How to Shoot 90% + From the Free-Throw Line

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2 Automatic Free-Throw Shooting How to Shoot 90% + From the Free-Throw Line By Coach Alex Stojkovic All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without expressed written permission from Alex Stojkovic. We have unique tracking codes embedded, designed to detect illegal distribution of this e-book and the download links. Do not risk breaking international copyright in-fringement laws and getting yourself in major trouble. Fines start at $150,000 and include a possible prison sentence upon conviction. Legal Disclaimer The information presented in this work is by no way intended as medical advice or as a substitute for medical counseling. The information should be used in conjunction with the guidance and care of your physician. Consult your physician before beginning this pro-gram, as you would with any exercise program. If you choose not to obtain the consent of your physician, and/or work with your physician throughout the duration of your time using the recommendations in the program, you are agreeing to accept full responsibility for your actions. By continuing with the program, you recognize that despite all precautions on the part of Shot Maker Academy Ltd., there are risks of injury or illness which can occur due to of your use of the aforementioned information, and you expressly assume such risks and waive, relinquish and release any claim which you may have against Shot Maker Academy Ltd., or its affiliates, as a result of any future physical injury or illness incurred in connec-tion with, or as a result of, the use or misuse of the program. 2

3 Contents Introduction... 4 Automatic Free-Throw Formula... 4 Key Ideas:... 5 Automatic Free-Throw Formula Break Down... 6 Performance Dip... 6 Routine... 7 Alignment... 8 Rhythm Consistent Follow Through Mindset Key Ideas: Practice Repetition Practice Game-Like Practice Punishment Key Ideas: Trouble Shooting Miss: Left/Right Miss: Short How To Beat A Slump From The Line? Conclusion Where To From Here?

4 Introduction T he objective of any skilled basketball player should be to shoot 90% + from the free-throw line. Why would you leave free points on the table? The free-throw is the only shot in the game without variables you always shoot from the same spot, and the defense cannot contest your shots. This seems like a nice situation to be in. This means that if you get fouled, you should view it as an early Christmas present! The opposition is giving you a free gift, which you should gladly accept. I often tell my players that if they miss a free-throw, it is like receiving a Playstation for Christmas and saying, I don t want it. You should never return a free gift! I have worked with a lot of players who I have helped dramatically improve their freethrow percentages, and this e-book will help you do the same. Automatic Free-Throw formula I have come up with a formula that will help you shoot free-throws like Steve Nash, Stephen Curry or Dirk Nowitzki (and anyone else who managed to shoot 90% + for a season or more). This is not some crazy claim that you may often see floating around. I am tired of reading tag lines like, instantly triple your scoring, or add eight inches to your vertical with this simple trick. That is all a bunch of rubbish to play with your emotions. This program is really designed to help you shoot 90% from the free throw line. I believe that anyone can achieve this goal by following the Automatic Free-Throw formula. The reason why it is possible for anyone to become a great free-throw shooter is, like I said before, it is uncontested and always from the same spot! The formula goes as follows: (Routine + Alignment + Rhythm + Consistent Follow Through + Mindset) x Practice = Automatic Free-Throw In the next chapter I will go over each point and explain to you what you have to do to improve in each area. 4

5 Just a quick warning though there are no shortcuts to free-throw success! You will have to put in the time in order to make yourself a better free-throw shooter. This e- book will give you all of the tools you need, but if you do not work at it constantly, you simply won t improve your abilities. Simple as that! One more piece of advice every person is different, so you have to find techniques and routines that are comfortable for you. The outlined technique and routine has worked for many players I have coached, but is not the be all and end all. That means that you might tweak your technique slightly to make it fit you a little bit better, which is fine as long as you achieve the results that you are after. As an example, let s take a look at Dirk Nowitzki and Steph Curry. Both are close to career 90% free-throw shooters, yet they shoot very differently from the line. Both are achieving great results with their techniques that are unique to them. Another great example is WNBA superstar, Elena Delle Donne. She has a really unorthodox free-throw technique, but hits over 90%. It is not about finding a cookie cutter technique. Rather, it is about finding what works best for you and implementing that into the formula above. I believe the key to a good free-throw is the right state of mind and body. Whatever routine and technique that will help you feel relaxed and calm is a good starting point. While the great free-throw shooters all shoot differently to some degree, they also have some things in common, which will be the focus of this book. This program packages the best tips and tricks into an easy-to-follow, step by step guide. So let s jump right into it and get your free throw shooting percentage up! Key Ideas: Free-throws are a free gift that you must accept! Follow the Automatic Free Throw Formula to achieve 90% from the line. It will take a lot of hard work to become a great free-throw shooter. No shortcuts! Every player shoots differently to some extent tweak what you do and incorporate some of the ideas we will discuss next. Everything I write assumes that you are right-handed and right eye dominant. If you are left-handed and left eye dominant, you have to envision the opposite of what is written here. If you are unsure about your dominant eye, click on this link. 5

