Coaches: Want to Improve your Team's FT percentage??

There are thousands of theories on how to improve your FT percentage. If you ask Wilt Chamberlain, he might laugh and say, "No, there are millions of ways!"

He tried quite a few. I remember seeing the 7 foot Wilt the Stilt shooting "granny" style free throws while dominating the paint for the Philadelphia 76ers.  Granny style is two hands, underhand, and bring the ball down beneath your crotch and softly with backspin launch the ball in the basket.  Unfortunately, if the hands aren't precisely in rhythm, you have a tendency to be either left or right.

Super scorer Rick Barry, whose many children played and still play in the NBA, mastered the technique and shot a high percentage while with the Golden State Warriors.  Wilt didn't. Chamberlain reverted to a regular one handed shot, but moved back into the middle of the keyhole to shoot his "FREE" shots.  He never did attain success the way he desired.

Shaquille O'Neal, whose hand engulfs the ball, has never had a solid free throw game.

Kelvin Sampson used a drill at the end of practice to improve his team's FT percentage. One of his assistants, Jim Shaw, is now an assistant at University of Washington.  The Huskies shot 59% from the Free Throw line last year.   That was the worst in the nation!!!   This year has been different, and the Huskies have ridden improved FT shooting to a 19-7 record.

In a Valentine's Day win over Oregon, the Huskies connected on 36 of their 46 FTA. Two days earlier, Washington went 21-29 from the line in a win over Oregon State. And in a road win over Stanford on Feb. 8, UW hit 21-28 of their free throws.

Shaw convinced head coach Lorenzo Romar to implement the drill at the beginning of this season.

THE LADDER~

At the end of every practice, all 13 players gather in a circle around the free-throw line, then take turns shooting free throws, each getting two at a time — either shooting a one-and-one, or a two-shot foul depending on the day (the team alternates by day.)

The drill isn't complete until the players combine to make 19 of 26 on days when the situation is a one-and-one, or 20 out of 26 on days when it's a two-shot situation. The totals are kept on a scoreboard, and it's referred to as "climbing the ladder" for the team to get to its requirement to pass the drill.

Players who miss head to the sideline for extra conditioning.

Some days, the team has needed as many as 45 minutes to complete the ladder, switching ends of the court with each failure.