CFA Basketball Throw Event -- tips for improving your distance

PDB88, excellent point! Can you please post your stretch routine for this event? 94 feet is AMAZING!!! The USMA Classes of 2016, 2017, 2018, etc. will hopefully find this thread someday and thank you!
 
Ok, here is my mini guide to the CFA Basketball Throw
1. Most of the information in the initial post is really good, start there.

2.Accept this CFA event for what it is- the most random, pointless test of athletic ability they could come up with. Now relax. Nobody is expecting you to throw that ball into space. The first time I tried it, I spent about half my focus on things like “This is so stupid, what’s the point of this, why the hell am I doing this, why can’t I throw standing up, etc.” instead of “How can I throw this ball farther than the last time I threw this ball.”

3.STRETCH. You should stretch every day just to improve overall flexibility, which has been proven to increase speed, acceleration, etc. with pretty much no negative side effects. Now for this particular event, you want to focus on opening up your hips and stretching your core. This is where your power comes from!
a.Target Areas: Hip Flexors, Adductors, Core, Shoulders
i.Start with this stretch- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3VfkqIvgV0&feature=player_embedded
1.The goal is just to get your hips moving, get a good stretch (8-10 reps per side), but don’t try to do too much.
ii.Then this- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL64ceQfi_4&feature=player_embedded
1.This is an adductor stretch. Go as deep as you can without hurting yourself. Again 8-10 reps per side, increase depth and time once you feel comfortable
iii.Or this (very similar)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaxG6hOj2pk&feature=player_embedded
1.Same as above
iv.Now for the Hip Flexors- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JEuTGCwyOk&feature=player_embedded
1.Get a good stretch, try to keep your back straight and engage your core. Feel that increase in mobility after a few days- that’s what you need
v.Shoulder/Trunk time- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hpYDC2takI&feature=player_embedded
1.See how this is almost the exact motion you make when throwing the ball? Starting to make sense now
vi.These can be done every day! Wake up thirty minutes earlier (good practice for next year ;) ), get a good stretch in (add hamstring, quad, calf, biceps, etc.) before school, then another before you go to sleep.
vii.If you want more, make a visit to your school’s trainer or track coach. They will be able to help you and save you the money from going to a personal trainer. And if you really want to go the extra mile, try a yoga class. I am a big football player, and I felt so out of place, but it was definitely the best stretch of my life.

4.Practice- Practice makes perfect, right? No, perfect practice makes perfect. Start NOW if you are reading this and thinking about applying next year. 6 months of practice, finish your CFA in August, get that LOA! Find a partner (parent, sibling, a fellow service academy applicant, etc.) and get to work. First, I like to start with about 10 warm up “twists” just to get the blood flowing and my body ready. Then I do 10 warm up throws. Twist with good form, throw the ball 10 feet. Nice and easy, do twice. Repeat at 20 feet, then thirty feet, then 40 feet, then 50 feet. Scale up or down depending on your max, but don’t use more than about 75% effort by the last range (so, 15% x2, 30% x2, 45% x2, 60% x2, 75%x2). Now you are going for range. Take a short break, shake out your arms and knees, and get some water. Twist and fire, 90% effort, 100% technique. The distance is not important- there are no score sheets on the practice field. Listen to your partner’s critique of your form. Repeat, 95% effort. Repeat, 100% effort. If at any point your form begins to suffer, trust your partner to tell you and RESTART the warm up throws, then do one last power throw and go stretch.

5.Miscellaneous Pointers
a.Know your grader. You should meet with the person who is going to grade your CFA long before test day. Go over the rules thoroughly so that you both know exactly what is expected. Run through 2 or 3 practice tests, and pay attention to their critique of every event (did you go low enough on pushups, did you fall forward when throwing, etc.).
b.Be comfortable. In the game of golf, technique is supposedly everything. Yet there are pro golfers who have what is considered “bad” or at least “odd” technique. The guide here is a great place to start, but if you get ten extra feet by doing something different (after a few weeks of good practice), by all means go for it.
c.Relax, breathe, calm down. You have 6 months to prepare for a test that is less than a point of your whole candidate score.
d.And finally, if you really want to know the secret, here it is. Yell “Beat Navy” as you explode out. Guaranteed to get you at least an extra foot =]
 
Then again . . . there are other techniques for the basketball throw!

Check this out: http://wimp.com/sittingdown/ (originally shared by BR2011)

This guy makes it seem sooo easy!
 
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thank you all so much for this info! i'm applying for the class of 2016, and i didnt realize until reading this exactly how much ill have to prepare for this event; i planned on preparing, i just didnt realize that i should be starting now, which is apparently what i should be doing. additionally, i have a few questions. first of all, i know that its good to get your CFA scores in as early as possible, but how early is that exactly? Also, what weight lifting/strength training helps for this in addition to the practing and techniques mentioned on this thread?
once again, thank you all!
 
