Bad Free Throw shooters - why not try to bank every shot?

[jazzfan1971]

Devil's advocate - those basketball games they have in the arcades, and even the ones they use at the fair. Most people do better banking those shots in. Why couldn't that apply here?

I was going to say this. I would think it probably just introduces an entirely new mechanic to the game and coaches probably like to keep things simple.

[The Laker Kid]

Because if you miss, you'd look 100x worse than if you just did it normally

[ChuckChilly]

Can tell most people in here have never played a game of basketball in their lives.

[mattao313]

I think the big guys should try to line there shooting hand up with the goal and just shoot with one hand maybe that would work.

[NyKnicks1714]

Devil's advocate - those basketball games they have in the arcades, and even the ones they use at the fair. Most people do better banking those shots in. Why couldn't that apply here?

Those backboards aren't as sturdy, and have a lot more give. Banking in a shot from straight on with a backboard that's firmly in place and won't rattle at all is much tougher.

[Usual Suspects]

I think the big guys should try to line there shooting hand up with the goal and just shoot with one hand maybe that would work.

Shaq tried something like that, he still sucked at it.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

WHAT?!

They are bad freethrow shooters because in the first place they can't aim properly, have bad eye-hand coordination etc

If they can't aim properly for a "normal" freethrow there's no way they are hitting that specific spot on the backboard better than their normal FT.

Im pretty sure that "shooter's bounce" favors a normal freethrow than a banked one.

There's quite a few spots on the glass from straight on front you can hit and it will still go in. You can even slam a ball into the glass and it will go in, where as it will never do that trying to drop it in from a height

More margin of error than trying to land a ball in a hole if you are not good at that

FWIW I agree with you and have posted about this before as well. To swish it you need the right combo of spin and arc, to bank it you just need it to hit within the square, huge margin of error for speed and spin on that. To me it feels like the difference between throwing a pass and taking a shot.

I think the ceiling is a little lower on those shots though, especially once you're dialed in, plus it looks worse and may mess with your regular shot, so in game I don't know if its worth practicing. But if I had one shot with my life on the line on my backyard hoop and no time to warm up, yeah I would probably go for a bank.

[Revived]

For me, I will never understand why some players are so bad at free throw shooting. I get that somebody that size shooting a basketball is like a 5'9 guy shooting a tennis ball, but come on, it's your job, figure it out. Hire a shooting coach, take 30min out of your day to work on it...or maybe they just don't care enough?

I was privileged enough to see a number of Warriors' practices in their heyday, and you know who could stripe FTs in practice with little variance? Andris Biedrins.

Watch on YouTube

This is a man who, while his career% was slightly above 50%, shot 23.8% from the FT line for the last 5 years of his career. So its not about practice, its about mental blocks, the yips, getting inside your head when you feel everyone's expecting you to miss.

They obviously care, but in some cases, it can be a lost cause.

Man look at Steph in that video running around trying to guard Steve Nash. Crazy to think he's been in the NBA that long considering he only rose to stardom just 3-4 years ago.

[AndriPerdhian93]

For me, I will never understand why some players are so bad at free throw shooting. I get that somebody that size shooting a basketball is like a 5'9 guy shooting a tennis ball, but come on, it's your job, figure it out. Hire a shooting coach, take 30min out of your day to work on it...or maybe they just don't care enough?

Its all about mental brah, howard can make it in training and the hell he can shoot 3 like steph in training to, but in match howard cant shoot feck all.

[My Main Man]

I'm surprised more players don't just shoot jump shots. Back when i played, I was way more comfortable shooting jumpshots but I thought that shooting flat footed was just the way you had to do it. Even now, of i shoot 10 free throws the standard way and 10 jumpshots from around the free throw area, I will make more jump shots every time.

[og15]

For me, I will never understand why some players are so bad at free throw shooting. I get that somebody that size shooting a basketball is like a 5'9 guy shooting a tennis ball, but come on, it's your job, figure it out. Hire a shooting coach, take 30min out of your day to work on it...or maybe they just don't care enough?

It's not at all actually, it's actually more like shooting a volleyball or soccer ball that has better grip, I actually don't know where this tennis ball thing came from, but it is super inaccurate, like not even close. Anyways, just wanted to address that because people say it a lot probably because it was said somewhere by someone in the past. Part of what gets some guys is that their whole life they had poor touch and didn't work on it, usually due to having size or something else that prevented them from having to. Then they have to try and develop it later, and it is not as easy as it might seem, and one of the reasons also is that many of those guys are just working on FT's, not on shooting in general. What would actually benefit many poor FT shooters, is to work on their shooting like they are a guard. It's not some magical solve all, but it takes away the "have to make my FT's" sort of mentality, and it's just working on shooting.

