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Did you see the article on How to Shoot a Free Throw by a couple of engineers that tried to discover which factors would make you a great free throw shooter?
——–Nothing But Net: The Physics of Free-Throw Shooting——–
They kind of picked on Shaq and Ben Wallace, which would be funny if it was not so true. Big men normally have problems shooting a free throw due mostly to their much larger size. They have problems with both the trajectory to the basket and with gripping the ball. If you want to feel like Shaq at the line, then take a child’s rubber basketball and aim at a basket that is about 8 foot off the ground. You will find the trajectory a major issue, but even more troubling is that your hands will grip too much of the ball making it much harder to get proper spin and accuracy.
So what did the engineers say anyway?
First, the engineers say that shooters should launch the shot with about three hertz of back spin. That translates to the ball making three complete backspinning revolutions before reaching the hoop. Back spin deadens the ball when it bounces off the rim or backboard, the engineers assert, giving the ball a better chance of settling through the net.
Where to aim? Tran and Silverberg say you should aim for the back of the rim, leaving close to 5 centimeters – about 2 inches – between the ball and the back of the rim. According to the simulations, aiming for the center of the basket decreases the probabilities of a successful shot by almost 3 percent.
The engineers say that the ball should be launched at 52 degrees to the horizontal. If you don’t have a protractor in your jersey, that means that the shot should, at the highest point in its arc to the basket, be less than 2 inches below the top of the backboard.
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So easier said than done, right? Years ago at Gus Macker 3 on 3 basketball tournaments there was this guy that claimed to be a free throw coach and would stand at the free throw line and bury shot after shot while he gave a talk about correct free throw shooting. It was an amazing site to see. His basic idea was to get your fundamentals down and then practice your brains out. Make sure you make 10 in a row before leaving practice, then maybe the next time bump it up to 15 and so on. He felt if you grooved your form and there were no basic flaws in it, then your free throw shooting would excel!
Somebody tell Shaq.
Years ago there were a couple of unique free throw shooters in Rick Barry (one of the best) and Jamaal Wilkes (an average free throw shooter, but a clutch baseline jump shooter). You have to watch this YouTube. Rick shoots underhanded and was also a great jump shooter. Jamal shoots from behind his head and also shot that way with his normal shot. Check it out.
As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.
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