SLS is great if you're attending to get your CFA done and out of the way.

For weight lifting or other training, to be honest, I really didn't do all that much out of my regular schedule. I was playing 2 sports at the time and besides practicing a bit each of the events, I really didn't do anything other then that. That said, my routine involves repetitions of pushups and situps naturally...the pull-up would've been the one thing I wish I had worked on more and didn't try to "wing it" as much with. I would really just say, if you are active in something that you are running and staying in shape, practice the events, but if you're in shape, you shouldn't have an issue with passing. Just practice the individual events. Its not like you won't have to be working on pushups and situps/core workouts anyways when it comes to preparing for beast. Right now I working on my running more then anything.
 
thanks!
i run track, and im planning on asking my coach to help me with additional training to prepare me for beast next year if i get accepted.
also, i was curious as to how impressive maxing out every event on the CFA would be. not sure if i could, of course, but would it be worth training that much extra for? ive reached the pull up, push up, sit up, and mile maximums before, but never consecutively, and i feel like it would take a lot of extra training to pull that off. the other 2 events (basketball throw and shuttle run) i've never really done before, and the maximums seem at least to me to be especially hard. any more advice would be great. thanks again!
 
jlwilkes101, the only two pieces of advice that I would offer are these: (1) do your best on the CFA, but note that the CFA accounts for only 10% of your WCS (so the difference between a good showing and obtaining the max is small compared to doing really well on that calculus examination; and (2) get your CFA done before you start your senior year (or the first week or two once you start); my DS didn't do that so he had a very rigorous PT scheduling while trying to balance course work.
 
It is more beneficial to you to complete your application early than to train for the CFA, and academics are weighed six times more than the CFA. Study up :)
 
thanks!
and once again, to everyone whose posted on this thread, thank you. I just added it to my favorites so i can look at it again as i practice for the CFA.
 
Sticky?

This info needs to be "boiled down" and put in as a sticky. Too much good info to lose here.

JMHO

-Don Hanak
 
Thanks for all the info! I have also added this to my favorites. Today I went out and practiced, and I managed to get 38. The female average is 41, so i guess I didn't do too shabby:smile: My main worry is the push-ups though:frown:
 
practice, practice, practice.

i think the cfa is as much a test of your dedication as of your physical ability
 
Sorry, I didn't read the whole OP, but I do have a few tips to add.
My first throw at the sls last summer was (I think) one of the highest there, and I only practiced it a few times.
I see too many people worrying about this event far too much.
Things to keep in check:
-Throw the ball STRAIGHT
-Leverage>>>>muscular strength. You aren't going to "push" that basketball anywhere over 40 feet. Catapults/trebuchets were able to end the age of castles for a reason: they could shoot FAR. Don't rely on yourself too much, let simple physics do the work for you.
-Use your core to lean back, then quickly glide your body forward, all in one fluid motion, as you throw the ball. The more momentum, the better.
-Don't throw it like a baseball - (SO MANY PEOPLE TRY THIS). Do not mistake a big basketball for a small baseball and throw it like one. Your arm should be slightly bent - and again - thing of your arm acting as a catapult/trebuchet
 
Watch the hips of a discus thrower. The hips rotate first providing momentum for the shoulder and arm. Following all this is the discus.
 
Sorry, cmccollum4693, but I didn't even know SAF existed back in August!!:smile:

Thanks everyone for contributing your thoughts on this thread.

Good luck to the Class of 2016 (and later)!!!!!!! :thumb:
 
I doubt anyone will do their CFA(excluding the mile) outdoors, but beware if you do. I practiced throwing the bball outside and it would go only about 50-55 feet. Then when I did my practice CFA and real CFA inside the gym, both attempts were over 70 feet. You wouldn't think the wind/air factor would make that big of a difference, but it did.
 
Finnbarr said:
Sorry, I didn't read the whole OP, but I do have a few tips to add.
My first throw at the sls last summer was (I think) one of the highest there, and I only practiced it a few times.
I see too many people worrying about this event far too much.
Things to keep in check:
-Throw the ball STRAIGHT
-Don't throw it like a baseball - (SO MANY PEOPLE TRY THIS). Do not mistake a big basketball for a small baseball and throw it like one. Your arm should be slightly bent - and again - thing of your arm acting as a catapult/trebuchet
Click to expand...

Good advice, but I think the baseball throw can be more effective than the catapult throw. On paper, yes, you throw farther like a catapult. however, many people grew up knowing how to throw a baseball, the motion is now second nature and comfortable. Throwing like a catapult can feel unnatural, and when something just doesnt feel right, we often will not do as well. Additionally, som graders grade off a straight line, so even if you throw 300 feet but it goes sideways, you may only score 70 feet (exageration). The release on the catapult throw can be difficult to perfect, especially if it feels awkward and your body is under the stress of an important test!

Bottom line, do what feels right
 
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