Playing Basketball Made Me A Better Writer
By: Joe Coad Ii
Tags: Basketball, Writing Life, Writing Tips, Writing, Sports

Until the last few years, I continued to practice my shot and play in pickup games. After work I would go to the outdoor courts at my college campus and shoot around at midnight. Basketball was my escape from everything. The court is one of the few places that I consider a sanctuary. I can think and process information while working on my crossover and jump shot. Basketball is therapeutic to me, and writing has become therapy too. There are a lot of similarities that I’ve found between playing the two things that I’m most passionate about.

Photo by Mukund Nair on Unsplash

Practice

Even though I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the NBA, I relished any opportunity to get on the court and shoot around. I was never the star in a pickup game but I do have an undefeated record against my little brother and I started to beat my dad on a regular basis while I was in college. I kept practicing because I knew I still wanted to play basketball, even if it wasn’t at the professional level. (I can still hear my dad getting upset with me for not trying to walk on at Indiana State just because “I have a good shot”).

When I first started writing in college a lot of my articles were awful. I would end sentences in prepositions, have spelling errors, and use words that didn’t make sense. But I kept practicing. I kept writing because I’ve always loved writing. I didn’t know it was something I wanted to pursue as a career until last year but I kept working on it.

During the summer, while I was in high school and college, I would make it a point to shoot 100 jump shots each day I could practice. My goal was to make at least 50% of those shots. I didn’t allow myself to go inside until 100 jumpers had been shot. I don’t have an exact word count that I try to hit every day but I do try to write either in the morning or at night. For instance, I dropped my son off at school just now and came in early to work. His school is exactly one mile from my new job. Instead of scrolling social media or clocking in early, I had the idea to write this article and jumped on it because it was fresh. It’s good practice to write every day.

Photo by Chandler Cruttenden on Unsplash

Writing Mechanics

In order to play basketball you have to understand the fundamentals and mechanics of a jump shot and dribbling. These are the basic tools that you’ll use every time you step foot on a basketball court. When I didn’t have a basketball goal at my mom’s house, and I couldn’t go play at a nearby court, I took my ball and dribbled up and down the street for hours. I would practice dribbling between my legs, behind my back, and with my left hand which is my off-hand. I did this until I felt comfortable driving to the goal with my left hand and could also shake a defender with a quick crossover (leaving a defender behind me because of a flashy crossover is one of my favorite parts of playing basketball).

Writing on a regular basis helps me better myself with spelling and grammar. It helps me with sentence structure. It makes me more confident when I sit down to write because I have a better understanding of what good and bad sentences look like. Last year I would sit down, think of a topic, and spend hours staring at the blinking cursor. I would overthink the introduction. I would overthink the ending. All of that stopped me from writing. Now when I sit down everything begins to come naturally. These are the fundamentals to becoming a better writer. I haven’t been on a basketball court in 18 months but if I were to go out today and shoot, I remember how to dribble and I remember my shooting motion.

Tempo

When I didn’t make the middle school basketball teams in 7th & 8th grade, it hurt me. However getting to be the manager of those teams taught me a lot about tempo in basketball. I learned about a half court offense and also when a team should consider running their game at a fast pace. In the half court you allow your team to take their time and try to get the best possible shot. A lot of organized basketball is played within this strategy. However there are moments during a game where you want to push the ball up the floor as fast as possible, trying to take advantage of a mismatch or disadvantage from the other team.

Learning the difference between taking my time and knowing when I have to work fast has been another great similarity I learned by playing basketball. When I was paid for my first pitch, I was ecstatic. However after I pitched I knew I had to work faster than usual. I have a due date assigned which means I need to make sure all of my research is done and the article is turned in within a certain time frame. When I write articles for myself I can take my time. If I get stumped about the direction I can leave, get some fresh ideas, and come back to it a few days later.