How to Make 90% of Your Free Throws

I love free throws. I always have. For me they have always been easy and fun to practice. They are also a great way to add easy points a game to your PPG and can devastate opponents late in the game. I used to go hard through a series of shooting drills and get a little tired. I’d then practice free throws to give my legs a rest. I also thought shooting free throws helped to build confidence in my shots from the rest of the court, so when I would return to regular shooting drills I had a crisp release and a great feel for the ball. I used to practice shooting 25 at a time. If I was shooting the right way the ball would spin back to me about half way up the lane and I did not need to go very far to get it so I could shoot again. I would shoot 100 a day and track my stats on a chart that hung inside my garage.


I used to enjoy watching a player from the University of Kentucky named Kyle Macy. I liked all of his form except the part where he would always touch his socks. I thought that was a little weird. His form was the most pure I have seen and I would always try to emulate his style. It worked well for me.


When I watch players shoot free throws today I am amazed at the poor form on the line from many of them. The best men and women players that have great form all do the same basic things:


1) Line up in the right spot for their shot. This is easier to do than most people think. There is a dot right in the center of the free throw line on every court. Find it and you will find your home. Most players will align their shooting foot (right foot for right handed/left for left) with the dot and will place their feet about shoulder width apart. The front foot should be right behind the free throw line, the opposite foot about 3-6 inches behind the front foot. The reason for this stance is that it will naturally allow your body to align your arm in the proper position when shooting. Get the weight on the balls of your feet so you can raise your heels off the floor – your feet are now all set.


2) Hold the ball the same way every time. You should have a pretty good idea how to hold the ball to shoot the right way. If not, here is what I would recommend. There is a spot on the basketball called the air valve. I like to put my index finger just to the right of the valve (I am right handed). The rest of the hand fits naturally around the ball. The left hand is only a guide and is not really involved in shooting the ball – it provides support and that is all.


3) Arm motion into the wrist is relaxed. Hold the ball in the middle of your body, bend your knees slightly (the power from the shot should come from your knees, not your arms), raise the ball above your shooting eye and flick your shooting wrist. Your elbows will form an upside-down V. Relax and enjoy the shot. Leave the follow through in the air for a second. The shot is going in.


When I shoot free throws I feel more weight on my front foot than my left or stabilizing foot. I have a mental picture of the strength running right up my front foot, through my bent knee, through my arm and rushing out of my wrist as I shoot the ball. If you care to count how many times a ball should rotate in the air on a free throw, it is between 1 and a quarter and one and a half (yeah, nerds like me actually count that stuff in mid air).


How high you shoot is totally up to you but the shot should be soft enough and with enough backspin that it has a decent shot at going in if it hits any part of the rim. I recommend shooting a handful of high arc shots, regular arc and then low arc so you can decide for yourself which works best (the middle point usually works best).


That’s it.


What you do before the shot is your call. I would prefer to keep it low key, so it does not become something you have to think about. I would always receive the ball from the ref, spin the ball backwards from a low point at about knee height, take a couple of quick dribbles, eye the rim, bend and shoot. I would always leave the shooting spot after each spot, because my routine was to receive the ball and then set my feet. I wanted a routine that was always the same and not moving after the first made shot takes you out of that routine. Do the same thing every time.


Practice that routine over and over until it just works. You’ll be close when you no longer have to think about it. I would not stop shooting until I made at least 23 of 25 – that’s 92%. Then I would go write it in my garage.


Good Luck,


Coach Chuck


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