6 Automatic Free-throw Formula Break Down To become a great free-throw shooter you need to develop an automatic free-throw shot. This might seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many players get this part wrong. When I work with someone for the first time, I recognize within a couple of minutes (sometimes after only a couple of shots), whether they have an automatic shot release. Unfortunately 9 out of 10 players do not! Basically, the majority of players shoot each of their shots a bit differently, and their routine and follow-through might vary as well. An automatic shot, on the other hand, looks and feels the same way every single time, without any variance at all! I also want you to become aware of how your body feels when you shoot. Do you feel tense? Or rather, do you feel relaxed and comfortable? I find that one of the best ways to check your shot is by your comfort level. If you feel stiff and rigid when you shoot, then you must adjust your technique until it feels right. The method that I teach is the most comfortable shooting form, which also generates the best rhythm and momentum that I have come across, and it works for most of the players that I have coached. That does not mean that the exact form will work for you, but the chances are high that it will! Simply, I have not met many players who did not feel relaxed when applying my technique. Performance Dip There is one area you must also consider, and that is the performance dip. Every time you tweak a skill or technique that you are already adequate at, you will notice a small performance dip. Let's say you are a 75% free-throw shooter and you apply some of my techniques. Chances are that in the short term your percentages might drop a little until your body adjusts to the new technique. This is normal, and you must give yourself some time to see if it works for you. If you try something new for only one session and it doesn t feel right at first, then you didn t really give it a fair shot. If you are a bad free-throw shooter (less than 60%) feel free to implement most of the steps outlined below at the same time. If you are already half decent, then try to apply one or two concepts at a time, and add more if necessary over time. 6

7 Always give a change in technique roughly six or seven sessions before evaluating whether it works for you or not. Routine All good free-throw shooters have routines they perform the same way every time they step to the line. The reason why you should do it the same each time is because it will trigger a reminder. 1. Receive the ball from the referee after your feet are set (see Alignment below). 2. Bounce the ball several of times (find something that works for you). You do not need to look at the rim at this stage. After the last bounce make sure that you hold the ball in a comfortable position in your shot pocket. 3. Hold the ball in your shot pocket and lock your eyes on the rim. 4. Take a deep breath in and breath out this is important in order to help you relax. 5. After all the air is out of your lungs, push the ball up and out in one motion. Do not stop anywhere on the way up. 6. Snap your wrist strongly and hold your follow-through (both hands up), until the ball goes through the net. 7

8 Alignment 1. Set your feet before you receive the ball from the referee (ideally, place your right foot on the nail and as close to the line as possible without touching it). The nail is basically the split line, dividing the court through the middle of the basket. 2. I generally teach players to turn their feet slightly for better alignment. So if you are right handed, turn your feet to about 10:30 or 11 o clock (straight ahead is 12 o clock). Foot on the nail Feet turned The turn gives players more natural alignment, which will relax your shoulders more. Look at players like Damian Lillard or Kobe Bryant and how they stand at the line. You can be just as good of a free-throw shooter by being completely square, or square-staggered, to the basket. Find what works for you. Being comfortable is the primary objective. 8

9 Feet square Feet staggered 3. Minimal leg bend. One mistake many players make when shooting free-throws is that they bend too far down. That adds too many variables and far too much tension, so after you receive the ball, just bend your knees slightly. I have also found that the more you bend your knees, the more uncomfortable you get. Remember, it is all about feeling relaxed. minimal leg bend deep leg bend 9

10 On the left is the more modern, relaxed style, with less-bent knees, ball in a lower shot pocket, and feet closer together in a slightly turned stance. On the right is a more traditional stance, very wide, square, lower bend and higher shot pocket. While you can certainly be a good free-throw shooter using this technique, I have found it to have to many moving parts, less momentum and most of all, it feels uncomfortable. 4. Your feet should be fairly close together. Many coaches teach a pretty wide stance for shooting free-throws for balance, but again, I want you to feel comfortable. I have found that the wider your stance, the less comfortable you will feel. Instead of being shoulder width, try to be hip-width with your feet. hip width stance shoulder width stance 5. Your shot line is basically a line that goes straight through from your right foot to the top of your follow-through. The ball must travel up that line without varying off of it. This is why I teach the turn. If you are too square, you will have to push the ball across your body at some stage in order to get it into the basket. The turn provides a more natural shot line. 10

