Duncan's Free Throw Technique Analyzed (X's And O's Of Basketball)

[duncan228]

http://coachingbetterbball.blogspot.com/2008/05/tim-duncans-free-throw-technique.html

Tim Duncan's Free Throw Technique Analyzed
Posted by bruchu

I watched part of tonight's game through TNT's broadband all-access channel and it was fantastic. It officially debuted tonight for Game 1 between the Lakers and the Spurs. I think TNT has been doing a superb job with its basketball coverage for the past 10 years and they just keep getting better and better.

What TNT has done is basically use 4 cameras and stream them live over the internet. The 4 cams in use are:

1. 2 player cams that basically follow a player around the court wherever they go, tonight it was mainly Kobe and Ginobili/Duncan
2. The Robo cam which sits on top of the backboard near the shot clock
3. The Arena Robo cam which is an overhead cam that moves with the play along a string
4. Mosaic, which has the other 4 cams in 1 view

Anyways, using the Robo cam, you could get a really get a good look at the free-throws. We've all seen it on TV, Tim Duncan's awkward way of free-throw shooting. Duncan has struggled with his free-throw shooting his entire career. The older he gets, the more unorthodox it becomes, here are a few sequences from the first half (apologize for the first clip, the audio doesn't match the video very well),

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Duncan's Free-Throw Technique:

Free-throw shooting, or any form shooting, in my opinion is one of those fundamental skills that must be taught early when kids are young so that they can develop the correct technique. Unfortunately, for Duncan, he didn't play organized basketball until late in his high school years, so the basic motor skills of good form shooting were never engrained into him. Basically, it's like when you learn a language, it's always easier to learn it when you're a young child, then trying to pick up a new language as an adult.

Well, lets take a look at his shooting a little more closely. First, I don't like the pigeon stance because I think it's very unbalanced and restricts the natural motion of the shot moving from the feet to knees to body to arms. Next, we look at his ball position. Duncan keeps the ball so low, almost at his knees while he lines it up. I think this ball position makes it extremely difficult to lineup your hands pre-shot and results in a much longer shot release having to bring the ball all the way up through his body. Finally, there's his pause. Again, I think the long pause results in a jerky motion,

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/duncanft1.jpg
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/duncanft2.jpg

Duncan shot 6-for-10 on FTs tonight, just around his average. Duncan has usually shot in the 60% range throughout his career, curiously it is higher this season over 70% but he's making almost 2 less attempts. He hasn't always had the unorthodox technique, and the awkward pause is a newer development. Phil Jackson isn't known to be a guy to call something like this out, but I would bet anything that Duncan probably violates the 10 second rule to shoot each free throw most times. I remember, back in the 90s when Karl Malone would take a long pause and opposing fans would count down the seconds out loud to distract him.

Summary:

I didn't talk much about the actual game. The Lakers use a fantastic 4th quarter rally to come back from as much as 20 points. I think the Lakers had just played so poorly in the 1st half, and the fatigue of the 7th game from the Spurs finally took its toll in the 2nd half. The Lakers were able to take advantage of fresher legs into the 4th.

Free throws got you singing the blues? Take a look at Ed Palubinskas's DVD on Becoming a Great Shooter. Coach Palubinskas has worked with professionals such as Lisa Leslie, Shaquille O'Neal and recently Lauren Jackson. To discuss this and many more of your favorite basketball topics, head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk with other coaches from around the world.

[jmard5]

And for all those calling out Duncan that he takes a least 10 seconds to shoot the free throw?

Check out Odom. He shoots it at the 15 second range.

[bdictjames]

I find it weird that Duncan now bends his right leg when he shoots the freethrow. I always thought he was more effective when both ankles are perpendicular.

[wildbill2u]

http://coachingbetterbball.blogspot.com/2008/05/tim-duncans-free-throw-technique.html

Tim Duncan's Free Throw Technique Analyzed
Posted by bruchu

Duncan's Free-Throw Technique:

Free-throw shooting, or any form shooting, in my opinion is one of those fundamental skills that must be taught early when kids are young so that they can develop the correct technique. Unfortunately, for Duncan, he didn't play organized basketball until late in his high school years, so the basic motor skills of good form shooting were never engrained into him. Basically, it's like when you learn a language, it's always easier to learn it when you're a young child, then trying to pick up a new language as an adult.

Well, lets take a look at his shooting a little more closely. First, I don't like the pigeon stance because I think it's very unbalanced and restricts the natural motion of the shot moving from the feet to knees to body to arms. Next, we look at his ball position. Duncan keeps the ball so low, almost at his knees while he lines it up. I think this ball position makes it extremely difficult to lineup your hands pre-shot and results in a much longer shot release having to bring the ball all the way up through his body. Finally, there's his pause. Again, I think the long pause results in a jerky motion,

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/duncanft1.jpg
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/duncanft2.jpg

Duncan shot 6-for-10 on FTs tonight, just around his average. Duncan has usually shot in the 60% range throughout his career, curiously it is higher this season over 70% but he's making almost 2 less attempts. He hasn't always had the unorthodox technique, and the awkward pause is a newer development. Phil Jackson isn't known to be a guy to call something like this out, but I would bet anything that Duncan probably violates the 10 second rule to shoot each free throw most times. I remember, back in the 90s when Karl Malone would take a long pause and opposing fans would count down the seconds out loud to distract him.

