I
Arlel -Sells SpQrts Revolution.
Continued from First Sports ' Furtado said he was going to recommend that the Sonics
retain Ariel. Owner Schulman already felt that way.
the NBA SuperSonics, whose owner Sam Schulman had heard of "Sam Schulman told me, 'if our (his. team's) free throw . Ariel through the work he did in designing a machine to improve shooting could be increased 10 percent, we would win the
jumping ability for Schulman's Universal Gym Equipment com- championship'," Ariel said. - pany.
"Gideon told us he didn't know anything about basketball," THE SONICS aren't the only team with enough foresight to ,;. said Frank Furtado, the team's 46-year-old trainer, who has a appreciate Ariel's talents (though when he was in Flint, a friend ' teaching background. "He said he's an engineer, and the princi contacted the major professional Detroit teams, and couldn't't ples of engineering are basically those of human motion, and that generate any interest). Ariel has done work with the football these can be applied to humans by the computer." Dallas Cowboys, the baseball Kansas City Royals as well as the
ACCORDING TO FURTADO, who attended the meeting' Lakers, and infatuated the Chicago Bears' owner George Halas, +
who was an engineering student in college.
with the team's general manager, coach and, player personnel "Halas is crazy ovgr this - he went berserk," Ariel recalled.
hif Ai bro ke d
ce . A own some films of basketball players and HeIutherimpressed Halasbydesigning amachine forhishipthat ' -1
showed the engineering factors in shooting jump shots and free lessened the shock as the 82 year old moves about.
throws. He tried to explain that the wrist flick (follow through) With the Cowboys, Ariel helped improve offensive lineman was really not that important to the mechanics of the shot and Rayfield Wright's knee injury and analyzed the team kickers. how to study the angle of release of the shot.
With to pla he worked
More important to Furtado was Ariel.'s work in the area of ' their motions, explaining to them that with the two simple wrist exercises
wrist exercises power training and injuries. they bad been doing for years would improve them "about two or ;:
Ariel had told them of the suggestions he made to Elmore three percent" while a program he introduced would help 1,000
Smith, the 7-foot center, who was with the Los Angeles Lakers at percent.
the time. Smith's Achilles' tendon on his size-17 feet were short Ariel has studied golfers (',The best ones aren't the ones who and tight, so he had difficulty getting his heel all the way to the -follow through but the ones who slow down just before making � floor when he ran. Consequently, Smith ran often on the balls of .contact with he ball") and tennis (though he doesn't know ho~~
his feet and was constantly off-balance.
A piece of material was slipped,; into Smith's shoes to ; -to . center play, ever said with pro is Vi c en t most hi dis tennis
co m p ensate. c Braid). He He believes he has dispelled
hockey theory that players should shoot their slap shots almost
For this and other corrective work he has done through foot behind the puck. r. computer study, it is evident why one of the major shoe He studied some of Seattle Slew's races and noticed that th companies (Pony) retained Ariel to design one of Its new . horse's legs were running at different angles when he final products.
After hearing the 11/2 -hour presentation, Furtado was clearly impressed.
"Gideon Ariel has opened up new horizons in sports preparation and rehabilitation, and in the teaching of skills."
Furtado said he thought that athletes would buy Ariel's line, too, because "they would change their way of doing things when they see it through engineering methods.",
lost. He theorized that the horse was on some kind of drub,' was).
As an idea man, Ariel's mind is like a fount, spewing
innovations on the spur of the moment during conversati with associates. A:
Where will it all end? Furtado, for one, says sports be appreciate Ariel now because "business will tie him up so b he won't have time for sports."