11 just right just right too far right too far left 11

12 Rhythm Many players make the mistake of stopping the ball somewhere on the way up (either pausing in front of their chest, or bringing the ball behind their head), instead of shooting in one motion. The problem with this method is that you lose your rhythm and momentum, making your shot rigid, and you will certainly feel less comfortable. When your knees are flexed and the ball is in your shot pocket, the key is that you want to let the ball fly! There should be no pause or hesitation anywhere on the way up. The ideal set point for your shot is where your right thumb is in line with your right eye-brow. From that point on, the momentum must go forward! Any movement from that point that goes backward and will make you a two-motion shooter, resulting in the loss of the majority of your rhythm. 12

13 Consistent Follow Through This is huge! You have to make sure that your follow-throw does not change, no matter what! Your elbow must be fully locked, your wrist broken, and your guiding hand facing your shooting hand. The majority of players mess up right here. They think that they have a consistent follow-through, but in reality, they do not! This action has to be drilled repeatedly in order to have strong muscle memory. Once you get this down, your free-throw percentage will be significantly better. Think about it like this you might have great alignment, great rhythm, a nice routine and strong mindset, but if you have an inconsistent follow-through, none of those will matter! The quickest way to check this out is for someone to video tape you shooting 20 freethrows. Afterwards, take a look at the video and see if your follow-throw is the same every single time. Mindset Having a strong mindset when you shoot free-throws is actually much easier said than done. If you have shot an important free-throw in a big game, in front of lots people, you know what I am talking about, right? All of a sudden, you feel this pressure and burden to perform and make the shot. Shooting an in-game jump shot is actually much easier, as you have less time to think about your shot! 13

14 At the line, you might have 20 seconds (if there are some substitutions happening or a time-out) before you even receive the ball. That is a long time for doubt to creep into your mind. How can we take that pressure off your mind? There are two ways we can achieve this. First, you must understand that the mind cannot be cheated. If you are a bad free-throw shooter, it doesn t matter what you say to yourself, and chances are your mind will feel uneasy in game situations. You will likely miss. The first step is to become a great free-throw shooter in practice, as that will give you the necessary confidence for shooting them during games. That is actually quite simple, yet it is crucial! Make 90% + in practice, and you will have more confidence in the game. The second step is to develop a trigger word that you use on every shot that you take. Why a trigger word? Your mind is amazing, but one thing your mind cannot do is think about two different things at the same time. For example, if you are at the line and you are thinking, I have to make this shot! I better not miss this shot! What if I miss? then you put those negative thoughts in your head and will likely miss. A good trigger word is actually unrelated to the outcome (shot going in), but rather focuses on process (your technique). So for example, once you got the ball at the bottom of your shot pocket and you breath out, say to yourself something along the lines of, Follow-through or Snap, while the ball travels up. Practicing the trigger word on every shot will really help make your shot automatic. However, just like all of the areas we discussed with regard to form, the trigger word must be practiced every time, not sometimes! Key Ideas: You must shoot EVERY shot the same way! Your body and mind need to work in sync to produce an automatic action every time you step up to the line. You must feel RELAXED and COMFORTABLE when you shoot! There should be no stiffness or tension in your body when you shoot a free-throw. Give it time! Expect your performance to go down slightly when you tweak an aspect of your shot. Develop a consistent free-throw routine that you will perform every time you step to the line in a game. To have perfect alignment, place your leading foot on the nail (or the split line of the court). 14

15 Try and shoot in one motion. The ball should not stop anywhere on the way up from your shot pocket. When the ball stops, you lose all rhythm. Remember we want you to be COMFORTABLE. A consistent follow-through will increase your chances of success in a major way! The more inconsistent your follow through, the more inconsistent your percentages will be. Do it the same EVERY SINGLE TIME! Increase your confidence through practice. and develop a trigger word for your free-throw to help you perform at your best. 15