It's really not about lack of effort for the majority of poor shooters, almost every guy you see that is a bad FT shooter is spending the beginning and end of every practice, multiple days during the off-season, etc, etc practicing FT's, and they still suck. Some guys still suck in practice, some guys can shoot in practice but can't shoot well in games. Could also be reps, some of those guys do no shooting during the game, or even during warm ups and at half time, except for when they are at the FT line, so that could possibly affect their in game shooting.

[og15]

So you think continual clanking off the back iron is the answer?

Aim for glass. It will guide the ball in

Since you keep insisting to discuss this...

The problem with the straight on bank shot is there is no room for error. If you're slightly off line left of right, you miss. Slightly long, you miss, slightly short, you miss. And because you need to shoot it both longer and harder, you're not getting any soft rolls off the rim or off the glass that a normal FT gets. It actually requires far more accuracy to master this shot which is why you've never seen anybody, ever, try what you're suggesting. It's not the same as shooting a bank shot from an angle.

People who are bad at ft shooting are not getting any friendly rolls because they are poor shooters and largely don't get correct rotation on the ball. Hitting off the glass is more forgiving with incorrect spin which could assist these tyoes of shooters.

Have you actually attempted this? Shooting off the glass from straight on is definitely not more forgiving.

[og15]

Devil's advocate - those basketball games they have in the arcades, and even the ones they use at the fair. Most people do better banking those shots in. Why couldn't that apply here?

This guy says what backboard?

Watch on YouTube

So does this girl:

Watch on YouTube

...but, those backboards are softer. Have you ever played on those home basketball hoops with the super soft backboards? Whatever you throw at the backboard, basically no matter how hard, the backboard just absorbs it and lets the ball down softly. The arcade ones aren't that forgiving, but they are pretty forgiving and not like a regular backboard you would play on. Also the shorter distance helps as well as the lower height making it odd for a lot of people to shoot with a good trajectory so backboard there becomes an easier solution.

[The_Hater]

Since you keep insisting to discuss this...

The problem with the straight on bank shot is there is no room for error. If you're slightly off line left of right, you miss. Slightly long, you miss, slightly short, you miss. And because you need to shoot it both longer and harder, you're not getting any soft rolls off the rim or off the glass that a normal FT gets. It actually requires far more accuracy to master this shot which is why you've never seen anybody, ever, try what you're suggesting. It's not the same as shooting a bank shot from an angle.

People who are bad at ft shooting are not getting any friendly rolls because they are poor shooters and largely don't get correct rotation on the ball. Hitting off the glass is more forgiving with incorrect spin which could assist these tyoes of shooters.

Have you actually attempted this? Shooting off the glass from straight on is definitely not more forgiving.

There's absolutely no way he has ever played organized basketball. And he thinks that he's the first person in the 80+ years of basketball to figure this out, all those millions and millions of players/coaches simply overlooked it.

[Tim Kempton]

Rony Seikaly ... love that guys FT shooting form

I'm more of a Bill Cartwright kinda guy.

Watch on YouTube

[GrandTheftRondo]

Underhand is what they should be doing.

Bad free throw shooters are literally throwing away easy points by refusing to do it

[GrandTheftRondo]

People who are bad at ft shooting are not getting any friendly rolls because they are poor shooters and largely don't get correct rotation on the ball. Hitting off the glass is more forgiving with incorrect spin which could assist these tyoes of shooters.

Have you actually attempted this? Shooting off the glass from straight on is definitely not more forgiving.

There's absolutely no way he has ever played organized basketball. And he thinks that he's the first person in the 80+ years of basketball to figure this out, all those millions and millions of players/coaches simply overlooked it.

While the OP is wrong, I wouldn't care what coaches, players etc think.

If they had a brain they'd be all about underhand free throws.

[LeMasta]

underhand is definitely the better option

Though I admit banking shots in as always satisfying as hell especially when it's from an angle.

[LeMasta]

I think there was a study that showed that bank shots could increase free throw percentage by 20%. Problem with the study is that it did not discern between bad free throw shooters and good free throw shooters. I'm pretty good at getting my shot in a straight line. I often missed slightly short or slightly long. I actually made a better percentage banking them when I tried practicing it. However, with bad free throw shooters - I think their issue is mainly being unable to get a shot in a straight line and missing left/right. Shooting a bank shot from the free throw line probably makes it tougher for them, because the ball now needs to travel further and that left/right trajectory ends up being off even more -- which I think makes it less likely for them to be able to bank in the shot.

I actually tried this too albeit a small sample size. I still make shots from the free throw line consistently when I bank it in although it still feels weird and unreliable. As long as you are able to shoot straight it doesn't seem like a problem. I don't know why everyone else is acting condescending as hell in this thread.

[Vibranium]

When you use glass from straight on you have more margin for error and you don't even have to spin the ball nicely for the rebound of the glass to go in.

Why don't more bad ft shooters try this?