.

I agree with you that his technique is bad--but you should have seen it last year. At least now he has one foot extended forward and can bring his body/arms into the shot and follow through.

Last year he set up with both feet squared up to the line and shot the ball using only his arms. Try that sometime and you'll feel the tension pulling in your arms as they extend. No one shoots like that on any kind of shot because of the awkward tension it causes. You can't get into a natural followthrough and body rhythm.

I don't know if he changed this year because of Chip or because he was so bad last year. Or Maybe he read some of my posts on his form here on Spurstalk. :lol

[duncan228]

FT's are the weakest part of Duncan's game. What I like is that he knows it and he's working it. Shaq never bothered to try to improve his. Duncan strikes me as a perfectionist of sorts. His fundamentals are so strong, but he has this one flaw. He'll keep working on it, keep trying to get better. We saw it this season, whatever he did has helped. Confidence is a factor, if he hits his first couple he does better the rest of that game. And for all the woes FT's cause him he usually can hit them when it counts.

[jman3000]

FT's are the weakest part of Duncan's game. What I like is that he knows it and he's working it. Shaq never bothered to try to improve his. Duncan strikes me as a perfectionist of sorts. His fundamentals are so strong, but he has this one flaw. He'll keep working on it, keep trying to get better. We saw it this season, whatever he did has helped. Confidence is a factor, if he hits his first couple he does better the rest of that game. And for all the woes FT's cause him he usually can hit them when it counts.

hmmm.... he's had 15 years of organized basketball to get better at freethrows. he's gonna stay around the same percentage for the rest of his career... his near 80% season in 02 or 03 might have completely been a fluke.

and i also disagree with you about the "hitting free throws when it counts". he's always had trouble hitting them at all junctures of a game. one might say a remedy would be to concentrate more, but that's impossible because he's already concentrating too much as it is... that's why he stares at the basket so long. ive watched him shoot free throws in warm ups and it's fucking amazing to me that he's such a mediocre free throw shooter. he literally takes about a 2 second beat between attempts and it's nothing but the bottom of the net.

what he needs to do is just get the ball, dribble 2 or 3 times, collect his breathe, and shoot it. whatever calculations or mantras are going through his mind during that 6 seconds he's just staring at the rim are obviously not working, but NBA players always have routines and it's paramount to blasphemy to change those mid season... or post season as is the case now.

[duncan228]

and i also disagree with you about the "hitting free throws when it counts".

I specifically said "usually" he hits them when it counts. There's nothing consistent about Duncan's FT's except his inconsistency. But he's been known to hit clutch ones as well as miss them.

He has had lots of years to "fix" the problem, obviously he hasn't been able to do that yet. My point is that he continues to work at it. He hasn't just given into being a lousy FT shooter for the rest of his career. I admire that.

As far as what he "needs" to do, I don't think anyone but he knows that answer. He's worked with Chip, he's worked on his own. He "needs" to continue to try to improve. Whether it helps or not remains to be seen, but again, I admire his work ethic to not just let it go.

[41times]

The problem with Duncan's FT's is not the amount of time he takes but the lack of rhythm, herky jerky style.

If he would take the ball from down low to above his head and then shoot in one slow continuous repeatable motion it would be better.

Good FT shooting is all about rhythm, smoothness and repeatable motions.

[Zero Point Four]

Shaq never bothered to try to improve his.


Otherwise great thread. This, however, is inaccurate. Shaq spent many, many hours - including off days - trying to improve. He'd actually go when other people weren't around. He also had a specific free-throw coach when he was with the Lakers.

However, because of a wrist fracture as a youth, he never has gotten full range of motion, and his follow-through could never be perfect. At least, that's what it got blamed on.

[duncan228]

Otherwise great thread. This, however, is inaccurate. Shaq spent many, many hours - including off days - trying to improve. He'd actually go when other people weren't around. He also had a specific free-throw coach when he was with the Lakers.

However, because of a wrist fracture as a youth, he never has gotten full range of motion, and his follow-through could never be perfect. At least, that's what it got blamed on.

All news to me, I've never followed Shaq close enough to get anything more than the mainstream reporting. I never read anything about him working it. I don't like him but I'll always give credit where it's due. Good for him if he worked on it.

[michaelwcho]

Good article, but the idea that there is a "correct" form is a bugaboo. As a guitarist, I can vouch for many different ways of playing by virtuosos that get the job done.

However, his point about Duncan being limited by a late start are valid. Very few greats in any discipline did not start early in life.

That being said, a free throw is a static, limited movement that should be susceptible to vast amounts of repetition.