Basketball Free Throw Shooting - Be Square or Not

One of the basic fundamentals of shooting and we hear this all the time from coaches is to “be squared up” on the shot. Fair enough but the term itself really begs for more explanation. Obviously no one ever shoots with their back to the basket, but if you were doing a shot over your head you could agree that your back would be squared to the backboard. But that’s not what the coach means.

Its amazing how many players line up on the line out of square. By this I mean that their shoulders which usually follow the feet placement. For example if you put both feet shoulder width apart and both big toes touching the free throw line then you can agree that your shoulders would be square to the backboard. If you move your left foot back lets say 6”, then there is also a slight tilt with the shoulders, which inadvertently and also unknowingly changes the angle of your shoulders and as you will learn later the ball actually can come off of the wrong fingers on the follow through. More on that later.

Coaches stress this because it can reduce the amount of error in a shot. But I am not talking about this shoulder “square up” mentioned above. I refer to a totally different “square up” concept and this one is focused on the “square up” of the wrist and hand. The reason the shoulder “square up” is not super critical is because I have disproved the theory by analyzing, and breaking it down with different shoulder turns to the basket. For example, I will demonstrate in a clinic setting how I can start on the FT line being perfectly square and continue to make 100/100. That’s normal MO or Modus Operandi for me. But to prove a point (actually many, pun intended) I then continually turn my left shoulder to the left until my whole body is completely 90 degrees to the rim while completely facing the left wall. I continue making shots one after the other with my body at a very uncommon angle albeit not uncomfortable. Strange you may say but I am just proving a point that it is not the body that has to be “squared up” to the basket but the shooting wrist and hand and elbow joint. Stay with me here. We are talking about scientific facts and natural laws.

If you watch a lot of shooters you will notice that millions need their other hand due to lack of strength or bad angle placement of the ball on the hand. It could also be because of small hands. THE BALL MUST BE ABLE TO REST ON THE HAND WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE. Then we run into the problem of the ball laying on all fingerpads plus all the palm, or just on the pads. (3 pads on the 4 fingers and 1 pad on the thumb). The ball should not touch the “palm pad”. I prefer just the pads. The reason I stress this is it forces you to spread the fingers as wide as humanly possible to gain maximum control for the shot. Plus shooting with the fingers places accountability on the fingers which leads to more mental control of ball line to the rim.

The “Square up” no one talks about is the square up of the wrist angle to the floor when it is cocked back in the shot pocket. The ball should always come to a momentary pause before being released. Just like you would bring up a rifle to the shoulder height, line the sights at the end of the barrel up with the eye and target and then pull the trigger. It amazes me how many shooters have their shooting wrist at cock-eyed angles to the floor. Another way you can tell if you have a proper 90 degree square with the ball sitting on the pads of the wide hand is to make sure that the thumb and pinky are facing the ceiling and they are both parallel to the floor. Of course you can also see wrinkles on the back of the wrist in this pose. (I have 5 wrinkles on the back of my shooting ready wide open hand). You may have more or less depending on your age, weight.). If this is all in order then the ‘heel’ of the shooting hand will also be parallel with the ceiling and/or floor. Its hard to see yourself do this. Check yourself out in front of a mirror or a big window outside the house on a sunny day.

The reason I talk about this very important fact is because millions suffer from genetic aberrations, anomalies, etc yet this does not hinder living life to the fullest but it can have detrimental effects on the shooting accuracy skills because incorrect angles of the wrist detract from highly consistent shooting. Most players are not even aware that they have ‘angular’ irregularities in regard to the way the ball sits on the hand. Here’s where it goes crazy. Those who suffer from angular irregularities, while not aware of it and during an actual shot they will always try to get back to square right at the moment of release, and this is where the problems arise.

While watching the Miami Heat lose to The Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 championship game, I could not help notice how Dwyane Wade suffers from this. Just before he pulls the trigger he brings the ball up from the left side of the body and twitches his wrist to get it back to “square” on the release. I know its hard to visualize through the written word but trust me on this. This is a national epidemic. It just so happens that Miami missed 13 free throws and if you watch the game you will notice most of them were ‘off center’ or crooked shots.

Let’s talk about another “square up” that coaches overlook and that no one in the world talks about. Well maybe they do but I have never in 50 years heard anyone refer to the following information.

I call this the “mini-me square up” because it refers to the end pads on the fingers. If you really watch closely how players place the ball on their hands you will see that most players just get the ball and instinctively pick up the ball wherever it feels comfortable. Unfortunately, the comfortable feeling they have on the ball is most often not scientifically correct. The idea is to recreate the correct grip and make that a new habit. Just like I did with a golf club. When I first started playing golf I had a weak grip. When I learned the proper way I recreated my grip and have locked in ever since.

Here’s how you can tell if your finger pads are not ‘squared up’ on the ball. (Right handers) get a ball or imagine a ball and place your middle finger an inch or two to the left of the air hole. You will notice that the finger pads are tilted or kinda’ sidewards on the ball. Then place your widespread hand over the ball while placing the index finger right over the airhole and you will notice how the finger pads are more ‘squared up’ or perpendicular to the ball surface. Your thumb and pinky will be close to or directly on one of the cross seams thus forming a big triangle with the thumb, pinky and index finger. This is very significant. When you cock the ball back into the shot pocket the thumb and pinky now should be parallel to the floor with the index finger in line with center of the rim ready to guide the ball down the center since the index finger the center of the ball and the center of the rim should form a straight line or as straight as humanly possible.

A true teacher of this principle is the ball itself. The released shot sends feedback as to the correct rotation. Its hard to have perfect rotation with fingers mis-aligned on the ball. If you want to be a great shoot you better be “SQUARE”.

Ed Palubinskas
Freethrowmaster.com

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