Free Throws Don’t Win Championships, but...
You need only to look at the FT% of the past 10 NCAA Women’s National Champions to realize that being a great Free Throw Shooting team does NOT mean you will be hanging a
banner at the end of the year… BUT, there is also no doubt that we have ALL been involved
in games in which a made FT at some point during the game could have been the difference
between winning and losing that particular game.
It’s one of those statistics that can be miss leading in some ways. Most teams that ultimately win Championships also have dominating post players who tend to statistically
speaking not be strong FT Shooting teams. Here’s a quick breakdown to illustrate my
point. I am going to list the NCAA Ranking of the Final Four participants since 2002 and
see if you agree:
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
68, 62, 45, 241
70, 53, 214, 196
116, 70, 244, 185
110, 120, 88, 238
28, 44, 64, 157
135, 52, 105, 210
172, 70, 32, 46
77, 82, 50, 126
74, 27, 79, 17
Now, while I totally agree with my Papa Neighbors who told me ‘stats are like bathing
suits… they show you some things but not everything’, I also don’t believe you can ignore
these numbers. These are the teams WINNING at the highest level while only finishing
HIGHER than #68 once since 2002!!!
With that said, I will also guarantee you that EVERY coach in America would love to shoot
a higher overall percentage from the Free Throw line. So how do you go about doing that
with the team personnel you DO NEED to win a Championship? You practice and you
strive daily to improve the FT Shooting of the players you have and try to be THAT team the
breaks this trend.
First of all, it’s important to point out that based on these stats, using large amounts of
your practice time might be counter productive to WINNING CHAMPIONSHIPS. What I
am saying is if you are cutting into time you are working on your defense, your rebounding, or your offensive execution (stats that do tend to reflect Championship Statistics) you
might be reaching a point of diminishing returns.
So we approach Free Throw Shooting in this manner. Put the team in as many game conditioned, pressure atmosphere opportunities as possible while encouraging players to spend
extra time working on their individual repetitions necessary to be a confident Free Throw
Shooter.
The following pages will illustrate some of the ways in which we work FT’s into a practice.
MIKE NEIGHBORS
ASSISTANT COACH
[email protected]
513.503.0392
Beat “_________”
7
5
9
3
XAVIER OFFENSE
Free Throws
1
2
4
8
6
10
Split team on opposite goals although they are
competing as one team.
Scoring: A made FT is worth 1 point to YOUR
team. A missed FT is worth 2 points to “_____”
Select a “team to beat”… It could be your next
opponent, a bitter rival, a team that beat you
last season, the team predicted ahead or you,
etc…
Each shooter attempts two shots each…
Use the game scoreboard if possible to keep the
running total to make game like…
We will also increase the points to team “___”
on a miss if we get a big lead to simulate pressure situations to magnify late game feelings.
We play to 100 most days but can also be done
to any number.
Establish a consequence for not “beating ___”
Player 1 and 2 go at the same time. After they
shoot they switch ends and players around that
goal rotate to become the next shooter in line.
Watch your team to see how long it takes them
to figure out to point their best FT shooter first
in lines… You’ll be surprised I think by how
upperclassmen with simply jump up there without regard for the scoring of this drill!!!
“I Got ______”
6
XAVIER OFFENSE
Free Throws
2
1
5
4
3
Use as many goals as you have in your gym to maximize shooting…
Players disperse evenly to available goals.
Shooters all shooting 1 and the bonus situation
Shooters rotate clockwise after they shoot…
As they are shooting their FT’s… Coach yells out “ I got _____” fill in the name of a player…
If that player makes the front end of the FT everyone gets one clap and she attempts 2nd Free Throw.
Another make, two claps and everyone rotates to next spot.
If the front end is missed, the entire team runs two laps around the outside of the court and returns to
that goal. If the 2nd one is missed, it’s only one lap and we rotate after the lap.
To increase the pressure, increase the number of laps. You can also choose more than one person at a
time to multiply the pressure applied to multiple shooters.
