Assignment 20 - Alex Warren

How to shoot a free throw

Alex Warren

I may not be the best basketball player, and for that matter I am not a very good free throw shooter either, but I do know how to shoot one correctly and the fundamentals of it.

Step1: Find Your Warm-Up/Rhythm

Your warm-up is what you do before you shoot your free throw, its a routine or a rhythm that your body and mind should get used to doing. For example: I grab the ball walk up to the line dribble once, toss the ball up a little bit, dribble two more times, and then I shoot.

Step2: Position Yourself

Before you shoot you want to bend forward a little bit from the waist, hold the ball at your chest with your shooting hand in the middle and your off-hand on the side, and the elbow of your shooting arm pressed against your side, you want the middle on your body to line up with the rim.

Step3:Shooting

When shooting, you want to bend your knees and then spring up slightly upwards, and shooting the ball towards the basket with out moving your feet, and lastly you want to follow through by letting your shooting hand follow the shooting motion as you release the ball and afterwards as well.

These are the fundamentals to shooting a free throw, this is how most people do it, but not all players follow the same way, for example, Rick Barry, the best NBA free throw shooter of all time, shot all of his free throws granny-style(under-handed), so take theses guidelines and bend them or break them until you find a free throw routine that fits you.