16 Practice You must practice! This is where we divide the pretenders from the ballers. Many players buy an e-book like this, read it, maybe practice here and there, and then that is it. Well if you really love the game and you are obsessed with becoming great, then you will practice most days until you achieve your goal. Like any skill in life, free-throw shooting requires you to practice a lot in order to become great. Here are some key tips to practicing your free-throws: You must find the balance between repetition and game like situations. What do I mean by that? Well, Steph Curry does not need to shoot 500 free-throws per day anymore, as he is automatic in his technique! Someone who is automatic is better off shooting game-like free-throws. Repetition practice Until you are really automatic in practice (consistently make 8.5/9 out of 10 shots), it is all about repetition practice. That means you should put up 100 free-throws daily for six days per week. The goal of this is to get to out of a 100 pretty much every time! This could take a while, and it could even take you a few years to get there. But if you follow all of the steps outlined in this e-book, you absolutely will get there. I do not want you to jump to game-like free-throw practice until you are automatic in your repetition practice. When you are doing repetition practice, you can cut out your normal free-throw routine. You can simply get a pass, relax and shoot it. If you were to do your full routine for every repetition shot, you would be in the gym for quite a long time. Save the routine for your game-like practice. Let s get the technique automatic first before worrying about your free throw routine. Game-like practice Now that you have managed to get to 90 out of 100 in most practices, it is time to implement some game-specific drills. First, you shoot 20 free-throws in a row to work on your consistent form (that is your repetition part of practice, but note that it is only 1/5th of what you have done before). 16

17 Then you just shoot another shots, but in game-like situations. It is up to you to take no more than 40 shots per free-throw practice session (that is only 2/5th of what you did before!). For example, you take a lay-up and pretend that you got fouled. Go to the line and shoot two shots. After that, you do something else until you have done your game specific free-throws. Make sure you follow your free-throw routine with every single game-like practice free-throw. The goal is to make 90% of those sets of two or three shots (you can also pretend that you got fouled on a 3-point shot). You might even just shoot one shot (like in an and one situation). Just use your imagination. Another great trick is to pretend that you are shooting super important, clutch free-throws. For example, you could say to yourself, team is down two, you just got fouled, no time left on the clock, and I have to make both shots to force overtime. If you train your mind to perform in game-like situations like that, you will develop a strong mindset. Punishment The other component of your game-like free-throw shooting is punishment. Let s use the last example for this: Your team is down two, you got fouled, no time left on the clock, and you have to make both shots to force overtime. Say you make the first and you miss the second shot. YOU LOST THE GAME! As punishment, you have to dribble up and back full-court as fast as you can using your weak hand only. For every shot you miss during game specific practice, you must dribble up and back as punishment for missing. That is a double whammy! You lost the game and now you have to run. After a while practicing like this, you would be surprised how many times you actually win in these situations! Plus, the great thing is that you get used to shooting pressure shots in your mind, which will make it exponentially easier to do it in games. 17

18 Repetition Practice: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Attempts Makes Percentage* Once you can make 85-90% of your free throws on a consistent basis you can move on to more game-like practice. Until that point in time, I cannot stress enough the importance of shooting 100 free-throws per day. Game Like Practice: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Attempts Makes Percentage* Remember that the first 20 shots are repetition shots, where you just continue to improve your stroke. The next 20 shots are game-specific shots, as explained earlier in the chapter. *To work out your percentage, you divide your makes by your attempts, and multiply by 100. As an example, if you make 30 out of 40 attempts, you divide 30 by 40, multiply that by 100, and you get 75%. Key Ideas: Remember, first you must become an automatic free-throw shooter by using repetition practice! Don t rush this part. Let the numbers do the talking. ONCE you can make 90 out of 100 on a regular basis, add game-like practice to it. When you reach the game-like shooting stage, you should still do some repetition practice in every session to maintain your shooting stroke at the line. Use your imagination during game-like practice in order to create tough situations in which to shoot, and punish yourself in case you miss a shot. If you hit a shooting slump during a few games, just go back a step and increase your repetition of free-throws for a few sessions before you go back to gamelike shots. 18

19 Trouble Shooting Before we wrap up, I first want to give you several tips to help you troubleshoot certain problems. The best way to identify problems is by recording a video of your free-throw sessions. Ask a parent or friend to tape your shot from three different angles - from under the basket, from behind you, and from the side. Then take a look at your shots and compare them to the automatic free-throw formula. Are you following all the steps? Can you identify something in particular that needs fixing? Here are the most common reasons for missing shots, alongside some drills to help you fix them. Miss: Left/Right Reason: inconsistent follow-through and/or bad alignment If you miss left or right, you are not automatic yet. You must keep working on your follow-through. A great drill to do help with this is to shoot against the side of the backboard. This drill is great to help you learn to shoot straight, as there is very little margin for error. You should be able to catch the ball without moving after it hits the side of the backboard. If you cannot catch the ball without moving, you are simply not shooting straight. 19