Free Throw Game
XAVIER OFFENSE
Free Throws
6
7
8
9
10
5
4
3
2
1
One team competing together to not face a consequence if they don’t WIN.
Take the total number of shooter and multiply by 2. So if you have 10 players, your total number is 20.
Then take 70 percent of 20 to reach a goal of 14. With today’s calculators on cell phones there is no need to
be a math wiz, but you will also over a period of time “learn” the number you need with your team. 70 percent may be too high or not high enough. Adjust accordingly…
Each shooter is in a 1 and the bonus situation. With each successful FT worth 1 point toward the goal.
Using the scoreboard will help your players learn to understand the situation and also illustrate that a
made FT on the first or fifth or eighth attempt is JUST as valuable as the last one!!
The beauty of this drill is how demoralizing it is to the team when you miss the FRONT END and rotate
with ZERO points. This helps account for overall team % goal being around 70%.
It’s a simple drill but is very game like and you’ll love the pressure situations created as your players begin
to learn the importance of concentration on 1 and 1’s… You’ll also be happy with the carry over to the
games. We had a player hit a game winning FT in the press conference following say it was easy compared
to having a FT to keep her entire team from having to run a consequence.
Free Throw Ladder
6
XAVIER OFFENSE
Free Throws
2
1
5
4
3
This is a good one for game day shooting. One day in practice have everyone shoot 25 Free Throws and
turn their number of makes into a coach. Rank those players in order 1-25 based on the number of makes
and post them somewhere. There is something about seeing your name on a board or your teammates
(for good reasons or bad) to motivate.
So you have: Amber
Tyeshea
Katie
Nicole
Shatyra
Keisha
Sabrina
Ashley
Lynette
Tisha
24
23
22
22
21
20
19
18
17
12
Now, next game day you have the person below challenge the player above them in groups of 2. The winning player stays on their “rung” while the losing player falls down a rung. Repeat each week giving new
players a chance to rise to the top. One year we said whoever was at top of ladder got to shoot Technicals.
XAVIER OFFENSE
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Free Throws
6
7
8
9
10
5
4
3
2
1
To win an NCAA National Championship you must win 6 games in row….
So this one is simple. We line the team up.
Coach says FIRST ROUND opponent __________________. If we make we advance. Miss and our season
is over and we run a down and back.
SECOND ROUND opponent____________________. Repeat until we advance to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final Four, Title Game, until we win a Championship.
Easy to adjust to whatever title you are chasing with your team.
Sometimes we do it on both ends to see which team can win one first or advance the furthest in a set amount
of time.
CHALLENGE
10
9
8
7
5
4
3
2
6
1
XAVIER OFFENSE
Free Throws
Straight Showdown:
The fun and competition of this drill is in the dividing up of the teams…
Talls vs Smalls
FR and Sophs vs JR and SRs
Odd # jersey’s vs Even # jerseys
Blue vs. White
Coaches vs. Players
Whatever you can come up with to keep it fun and competitive…
We do it sudden death style where opposite teams picks shooter to add even more pressure.
We do it out of certain number
We do it where own team selects order
Again, whatever you can come up with to make it fun but still put pressure on the shooter
Conditioning FT’s
6
XAVIER OFFENSE
Free Throws
2
1
5
4
3
We use FT’s and conditioning early in the season in combination to gain stamina as well as shooting free
throws under game type situations of being fatigued.
You can do this at any number of goals. Put three players at a goal. One player shooting, one rebounding, and one conditioning. As player one goes into free throw routine, the conditioning player sprints
down to the opposite end of the court. Rebounding player retrieves and passes back to shooter for 2nd
attempt. The conditioning player sprints back to her goal as the shooter releases her 2nd shot. The Conditioning player sprints right to the FT line to become the next shooter. Shooter becomes rebounder and
rebounder becomes conditioner. Repeat until a certain number of shots are made or attempted.
We also do this with lane slides for the conditioning as well as to distract the shooter. You can do with
push ups, line jumps, or any other form of conditioning you use in your program.