The simple anatomical and physical movement of shooting a basketball maintains a global status quo of mediocrity and has done so ever since the game started over a century ago.
Since there are minor annual changes in each level of Basketball from High School to college to the Professional ranks, and without being precise, we can safely say that the High School National average from the free throw line is about 65%, with the colleges and Universities shooting at around 68% and the Pros naturally are far superior with a national average of around 71-72%. Excuse the sarcasm there.
Renaissance means a ‘rebirth’ with the objective of repudiating the previous era and to restore revolutionary, scientific ideals to revitalize free throw shooting principles to a level of excellence which would be manifested through elevated statistics, more athletic finesse and not just physical power.
Without getting into exact details of the scientific principles that improve free throw shooting, there has to be a reformation, a revitalization in our physical and kinesiological behavior patterns relating to specific body movements.
We must first recognize our weakness as a shooter and that is usually manifested by your personal statistics in practice and in games.
Then there has to be an intense desire to improve which I think most players have but they lack the ability or resources to seek out and find superior free throw shooting knowledge which then must be instilled into our minds or mental framework and then pounded into the subconscious with a 10 pound mallet.
So fill your mind with scientific shooting principles and the body will follow instructions as you practice new refined, reformed techniques which lead to superior shooting.
I know for a fact that 99% of the players out in the field that I interview unanimously give the same answer to this question about shooting free throw.
These answers are indicative of the poor mental processes of the shooter.
If your thought is one of making the basket then you have no time to think of your physical mechanics necessary to give the ball proper information like direction and distance which are the 2 most important aspects of shooting.
I always shoot in groups of 100 from every spot I feel I need work on.
Your shooting inconsistency may be a result of skewed ball rotation, incorrect arc on ball, with the optimum angle being between 42 and 48 degrees.
Are your fingers bent at the knuckles and pointing down to the floor on the follow through a la ‘cookie in the jar’? Are your eyes focused on the rim or the ball during flight? Is there any lateral movement on any part of the release mechanism? Do you know what signs to look for during a shot? Does your body sway? Does your off hand assist the shooting hand? Etc , etc.
The only reason I can come up with is the fact that great free throw shooting is an elusive phenomenon.
We are all capable of it, but the big problem is that the players are not getting all the information they need to become better shooters.
Just imagine how many coaches out there can’t shoot at all.
Another reason for this mediocrity is that it is difficult to get a complete knowledge upgrade since great shooters and great shooting teachers are a rare breed and difficult to find.
This is why you still see pro athletes who are poor at free-throw shooting because as they went through the ranks from Jr. Hi. to High school to College and then the pros you can see it is not that tough to slip through the cracks and not have any advanced shooting instruction.
It is my belief that if you can shoot 70% you can just as well shoot 90% with advanced shooting knowledge when dealing with free throw shooting and three point shooting.
To perfect the activity that goes on within the one second it takes to shoot the perfect shot.
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