Indoor sports - 4 lights?

I've been shooting indoor sports (volleyball, basketball) with two speedlights (580 EX & 580 EXII) triggered remotely using pocketwizards. I've been getting pretty good results but I want to do better. I just purchased a couple of Vivitar flashes, pocketwizard, and supporting cables and mounting hardware. I haven't shot a game with 4 lights yet and am not real sure the best way to position the lights.

Has anyone shot indoor sports with 4 lights? If so, can you give me some advice on placement?

Maybe post your question on that SportsTalk thread?

I have found that putting the lights behind me and bouncing off the ceiling is better than spreading them out. This is different from what others have done. You have to decide what your style is. Do you like direct light? Bounced light? I find that direct light and light not behind me gives unnatural shadows that I don't like. I also do not like the background to be darker than the background, but some folks like the separation they get when they do this.

Anyways, this kind of stuff is discussed ad nauseum in the SportsTalk thread. See e.g. https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=629606
I see you have already posted over there. See you there again soon.

im just wondering, do they allow you to set up lights in the gym? i.e. high school basketball?

jharms1 wrote in post #7113036
If so, can you give me some advice on placement?

It might be overkill unless you want both ends of the court covered or are bouncing off the ceiling (not getting enough light).

I set my lights at the top of the bleachers, facing each other. Pretty much just like "the strobist" suggests. If you were able to have a setup like that at each end of the court, it might be nice.

Question: Do you have battery packs for your flashes? If not, I would get that before adding more lights. Just so you don't run out of power.

jeromego wrote in post #7113344
im just wondering, do they allow you to set up lights in the gym? i.e. high school basketball?

Yes, I do not shoot during free throws though, that might be a little distracting.

Thanks, all. I'll pose this question in the sports talk forum too.

Yes, they allow strobs in most high school indoor sports. I find that it works best to ask both coaches first then confirm with the refs. That way no one is surprised.

I shot basketball yesterday with 4 lights. I set two facing each other (like on the strobist suggests) and then the other two in the same location but pointed down court. I had all flashes at 1/2 power. I didn't get great results. The wall at the far end of the court was blown out. It certainly helped to light the back court. I just need to play around with placement and power. I may try bouncing a couple off of the ceiling and a couple direct. Maybe that would help on the shadows that sometimes occur with direct flash.

I do have a battery pack (Quantum Turbo 2x2) but I rarely use it. The rechargable batteries seem to work fine. I shot nine volleyball games last weekend on the same charge and never had a flash failure. I bought the Turbo 2x2 to try and shoot 3 frames per secound at football games but the 580 EXII won't keep up even with the battery pack (unless I'm doing something wrong). Anyone have any success shooting in continuous mode with a flash?

I'm shooting a 580EX in ETTL mode using a Quantum Turbo batterry at motorsports events. I'm also using a Mark III at 3200 ISO and usually a 70-200 F2.8. If I'm in low speed mode, about 3 frames/sec, I'll get 1-2 flashes a sec so quite a few frames are underexposed. So what you are seeing is about right.