Crunch Time!
Your Free Throw Shooting Technique
Will Make You a Winner!
by Coach Al Heystek
Inventor of The Original – Made in the USA
“Nothin’ But Net” FREE THROW TRAINER
www.FREETHROWTRAINER.com
Why is a relaxed and concentrated focus on the FREE THROW TRAINER™, the one that you can see in your mind’s eye, along with follow through toward the TRAINER, so crucial to making free throws… especially at crunch time?
Ask Derrick Rose of the Bulls and LeBron James of the Heat who both missed 2 free throws toward the end of the game January 29, 2012.
The Heat went on to win 97-93. In a post-game interview the reporter asked LeBron what happened with those 2 free throws. Lebron didn’t have any explanation except that he shot the same way as the ones he had made. He didn’t notice how his free throw shooting technique had varied ever so slightly.
Lebron’s statement actually makes a lot of sense to me because that’s pretty much how it feels. Everything can seem the same, but you end up with a different result caused by small and often imperceptible changes in your release and follow through. The mental and emotional stress that goes with the added pressure of a last minute foul shot can change your mechanics. Even though Derrick and Lebron are great athletes and superstars, they are first and foremost just human beings. They are like the rest of us.
Lebron James and Derrick Rose don’t need the basic free throw shooting tips that youth basketball players and other amateurs need. They know about setting up your feet and shoulders basically square to the hoop, keeping your elbow in and developing a fluid motion starting with your legs flexed. They have all of that down, as do many other professional, college and high school players.
Correcting those end-of-game misses is not typically a priority in coaching basketball. Yet, for these great players, as well as other skilled collegiate and high school players, the solution is pretty simple.
Focus more on creating 1) a relaxed and concentrated focus on the FREE THROW TRAINER™, the one that you can see in your mind’s eye, and 2) follow through toward the TRAINER. Practice these two over-and-over-and-over again at the gym or at home, and you will step to the line with great confidence.
Imagine yourself in a last minute game situation. It’s a big game, 5 seconds left and your team is down one point and you have two shots. The pressure is on.
Take a deep breath, relax your body, concentrate your attention on the real or imaginary FREE THROW TRAINER™ up on the rim, focus especially on the final part of the arm motion and follow through, imagining your shooting hand going exactly straight toward the FREE THROW TRAINER™.
Practice these scenarios over and over and you will become more confident of your stroke in those pressure situations that will surely come your way.
According to Ronn Wyckoff of NBSA (National Basketball Shooting Association), it is this last part of the stroke that makes all the difference. And at the end of a game with all the pressure, even the best shooters can feel the stress. It impacts how they finish their free throw stroke, so it’s likely to impact yours as well. In a game you want to focus on the imaginary FREE THROW TRAINER™, the one that you can see in your mind’s eye, the one you really used over and over again in practice.
The confidence that comes from success in practice will be the difference between a make and a miss, a win or a loss.
This has been Coach Al Heystek
www.FREETHROWTRAINER.com
Ask Derrick Rose of the Bulls and LeBron James of the Heat who both missed 2 free throws toward the end of the game January 29, 2012.
The Heat went on to win 97-93. In a post-game interview the reporter asked LeBron what happened with those 2 free throws. Lebron didn’t have any explanation except that he shot the same way as the ones he had made. He didn’t notice how his free throw shooting technique had varied ever so slightly.
Lebron’s statement actually makes a lot of sense to me because that’s pretty much how it feels. Everything can seem the same, but you end up with a different result caused by small and often imperceptible changes in your release and follow through. The mental and emotional stress that goes with the added pressure of a last minute foul shot can change your mechanics. Even though Derrick and Lebron are great athletes and superstars, they are first and foremost just human beings. They are like the rest of us.
Lebron James and Derrick Rose don’t need the basic free throw shooting tips that youth basketball players and other amateurs need. They know about setting up your feet and shoulders basically square to the hoop, keeping your elbow in and developing a fluid motion starting with your legs flexed. They have all of that down, as do many other professional, college and high school players.
Correcting those end-of-game misses is not typically a priority in coaching basketball. Yet, for these great players, as well as other skilled collegiate and high school players, the solution is pretty simple.
Focus more on creating 1) a relaxed and concentrated focus on the FREE THROW TRAINER™, the one that you can see in your mind’s eye, and 2) follow through toward the TRAINER. Practice these two over-and-over-and-over again at the gym or at home, and you will step to the line with great confidence.
Imagine yourself in a last minute game situation. It’s a big game, 5 seconds left and your team is down one point and you have two shots. The pressure is on.
Take a deep breath, relax your body, concentrate your attention on the real or imaginary FREE THROW TRAINER™ up on the rim, focus especially on the final part of the arm motion and follow through, imagining your shooting hand going exactly straight toward the FREE THROW TRAINER™.
Practice these scenarios over and over and you will become more confident of your stroke in those pressure situations that will surely come your way.
According to Ronn Wyckoff of NBSA (National Basketball Shooting Association), it is this last part of the stroke that makes all the difference. And at the end of a game with all the pressure, even the best shooters can feel the stress. It impacts how they finish their free throw stroke, so it’s likely to impact yours as well. In a game you want to focus on the imaginary FREE THROW TRAINER™, the one that you can see in your mind’s eye, the one you really used over and over again in practice.
The confidence that comes from success in practice will be the difference between a make and a miss, a win or a loss.
This has been Coach Al Heystek
www.FREETHROWTRAINER.com