Competitive Analysis

My idea is for a machine that would teach basketball players how to properly shoot free throws. It would be able to adjust height depending on the height of the user. Once activating, it would shoot a perfect free throw each time, demonstrating the correct method of shooting one to people who don’t shoot them well.

http://dickbshootingcamp.com/free_throw_practice.php
This is a basketball camp in Indiana that places a particular emphasis on shooting. They stress quickness, accuracy, and distance in shooting from all areas from free throws to three pointers. In addition to their camp, they provide online tips on practicing free throws and other shots of basketball. They are thorough, in depth, and offer good advice to young and perspective shooters. The camp and my machine are similar in that they both provide hands on instruction step-by-step on how to shoot proper free throws. The biggest difference is that the machine has computerized instruction while the camp is instructed by people. Also, the camp works on all kinds of shots, while mine is targeted towards free throws.

http://www.basketballshootinginstruction.com/free-throw.htm
This is the website of free throw teacher Gary Boren. He has been hired by multiple college coaches and the most recent NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, if you look through his website, in order to improve their free throw shooting. He holds the philosophy that missing free throws is not because of a mental disadvantage, but bad form, etc. His approach and my machine are similar in the way that they break down shooting free throws, which is step, by step instruction in form. The only difference lies in the human vs. machine instruction.

I believe the fact that my project is a machine and thus will be programmed to display as close to perfect form as there is gives my machine an advantage over human competitors. Another is that my machine, once it enters circulation, will be a far cheaper option than hiring a coach or camps for multiple lessons. However, after analyzing the camp in Indiana, I feel that perhaps I should expand my machine to cover all shots from all court distances. This will make it a more useful machine and make it even more marketable. I will consider this as I continue the machine's development.