Dan Dickau brings an innovative training model to basketball-rich Spokane with a brand new Shoot 360 system

Dan Dickau’s latest project is located on 12,000 square feet in northern Spokane. From the outside it looks like a newly renovated warehouse, but when you step through the double doors you stumble upon a jump shooter retreat, equipped with interactive TV screens, motion tracking cameras and state-of-the-art “firearms” that guarantee a unique and innovative training experience.

Starting today, it will be an experience for players of all ages and skill levels as Dickau officially launches the newest Shoot 360 location on East Francis Avenue near the intersection of Freya Street. The North Spokane facility is the 18th opened by Shoot 360, which has locations in 12 states and will soon expand its reach internationally.

“It’s like a kid in a candy store,” said Dickau, the former Gonzaga All-American who has played 10 professional seasons, including eight in the NBA. “I came in the other night and shot. I hadn’t shot that much in years. The next morning my shoulder hurt all over my body. I thought, ‘Okay, maybe I have to shoot.’ ”

It’s hard to resist seeing all the establishment has to offer.

In essence, Shoot 360 is an interactive, analytics-driven basketball experience led by human coaches to help players hone their shooting, dribbling, and passing. Members can sign up for an annual membership, a three-month membership, or a monthly membership. Although designed for a younger audience, Shoot 360 also has a top golf-like appeal, with various games, challenges, and shooting leagues that have made it a popular attraction for the elderly.

“My son and I came for a couple of nights this week at 11am. Maybe I’ll get back in shape, I don’t know, ”said Dickau. “I think it’s something that will be great to see kids from fifth (grade) through high school. It’s kind of a wheelhouse. But I know that some of their locations have 75 year old members who come to shoot. They can’t play all over the course anymore, but they love the game and they can shoot a few shots and just enjoy it. “

The latest Shoot 360 franchise brings a one-of-a-kind, tech-driven training mock-up to a city that has always treasured the game – through the Summer Hoopfest tournament and the improbable rise of Gonzaga basketball under Mark Few – but it lacked a facility the same motion tracking cameras and machines used by college programs and the NBA.

“Basketball is Spokane, so that’s perfect, and I can imagine there will likely be another out here in the future,” said Stephen Madison, formerly stellar University of Idaho, one of eight or nine coaches who signed up with Shoot 360 have “I can’t imagine that this thing is unsuccessful and just crammed with kids.”

Upon entering the facility, visitors will notice a number of “skills stations”. Each of the five fenced stations has four television screens covered with bulletproof glass that allow members to fire basketballs at targets from various distances. Image processing cameras attached to each station measure the speed and cadence of a player’s dribbling as well as the power and accuracy of a pass. Touch computer screens offer participants over 200 ball handling and passing exercises to choose from.

“We like to say it’s your daily vitamins because someone walks in who wants to shoot first,” said Dickau. “That’s only natural, but to be a real, total all-round player, you have to do the footwork, you have to do the ball handling, you have to do the passing every day, so we just call this taking your vitamins every day to.” make sure you do this.

“Assuming you come every day for a month, you won’t have the exact same workout every time.”

On the opposite wall are five tires, each equipped with television monitors as well as shooting “guns” and motion tracking cameras that hover over the basket. Cameras track the three most important factors of the Shoot 360 philosophy – arc, depth, and left / right – to measure the overall quality of a shot. You can also record where a picture is taken on the floor.

Similar to the skills stations, the automatic shooting machines are equipped with programmed workouts, competitions and games that are linked to a national network and allow players to compete with Shoot 360 members across the country.

“It’s such a huge benefit that this entire generation has that my generation didn’t get any of it,” said Kevin Crosno, a former Whitworth gamer and Gonzaga MBA student who worked for Dickau as general manager of Shoot. 360 Spokane was discontinued. “So it’s just a great opportunity for kids to come here and learn the right way to shoot, have fun and just live in a culture of encouragement that we’re going to offer here.”

The facility also includes a 74×50 basketball court that Dickau will later rent out to youth teams.

“My son’s third-grader team is coming … to the final training session with coaches, so it’s kind of a gentle opening to iron out a few kinks and nervousness,” said Dickau. “It’s gotten even better than I expected. … The only one, the scoreboard in the wrong color was delivered. So let’s get the right black or red one. “

Crosno said he had already adjusted his shot based on feedback from Shoot 360 Analytics.

“I actually learned that I shoot pretty flat,” he said. “I knew that before, but now I see the statistics and it’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ So I just concentrate, I now have a shot a little higher. “

Madison, a former Idaho All-Western Athletic Conference striker who played professionally in the G League and overseas, was also from Vancouver, Washington, and played at Dickaus High School, Prairie before joining Jefferson in Portland. He had the opportunity to work at Shoot 360’s Vancouver location, but noted that the technology has advanced since then.

“It’s been a lot more advanced from 2013 until now, so now you can see a lot more things with this technology since it started,” said Madison. “So there is still a lot to understand and understand about how to pass it on to younger age groups so that they can understand.”

When the facility opens its doors at 1 p.m., Dickau welcomes the first of 30 potential members who have already pre-registered. Interested parties must first pre-register at Shoot360.com. A representative will call to create a new shooter rating, which will include a 30-minute tour of the Spokane facility along with a 30-minute shooting rating to determine a player’s proficiency.

Dickau said that Shoot 360 members can get up to five times as many shots in half an hour as a normal high school workout.

“You could get 350 shots or more in a 30-minute workout, and research shows the average two-hour high school training player gets 60 shots,” he said. “So you can take almost five times as many pictures in 30 minutes.”

It’s all part of a model that could thrive in a basketball center like Spokane.

“There are places like the warehouse and things that have space,” said Crosno, “but there is no place dedicated to training that just gives the children this space to improve individually instead of going to a practice or rent a whole place “for an hour or so.”