Could you train Joe Average to be a top free throw shooter? How long?

[Central Limit]

[ QUOTE ]
Almost certainly he should be shooting underhand. And I would guess there are many hundreds of people right now who could beat any NBA player under non game conditions.

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay, you're way off.

First, you all vastly underestimate how good the average NBA freethrow shooter is. He appears much worse than he actually is because you are seeing him during a game. When an NBA player practices shooting freethrows with an assistant coach, just him, shooting over and over, his percentage is way, way higher than what you see during a game. As a wild guess, I would estimate that a guy whose free throw % for this season is 60% routinely makes more than 80 out of 100 in practice.

2. Pro basketball players have shot more free throws in their lifetimes than the average joe could shoot in a year. Another wild guess: I would guess that Shaquille O'Neal has shot over 100 free throws on over 2000 days of his life. I mean, he's been playing basketball since he was 9 years old. So, roughly 30 years of practicing free throws. Large numbers of repetitions is not enough to gaurantee success.

3. The financial incentives for Shaq and other key players to improve their free throw pctgs is so great, and yet they can't do it, even though they work with the best coaches in the world, that we can conclude that joe average can't do it either.

4. When you say that there are many hundreds of people who could be better than NBA free throw shooters, remember that there are 300 million people in this country. So, if 300 people can do it, that's still only one in a million who could be better than NBA players. I thought we were talking about Joe Average, not a one in a million guy.

[ALawPoker]

It really depends. There are some people out there who happen to already be a better FT shooter than the average NBA player, and there are some people that are so innately uncoordinated that they could just never do it. I think a better question would be "what percentage" of men working desk jobs at such and such company could do this in a year. It would still mildly depend on the company, but I'd guess somewhere in the 50-60% range.

David, under hand? Almost certainly?? That might be your best chance to land a miracle shot if you've never played before, but when the goal is to learn to be a ~75-80% FT shooter, I can't imagine that's the best approach.

I guess maybe you're saying the underhand shot is just a better technique (when there's no defense), that NBA players don't use for whatever reasons. I'm curious what you base that on, because the standard shot definitely seems more efficient to me, even for free throws, in just about every way.

[jjshabado]

[ QUOTE ]

3. The financial incentives for Shaq and other key players to improve their free throw pctgs is so great, and yet they can't do it, even though they work with the best coaches in the world, that we can conclude that joe average can't do it either.

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I don't follow basketball, so I could be missing something here, but I don't believe the players do have large financial incentives to improve their free throw %s. They have financial incentives to play basketball well, and free throws is just one small part of that.

[ArturiusX]

How does pressure and mental strength factor into this? 500 shots (or 1000) in a row would hurt an average joe, but its business as usual for a pro.

[mr_whomp]

He will not beat the nba pro.

Shooting FT's in game conditions is much more difficult then under ideal conditions. If nash is hitting ~90% in games he is most likely able to shoot 98%+ under ideal conditions.

At the camp I worked at they had an NBA player come in to teach the kids for an hour. He started under the basket shooting shots one-handed. Every time he hit a shot he took one step backwards. After making ~7-8 shots in a row one handed he reached the 3-point line (college/high school distance). He then put his second hand on the ball and started shooting 3's.

After hitting 50 in a row with his right hand (After each shot the kids would yell the number) he then hit 20 in a row with his left hand.

At this point still having not missed a shot he put the ball on his hip, faced the kids and told them that he was going to teach them how to shoot a basketball.

This was outside with a good breeze blowing.

[stakman1011]

LOL at David's comment's in this thread. I hope he's not serious.

First of all there is noone that is a 99 % free throw shooter in non-game situations. Steve Nash (who shoots 90 per cent ish in games) certainly couldn't sustain 99%...there is no one that can.

Second the idea of shooting underhanded is stupid. this is not a physics problem where the "the top of the arc" is very relevant. Muscle memory is relevant, and it's much easier for the average Joe to learn and perfect conventional styles.

Also, LOL at the person who said Lebron shoots free throws too flat-footed and he'd be better if he bent his knees more.

2+2 has a lot of good poker brains...not so much with the basketball brains.

Stak

[mr_whomp]

Stakman, like I said I watched an NBA player hit 50 consecutive right handed 3 pointers followed by 20 consecutive left handed 3 pointers.

The player who did the above was only a career 82.9% FT shooter. I wouldnt be suprised if he could hit 99%+ under ideal condtions

[mr_whomp]

http://www.freethrowmaster.com/Freet...out/about.html

You would need this guy to work with you 8 hours a day for 5-10 years.

[alphatmw]

[ QUOTE ]
LOL at David's comment's in this thread. I hope he's not serious.

First of all there is noone that is a 99 % free throw shooter in non-game situations. Steve Nash (who shoots 90 per cent ish in games) certainly couldn't sustain 99%...there is no one that can.

Second the idea of shooting underhanded is stupid. this is not a physics problem where the "the top of the arc" is very relevant. Muscle memory is relevant, and it's much easier for the average Joe to learn and perfect conventional styles.

Also, LOL at the person who said Lebron shoots free throws too flat-footed and he'd be better if he bent his knees more.

2+2 has a lot of good poker brains...not so much with the basketball brains.

Stak

[/ QUOTE ]ok, so since nash has an in-game % of 90% and you say there's no way he can top 99%, what % do you give him in a non-game situation?

[ArturiusX]

Trivia: What was the name of the NBA player who used to shoot free throw underhanded?