2 Ways To Improve Free Throw
Shooting During Games

I love your two free throw drills......good pressure....prevents boredom for beginning players

The focus aspect is great.

Thanks. Bob

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When a player shoots 85% FT at practice and only half during games; it's obviously a mind thing. You should'nt let your mind interfere with your (FT)shooting, just rely on your technique. You know you can do it, so wat's the problem?
To give them confidence I sometimes, at practice, ask my players (the ones with correct technique) to shoot FT with their eyes closed.
And they can score! So why be worried to shoot FT in games if you can do it with your eyes closed?...
In a game and in practice : concentrate on the ball for 2-3 dribbles in your routine, don't think, get the ball in your shooting pocket and shoot immediatly (your mind only needs a split second to aim). Don't let the circumstances get into your mind, this affects your technique.

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Luc, that's a great point.

Shooting is definitely in the mind. If you get technical, you could argue everything starts with mind including the physical. If you get more technical, you could also say that your mind uses your brain to process these skills, but that's not the point. :)

I've studied a lot of mental techniques and it's still hit and miss for me. I really question how much we can help in this regard as a coach. Sometimes, I'll use some mental techniques with players and it'll help 3 or 4 players in a row, then it won't help the next 7 players I work with. I'll use another technique that works with 1 or 2 players and it won't work the next 2 or 3 players I work with. There definitely seems to be an art to it and the more techniques you are exposed to, the better you can try to fix the problem. At the same time, you can overdo and mess them up even more. But maybe I'm just a bad coach when it comes to teaching mentality?

However, when you see players like Bruce Bowen shoot a career 3-point field goal percentage of 40% which is hall of famer numbers and is a 57% career free throw shooter which is Shaq-like numbers and Dwight Howard-like numbers, it makes you scratch your head. Because I can guarantee every top-notch coach in the world worked with him on his free throws and he never overcame that mental weakness. I'm sure if we dug, we'd find a lot more.

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I coach 4th and 5th grade girls and have the same frustration. I have started to have them shoot 4 foul shots after at least 2 high tempo drills. I try to have them focus on slowing down and gathering themselves before each shot. I have seen some improvement since we started in practice.

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Bill, no need to be frustrated. If they are 4th and 5th grade girls, every coach in the world will have the same problems.

If you are shooting on a 10 foot hoop with a normal-sized women's ball, they are too weak and lack the coordination needed to ever make decent percentage of their free throws.

To provide a great analogy that Bob Bigelow uses, it's like us adults trying to shoot with a 9 pound medicine ball.

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Luc -

Funny you bring that up.... we did some eyes close free throw shooting also.

All they need to do is to RELAX .... here is something I had my players do... after their routine.... take a deep breath, hold it for a second and then let it out slowly... that will help relax them.... and it improved our FT %.

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I find it is important that the player puts a high arc on the ball when shooting foul shots and shoot "soft"(not forcing the shot).Also balance their feet apart while standing on the line.Their hand and foot
should be lined up with the center of the basket.

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Timothy Seltzer says: 9/24/2020 at 8:49:23 PM I am interested in what "soft" means in terms of the physics of the shot. Because it seems like the higher the arc, the more speed it will have coming down, just according to the laws of motion. Or, does it mean putting a lot of backspin on the shot to counteract its forward momentum? Like     login   register

Joe,
How do you suggest executing the drills above for a team of 12 players? The drills seem great for individual instruction but we typically practice in a gym with only 2 baskets and need to avoid having too many players idle at once.

Thanks,
Steve

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Steve, a quick thought. Have 3 groups of 4. One group shooting free throws. Partners at each basket.

Second group working on lateral quickness drills.

Third group working on ball handling drills.

You could also have 6 at each basket and have Team +/-.

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I'd back up Ken's comment about relaxing and breathing out before shooting your free throw. I read the comment or article on this site where this was discussed and mentioned it to my players at the next training and had them pracitce this.

Many games later, one of my players went to the line with the scores tied and around 30 seconds on the clock and counting (our clocks don't stop except in finals). He calmly knocked the first shot down to put us up by one and then gave us a 2 point buffer when he also shot the second free throw. The opposition didn't have time to bring the ball up the court to score and we won a tight game 19-17.

When I complemented him on his free throwing he said, "I remembered what you said about breathing out before shooting a free throw"!

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Repetition and repetition creates confidence.

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Simon -

Glad that my comment regarding beathing helped your player.

Shlomo -

Repetition creates MUSCLE MEMORY.... which in turn will create confidence.

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I like to do an end of practice free throw drill. I chose one person the rest of the team is on the base line. The shooter shoots a 1 and 1. If he makes the first the team is safe, if he misses the first they have to run a suicide. If he makes the first and misses the second the team runs an up and back. If both free throws are made the team is safe. I then chose another player. You can do this with the whole team or a few players. It forces them to shoot pressure free throws while tired.

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How would you recommend doing the aforementioned workouts with a full roster of 12 players? While these workouts would be ideal for one-on-one coaching, our team practices in a facility with just two baskets, so we try to limit the amount of time that players spend sitting on the bench.

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