanine; it does not seem to produce good results shooting baskets.

 

Today with the M2 method (fingertips) I emphasized 'btb' and wrist with bad results, then just btb with good results; with the M3 method I emphasized 'btb' and wrist with excellent results; with the M4 method I emphasized 'btb' with bad results; with the M5 method I emphasized 'btb' and wrist with bad results; with the M6 method I emphasized 'btb' and wrist with good results. Ignoring the M4 and M5 results due to the apparent influence of the 'Relaxed' type of 'Vitaminwater' it appears that: when using the fingertips alone in contact with the ball during the shot, emphasizing 'btb' works but emphasizing wrist does not; using the other methods, emphasizing both 'btb' and wrist produces good results. Apparently, the wrist emphasis is difficult when just the fingertips are in touch with the ball.

 

Relatedly, in some emails I mistakenly said that back in May I shot 15/37 41% with my eyes closed using the fingertips, this is how I remembered it, actually the method used when I accomplished this feat involved the ball shot with the area from the fingerpads to the fingertips, the palm of the hand on the ball at the beginning of the shot, and the elbow in.