20 Missing left or right could also be because you are not aligned properly, so make sure that you check constantly that your leading foot splits the center of the basket, and that you are not off the shot line. The other drill I would recommend is just plain old one and two-handed form shooting from a couple of feet away from the hoop. This drill really helps you develop a good wrist snap and follow-through. Successful shooters can get 95 + out of 100, while swishing the majority of the shots. This drill is actually a good warm-up for any kind of workout. Great shooters like Ray Allen always begin every workout very close to the basket before moving out. 20

21 Miss: Short Reason: lack of rhythm/lack of ball rotation Missing short can be especially tricky for younger players who struggle to get the ball to the basket. If you feel like you are forcing the ball to the basket all the time try the following: lower the hoop if possible use a smaller ball come closer If you feel as though you have to jump in order to get the ball to the rim, you must move closer. Otherwise, you will develop bad shooting habits. The picture above moves the shooter two steps closer to the basket, in order to make it easier to get the ball to the rim without compromising form. A good sign that you are too far out is if you can see your upper body going forward when you shoot your free throw. For older players who struggle by missing short, you have to consciously think about rhythm and letting the ball fly. Generally, when you shoot short you either shoot too slow (taking out your momentum) or produce a two motion shot. 21

22 Have someone videotape you shooting your free-throws from a side angle, and see if there is any pause on the way up from your shot pocket. Ideally, the ball will travel up and out (see Set Point under Rhythm) in one fluid motion without a pause. A good drill to use for this is the shot/pass drill. Basically, you hold the ball in your shot pocket and pass it to a friend or against the wall. Pass the ball exactly how you would shoot a shot. Fully extend your arm, and snap the wrist hard with your guiding hand facing your passing hand. Do this for 20 passes or so, and then all you need to do is instead of passing it horizontally, just push the ball up and out with exactly the same technique. For most players, this drill fixes the issue of the two-motion shot, and speeds up the mechanics as well. If you do shoot a two-motion shot, always tell yourself, let the ball fly. Some players also shoot short because they do not have enough rotation on the ball (the more backspin you have on the ball, the crisper it will glide through the air). To drill this, go back to the one-handed form shooting drill mentioned above. The only difference now is that I want you to consciously think about snapping your wrist hard every single time, while making sure that you do not palm the ball too much! 22

23 How to beat a slump from the line? Every player goes through shooting slumps. Unfortunately that is part of the game. But like all problems, this can also be fixed! There are two little tricks that we can use to help with this. The first one is your mindset. Once you are an automatic free-throw shooter, you have to believe in your ability, even if you might miss a few shots in a game. Shoot like there is no slump. - Reggie Miller That quote from Reggie Miller, who is one of the best shooters of all time, sums up the mindset part pretty well. Just keep shooting! You have developed an automatic routine, so keep going. The other part of beating a shooting slump has to do with practice. Put in extra shooting drills. - Larry Bird Like Larry Bird says, if you are in a slump, just put in some extra time doing repetition free-throw shooting. Say you missed six free-throws in a game. Then just go and shoot repetition free-throws the next day. As long as you make your 90%, you are good to go! If you make less than 90%, come back again the next day and shoot another free-throws until you reach your normal numbers again. Remember, the best way to boost your confidence is by shooting well in practice. Those are the best two strategies you can utilize in order to beat a shooting slump. 23

24 Conclusion This free-throw program really works! I have used it with many players who implemented its techniques in order to improve their free-throw shooting percentages. It will definitely work for you, as long as you put in the work and dedicate some time to perfecting your shot. Like I said before, this is where you can separate yourself from the pretenders and demonstrate that you are a real baller! If you truly love the game, you will become obsessed with becoming a great free-throw shooter. You need that mindset to succeed! There is no magic bullet to free-throw shooting! You have to get off your rear end and practice. The effectiveness of this program depends on you practicing the automatic free-throw formula over and over until it is ingrained into your mind. Imagine hitting 9 out of 10 free-throws every time! I want you to have that awesome feeling. Now it is up to you turn this into reality. You got all the tools you need! Becoming a great free-throw shooter will make you so much harder to guard in games. Teams will be reluctant to foul you, meaning you will have more space to get your jump shot off, and there will be less contact on your drives to the basket. Where to from here? Now it is time for some action! No more talking! Go and practice! Make no excuses and hit the court. Good luck, and all the best on your journey to becoming 90% + from the line. Let me know how you get on, as I always like to here from players to see how they are progressing. All the best, Coach Alex 24