A friend writes:
Wondering if you might be able to give me a few pointers on taking better indoor sports pictures without a flash. Any suggestions on camera settings, modes, etc.? I have played with the white balance and tested out several modes on the Nikon D90. You are quite the expert and thought you might be able to point me in the right direction. I want to shoot with a fast shutter to freeze the action but get enough light too.
Thanks,
A friend
—
Hello Friend,
Yeah, indoor sports are a tough one. As you’ve noticed, there isn’t always enough light to work with the fast shutter speed you need for the sports shooting. If your camera has a “sports” mode setting that’s a good place to start. If you want to start breaking it down manually then the things in play are the shutter speed, the aperture of the lens, the film speed (ISO setting), and of course the available light. Setting a faster film (higher ISO) is an easy thing to adjust, just be mindful that the higher ISO will introduce more digital noise into the image. (You can clean up some of the noise in post-processing though.) Adding more light of course helps, but even a high-end on-camera flash is going to be pretty limited in range when shooting from the sidelines. So the other big variable is the size of the aperture in the lens, and that’s where the big investments come in. My kit zoom lens has a variable aperture with f/5.6 on the long end, which is a pretty small hole and forces a longer exposure. So, for reasons much like what you’re experiencing, I’m looking at some high-end lenses with wider fixed apertures. 
For example, the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L has a fixed-size aperture of f/2.8 through the entire range. With this (much) larger aperture, more available light is able to reach the film/sensor than with the smaller aperture given the same exposure length. Of course, with great glass comes great cost. This lens, just as an example, costs more than most “prosumer” camera bodies alone. Lenses are a lasting investment though, and will probably last you through several camera bodies before you feel like upgrading. So, if your camera body can’t make fast indoor shots happen through a just high ISO, then perhaps investing in some new glass is going to be the next thing on your Christmas list. Hope that helps!
-Josh