Basketball: Free Throw Shooting

In basketball, when a player is fouled while taking a shot, they get free uncontested shots from the free throw line. Some professional players, can easily knock down these shots. Its automatic for these players as they shoot over 90 percent from the line. Others however struggle to make free throw shots, and shoot around 50 percent. I will attempt to improve my free throw shooting using the instruction of the book Basketball Shooting by Dave Hopla.

Here is a picture of James Harden shooting a free throw



I feel like I am pretty decent at free shots already. When I play a pickup game of 21, I make most of them. Although I feel like I'm decent, there is always room to improve. Players like James Harden are very skilled at shooting free shots, and i'm going to use tips from Basketball Shooting try and imitate his technique and calmness. In the book, Hopla says "One the feet are set, bend at the hips and knees to generate power for the free shot. When bending at the hips, being the head and shoulders down or forward so that the shoulders are in front of the feet and the head is in front of the shoulders" (37). I never knew that having your shoulders and head forward could help you make a free throw. Hopla also says that you should hold the ball on your finger and not your palm, and have your wrist wrinkled and cocked back (39). I have always cocked back my wrist and held the ball correctly, but I tried shooting free throws with the stance that Hopla recommended. At first, I was terrible, missing most of most shots. But after a while of free throws with my shoulders forward, I started making my shots, and I felt more balanced as I shot them.

Here is a picture of me setting my feet before a shot



Even though before I started I felt confident in my free shot shooting ability, these really helped me feel even more confident and stable when shooting them.

Have you ever shot a free shot in basketball? Was it in a game?

Hopla, Dave. Basketball Shooting. Human Kinetics, 2012.