Technique

Coach’s Corner: From Make Every Free Throw

I talk to a lot of coaches, and I know how frustrated they are with their players’ free throw shooting performances. I can’t say I’ve ever met a coach who didn’t feel there was room for improvement on the free throw line. Every coach seems to have an immediate example at hand where free throw shooting cost them a game or a championship. As a coach, you know that free throw shooting can make all the difference between a win and a loss.

I recommend that coaches become familiar with my method of free throw shooting before they present it to their team. This means using the steps to shoot until you believe it works. You have to believe in what you are preaching. Your excitement and conviction will come through in many small ways, and you belief will come from first-hand experience. Much of coaching is trying to communicate a feeling. How can you describe the feeling unless you’ve experienced it?

When working one-on-one with your players, your trained eye can provide valuable feedback to someone trying to master the technique. Maybe a player thinks his or her elbow is tucked in. But you, standing behind, can see that it is still waving in the breeze. In addition to working on mechanics, work on self-image. Motivate players in positive ways. Let them know you believe in them and their skill. Reassure them that you don’t expect instant perfection, but at the same time require them to commit to change and growth. Your commitment to, and enthusiasm about, the program will help motivate your players to develop their skills with your guidance.

Remember that players can only learn a certain amount at one time before they begin to feel lost. Each basketball player has a sense of personal style that he or she is proud of. Let it be known that you will not change that style anywhere except at the free throw line. Then, as you teach my method, begin by enforcing the main points first. I would say you should focus on squaring up, bending the knees, and bringing the elbow in. Don’t immediately require them to do all the other steps perfectly.

It’s not the “Granny-Style” of Free Throw Shooting

Earlier, we did a report on the physics of free throws. We found that Dr. Tom’s shooting style is backed up by science, since the arc of the ball is closer to perpendicular if you start from a shooting position lower down. In other words, Dr. Tom’s method. There’s just one problem: everyone thinks we are talking about the “Granny Style” of shooting free throw made famous by Rick Barry. This two-handed, underhanded method worked for him, but we don’t recommend it.

Yes, Dr. Tom is a proud grandparent (though not a grandmother!) who set the world record when he was in his 70s. But he used a much more conventional style of shooting with a one-handed release.

There’s an old saying that it always helps to remember whenever anyone tries to put you down: haters gonna hate. People may want to dump on a certain shooting but they’ll have to eat their words when they find out it works.

Free Throw Training Techniques, part 1

basketball crowd

Always trying to practice what it’s like to shoot free throws under game pressure but don’t know how? Here’s a tip you can try. Part of what will be a longer series on practicing techniques.

They say Free Throws are easy, but there’s still plenty of pressure you have to overcome while shooting. At NBA and other competitive basketball games, crowds have many ways to distract players, including those annoying shakers and, in the case of the Brooklyn Nets, a really old guy named Mr. Whammy.

So here’s a tip for practicing: put on a track of crowd noise in the background as you practice. Crank it up. It may not be able to completely replicate what it’s like to shoot under game pressure, but it helps you to get into the same mindset. A big part of Dr. Tom’s method is Focus and Concentration, and you have to be able to do that not just while you’re practicing but during a game.

Free Throw Physics

free-throw-physics

Everybody hates physics, right? Well, at least any good basketball player who would rather be out on the courts than staring at a blackboard crammed with equations does. But a little physics can go a long way, and it can also help to understand why Dr. Tom’s Free Throw method is so successful.

To simplify things a bit, let’s start by assuming complete accuracy (a big assumption, but we’ll get back to that later). In this case, you have to shoot the ball with the right angle above the ground and speed for it to go in. Of course, getting the right speed and angle on the court is an issue of feel. But from a physics standpoint, if the ball arcs more, it will hit the plane of the hoop at an angle closer to 90 degrees, giving it a better chance of going in.

This idea is backed up in an article in Discover magazine, which finds that shooting a ball at just over 45 degrees (depending on the height of the player) is the best way to go. The article also advocates a shooting style virtually identical to Dr. Tom’s – though unfortunately it refers to the style as the “granny shot”, since it leads to shooting lower, and thus gives you a more direct angle at the hoop plane.

So if lower is better, why not just throw the ball underhand? That’s where accuracy comes in. If you go too low, it’s harder to control the direction of the shot, and you miss. But at just the right height, you can make sure the shot goes in. Some of Dr. Tom’s techniques, such as keeping the elbow in and feet square to the line, help with accuracy even more.

For more free throw tips, check out our book and video!