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How Do You Fix FT Shooting

Form + confidence. It is no different than a 5 foot straight putt. There are a few fundamentals that can be taught but everyone's free throw will be a little different. The best thing in have found that you can do with a player at such a late stage (college) is tighten up their stance (always said envision you are in A phone booth) and give them confidence through repetition in game like scenarios. We always spread out free throw shooting in practice with penalties rewards ties to it.

I am not sure what Bz is going but their really is no excuse for the collective ft shooting of our team. The best thing you can do is recruit better free throw shooters but I have seen players improve greatly with time and dedication.
 
I think most of them have ADD. They don't seem focused and concentrating on the task. Recruiting artists and not brick masons would help as well
 
1. You have to make them care about getting better.
2. Repetition and focus are key -- the putting example is good. Someone mentioned the other day Rod Griffins preshot routine, it is not a guarantee but I don't know a great free throw shooter (or putter) that does not do the same routine before each shot.
3. Form a. Work on balanced stance, knee flex.
b. Shot to land just over the rim
c. Arm extension with backspin focus on the ball. (Helps with slight misses). Several drills for this one of the best is to lie flat on the ground and shoot with just are extended goal to get ball a consistent height and flick of the wrist.
4. Repetition. So important it must be on the list twice. Practice does not make perfect it makes permanent. Practice in game situations, practice alone, practice under pressure, practice.
 
I agree w/RJ that so much FT shooting is focus and concentration at the line. However, I see the team's struggles (in a lot of areas) as the pressure is too great right now. They see their teammates bricking shots left and right and feel the need to hit that "10 point" basket to get them back every game. Hell, when I played even our worst free throw shooter would go 50% at the line while winning, but when we were down guys were tighter than a tick. The good coaches have that ability to teach kids to embrace the pressures of the game and to find ways to be more resilient. Of course, this is much easier to accomplish if you are able to communicate and motivate your players. The guys will feed off of each other's confidence, but they also need to believe that their coach has the confidence in them to get it done. Unfortunately, I don't see it w/this coach.
 
My HS coach said FT's were all about Confidence and Concentration. Learn the correct form, and apply it with C and C. sailordeac is correct in that Confidence is a reflection of the coach. Quite often you can tell if the player will make a FT by reading his face for C and C.

My FT drill is called "step back": shoot FT's with correct form from one foot away. after three swishes, take a step back. repeat until you are on FT line.

Missing FT's infuriates me. There's no reason not to shoot 75%. Make them, and your PPP is about 1.5. Miss them and PPP dips lower than a FGA.
 
Wrangor said:
Form + confidence. It is no different than a 5 foot straight putt. There are a few fundamentals that can be taught but everyone's free throw will be a little different. The best thing in have found that you can do with a player at such a late stage (college) is tighten up their stance (always said envision you are in A phone booth) and give them confidence through repetition in game like scenarios. We always spread out free throw shooting in practice with penalties rewards ties to it.

I am not sure what Bz is going but their really is no excuse for the collective ft shooting of our team. The best thing you can do is recruit better free throw shooters but I have seen players improve greatly with time and dedication.
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I used to agree with your first paragraph, but there are so many stories of players in the NBA and NCAA who can shoot 85% in practice but only 55% in games. (off the top of my head: Dwight Howard and Ish Smith are notable examples). Beyond simply coaching form and technique, I'm convinced that players can either do it or not.

At some level, you just can't replicate the mental/physical rigors of a true game scenario, and if you really try, you're probably wasting practice time that could be better spent elsewhere. Yes/no?
 
One way to get over that problem for many players is to do FT shooting at the end of practice when players are tired. Taking FTs early is nothing. One reason some miss FTs in games is their legs are shot. Their minds are racing. At the end of practice, you can feel the same way
 
Free throw shooting is the only part of basketball that isn't reactionary. You aren't running, moving, dribbling and then shooting. That transition from reacting to a situation and being in the flow of the action to a stand still/stopped motion can be very hard for some people to overcome. I think it's one of the reasons golf can be so hard for athletes. There is no physical reaction to a situation, there is a lot of down time and time to psych yourself out. Nerves come into play a lot more when the action isn't reactionary. I.e. a catch and shoot is reactionary, no time for nerves or anxiety. A free throw has a lot of time for both.
 
Short answer is -Proper form, and Practice Proper form leads to confidence. You cannot make a 50% free thrower into an 80% shooter but you can get a 50% free thrower to 65% by doing this. Just think of the difference that would make if all our guys made those type of incremental steps.

Moto seems to have done that, so I guess whatever they are doing worked for him.
 
RJKarl said:
One way to get over that problem for many players is to do FT shooting at the end of practice when players are tired. Taking FTs early is nothing. One reason some miss FTs in games is their legs are shot. Their minds are racing. At the end of practice, you can feel the same way
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Fatigue is one part of the physical rigors of a game, but players also struggle with the opposite problem: adrenaline. It's tough to be battling inside for rebounds one second and then a whistle blows and you have to calm down before shooting.

I think that's a problem unique to big men, though. You see them throw it off the back iron late in games a lot. They can have a feathery touch in practice, but in games they start to muscle things.
 
mebanedeac said:
Shooting to the front of the rim, just over the front rim, instead of shooting to the back of the rim would help. So many shots are long.

Elbows in...there is no excuse whatsoever for missing right or left.
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Better to be too long than too short. Amarite?
 
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