what shutter speed to freeze motion in a sports game?

My experience when shooting action is that I should keep the shutter speed as fast as possible. However I found that a pro photographer was shooting at 1/250-1/320 for an nba basketball game. I wonder if the exif data is incorrect or if there is something I am missing? See an example below:

http://www.flickr.com …/raptors/429814​2575/meta/

Are there house strobes? The max sync speed of the D3 is 1/250th. If you scroll down the page, you'll see "Light Source: Flash." Did he have a Pocketwizard or other trigger on his camera?

Strobes

If it's strobes, the exposure time is not related to the shutter speed, but rather the duration of the strobes (typically faster than 1/2000 of a second).

NickJushchyshyn wrote in post #9560939
If it's strobes, the exposure time is not related to the shutter speed, but rather the duration of the strobes (typically faster than 1/2000 of a second).

Exactly. The shot was definitely taken on lights and the duration of the flash is what actually stops motion.

NickJushchyshyn wrote in post #9560939
If it's strobes, the exposure time is not related to the shutter speed, but rather the duration of the strobes (typically faster than 1/2000 of a second).

AdamLewis wrote in post #9561212
Exactly. The shot was definitely taken on lights and the duration of the flash is what actually stops motion.

Right. It was a 2-part question and I really only answered 1.5 parts of it.

So maybe a better question:

What SS is required for stopping sports action (assuming ambient lighting)?

it depends on the sport.. some only need 1/400th, some need 1/1600th.. it is dependent on what you are shooting..

I've been trying to zero-in on the best SS for girls youth basketball. Sometimes I can get away with 1/400 - 1/320, but that's still not 100%.

I'd love to just kick it to 1/500, but I'm usually battling the brutal ambient light of these Middle School gyms and constantly juggling the tradeoff of ISO vs Aperture vs SS

you have a 7d, and 40d.. bump up the ISO and you will be fine... shoot wide open, and see what shutter speed you get.

Here is girl's basketball in ambient light. Granted this is a college gym, but you get the point.

Samples

lowepg wrote in post #9566552
I've been trying to zero-in on the best SS for girls youth basketball.

1/800 should give good results.

I don't know what sport would require 1/1600th! You should be fine w/1/500th if you can muster it. I will occasionall go down to 1/400th but if I get to that I start thinking about flash. botom line is get the fastest that you can given the circumstances

Does anyone have knowledge of how and where strobes would be setup in an nba basketball game? I don't recall seeing strobes in any nba game.

kenwood33 wrote in post #9568897
Does anyone have knowledge of how and where strobes would be setup in an nba basketball game? I don't recall seeing strobes in any nba game.

They are usually mixed in w/ the arena lights, but smaller. Keep your eyes up and you'll see them fire. Those w/ permission to use the house strobes usually use Pocketwizards, or the like, to fire them. They usually have a dedicated, custom channel for them so people can't piggyback on their strobes.