Merge

Indiana is my homeland. I was born with a basketball in hand; so I'm not a stranger to shooting hoops.

Nobody would have known that, if they were watching me shooting some baskets at LivN Nsid Out. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. So I concentrated harder by focusing on the front of the rim. I made sure my elbow was tightly tucked under the ball. I was bending at the knees, using my legs. I know how to shoot and so I concentrated harder on that knowledge--but the ball still wouldn't fall.

Then I had a revelation: Just let my body do it. All I visualized was the ball swishing through the net. I didn't concentrate on my shooting form and I didn't try to focus on the rim at all. I just turned around from 15', trusted my body and let it fly. Swish.

Again. Swish.

Again. Swish. Swish. Swish.

I backed up to three point land.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

It was surreal, but I wasn't doing it. It was a culmination between my body and my brain. I was no longer trying to make the shot, I was just allowing myself to shoot it, and trusting that my body and mind would do the rest.

So I tested myself a little more. I moved to a spot on the court that was a pretty ridiculous angle for a bank shot. How I usually do this shot is I pick out a place on the backboard that I think will be the right angle for the ball to go in. I pulled the trigger and--bong. Miss. I did it again. I was trying to make the shot.

I collected myself and trusted my body. I didn't even look at the backboard. Release...

Swish (off the board).

Again. Swish.

Again. Swish.

The experience was crazy. I spent an hour shooting and I couldn't miss. We've heard of the zone. I was there. In golf, you say "trust your swing." When you putt, you don't try to make it, you just try to roll it. Pro athletes are famous for "visualizing the shot." It was coming together nicely.

A couple of days later, Matt and I are in my office, shooting on the Merge mini-hoop. Like me earlier, Matt couldn't hit the broadside of the barn. I told him about my experience and said, "Don't think about the shot. Just trust your form and let it fly."

Swish. Swish. Swish.

Maybe there's something to this for business...Part II to come.