I coach men's basketball at the semi-pro level in Europe.

Our team is among the best in the league, but we have recently lost three games due to poor foul-shooting. The strange thing is that most of my key players are between 70 and 85 per cent in practice. However, in a recent game, we went 7/22 in the second half after going 10/11 in the first. We lost despite being up by 10 late in the game.

I would be very thankful for all your ideas on improving in-game free throw shooting. I am pretty sure I have tried almost anything, but maybe that one idea that works for my team is still out there.

Thank you very much!

Mario -

If your best players are shooting somewhere betwen 70 and 85%, you must be doing something right. I'm sure that you know that the key to success is repitition, so thats a start. I had some kids shoot 1000 FTs a day in the summer, they were great in games. Maybe a 1000 a day now migh be too much, but maybe they could shoot a couple hundred every day to get their stroke back on track.

I think it was Don Kelbick who said that the key to failure is FEAR. He had worked with players of all ages including Pros. I asked him why some of the pros were so bad from the line.... he said NERVES..... Bottom line, nervousness can cause you to fail.

Here is sometihng that I had my high school kids to just before shooting a free throw during games. (of course we did it in practice so they knew it helped them) Take a deep breath as you are getting ready to shoot... then let it out slowly.... it will relax your muscles and body. Try it, it does work. Being relaxed as you are trying to do something helps a lot. By the way, it helped my players a lot. This is just something to add to their shooting routine.

Let me know if this helps. Good luck

I think it helps to have players shoot either 1 or 2 free throws after each drill. This is more game like. So after an 8 minute rebounding drill, every player shoots 1 free throw (plus bonus if they make it) and tracks their makes during practice. 10 minutes later shoot 2 free throws. In a game you never shoot 10 free throws in a row. We might start by shooting 20 to develop muscle memory. But then from there it's all 1 or 2 at a time. By the end of practice we might 5-10 chances at the free throw line.

The only downfall is this method slows down practice.

You can also try Tom Nordlands Swish 3 free throw DVD. This is our affiliate link if you decide to order.
http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?B=94465&U=285736&M=14091

Thank you for your replies.
Unfortunately, just getting up more shots is not an option as practice time is limited due to limited gym access.

However, the exhaling thing is something I used to do when I was playing and that greatly helped me, so I will make sure to remind my players.

I will probably have everybody shoot 2x2 free throws after drills, especially after the ones that are exhausting.
I expect results will take some time but I will definitely let you know if this worked.