"I think one immediate benefit is that we will get kids in the gym when it’s not practice time. I can see many of them utilizing Noah on their own time and that’s always a plus.” - Coach Gordie Risbridger,
Coach Gordie Risbridger confesses that he’s a basketball junkie. Good thing because if it wasn’t for Risbridger’s love for the game, he may never have found himself on the Noah Basketball website and signing up for a program called Try Before You Buy.
It started in late March when Risbridger searched for tools that could help the Farwell Area Schools (Michigan) basketball teams on offense. Risbridger, who coaches the girls JV team, admits he’s more of a defensive coach and his teams are always determined to pressure the ball and contest every shot.
“We’ve struggled with shooting though,” said Risbridger, who also coached Farwell middle school teams for 10 seasons as well as a stint as the JV boys coach. “I knew we needed to improve our outside shooting and free throw shooting if we wanted to reach the next level.”
Once Risbridger began his search, it didn’t take very long for him to find Noah Basketball. When he arrived at www.noahbasketball.com, he made an instant connection with an ad he saw years ago on a Better Basketball DVD produced and hosted by Rick Torbett.
“That Noah ad has always stuck in my head,” Risbridger said. “I remember at the time being intrigued by the science of Noah. But I wasn’t in a position to do anything about it. When I made the connection this time, I knew I had to do something.”
While clicking through the Noah website, Risbridger’s mind raced with questions. Do we really need a Noah? How much will it cost? How do I sell it to the boosters and other coaches?
Then several clicks later, Risbridger found himself reading about Try Before You Buy (TBYB), a new program that allows high school and college teams to participate in a one-week trial of the Noah Instant Shooting System. After the week trial, participants can return the system without any obligation to purchase it. However, if the participant wants to buy a Noah Instant Shooting System, the process is very easy.
“I felt like we couldn’t lose with the TBYB program,” Risbridger said. “TBYB allowed us to answer questions without buying the system. So I printed out the form and mailed it to Noah. Rick Turk (Noah National Sales Manager) called me a few days later and asked me when I wanted the Noah delivered. The whole process was very simple and convenient.”
The system arrived in early June just in time for youth camps and summer leagues. Risbridger installed it himself.
“That part was easy as well,” he said. “There were thorough instructions and it was pretty straightforward. It didn’t take any time to install.”
Risbridger’s two daughters were there and when they tried it, he could see the immediately improvement.
“I had watched the video and had an idea of how it worked,” Risbridger said. “But to see it live and how much my daughters were enjoying it was really cool. Instead of thinking of shooting consistently, they were just shooting and it was happening naturally. Plus they were having a blast with it.”
Other kids in the Farwell Area School Basketball program tried Noah during the one-week trial period. Risbridger and colleagues marveled at how kids adjusted their arc closer to 45 and 11 after just a few sessions. That was enough to convince them that they needed a Noah Instant at Farwell. They called Rick Turk and placed an order. A new Noah will be in their gym in July.
“The real challenge and interesting thing now is how will we use it during the season,” Risbridger said. “I really want to take full advantage of the system. I think one immediate benefit is that we will get kids in the gym when it’s not practice time. I can see many of them utilizing Noah on their own time and that’s always a plus.”
Risbridger recommends the TBYB program to fellow coaches. He said, “It’s nice to be able to have the equipment in your gym to see how and if it works. Try Before You Buy allowed us to make sure it’s something we wanted to purchase. I think it’s a great program and one that many coaches should take advantage of.”
For more information about the Try Before You Buy program, visit www.noahbasketball.com.
