Many people set a goal to do something when they turn or approach the age of 50. My brother-in-law decided to climb Mt. Ranier. He had to turn back due to a bum knee when he tried it at 50, but he returned to clilmb it at age 52. A friend ran a marathon when he turned 50, though he says his knees have never been the same since. I decided to make my goal to shoot 50 free throws at 90% accuracy because 1) basketball is my favorite sport, and it would fit well with my summer project of shooting free throws in the driveway with my daughter, 2) I didn’t want to do anything that would cause a significant amount of damage to my body, and 3) I felt the goal was challenging enough to be something I would be proud of achieving, but it would not necessarily be out of reach.
It happened on the evening of Friday, Sept. 4th. I made 45-of-50 after shooting I don’t know how many free throws over the summer, but it was a lot. Now having accomplished this feat, I am even more impressed with “real” 90% free-throw-shooters such as my hero Reggie Miller who shot 90% FOR ENTIRE NBA SEASONS - WITH PEOPLE WATCHING! The fact that he shot 88% for his career is mind-boggling.
More detail for those interested…
I started really going after the 45-of-50 goal a couple weeks ago, on the driveway hoop, realizing that the summer was coming to a close and preferring to reach the goal before I turned 50 (in January), not after. There were times when I felt like it might not happen and that perhaps my time should be spent doing more important things around the house, particularly after some close-but-no-cigar runs. Last week I decided I would try to reach the goal before summer was over. After going at it hard on Thursday evening and not being able to sustain yet another good start, I decided on my way home from work on Friday to give it one more shot. Labor Day and the end of Summer was looming.
Things were not going particularly well as I started shooting on Friday, as I was struggling to get into a groove. However, I had learned that if I could stay focused and preserve my energy, I could get on a hot streak even after feeling tired. The key was to stay completely focused and not let wasteful thoughts interfere with concentrating only on making this free throw. Previous ascents up the free throw mountain had led to painful falls all the way back down, due mainly to distracting thoughts such as ”Now, what happens if i make my 45th free throw and I still haven’t gotten to 50 attempts?” or ”Wow, it will be so fun to celebrate after I make all these shots and reach my 50-year-old-guy goal,” etc.
I decided to make one more run before calling it a night, by requiring myself before quitting to make 10 straight or 10 of 11 and see how far I could take the streak. As I started one streak, I decided to try to make my thinking as simple and relaxed as possible, and preserve the thinking/feeling that led to a swish. Breaking the goal into 10 makes at a time, I made 10 of the first 11, then another 10 of 11, then 10 straight. This, the thirties, is where previous serious attempts had failed, some almost salvaged by comeback. I continued to focus on one free throw at a time and made another 10 while missing two. Missing two was OK, as I could afford the misses while staying in enough of a groove. It meant I could only miss one more, though, and I still had 5 makes to go. I stayed in my groove and made 3, but then missed one. I had to make the last two, which I did without too much problem. I actually made 3 more just to make sure I had made enough shots, given I had been trying to devote as little attention as possible to the act of counting the makes and misses.
I must say it was a great moment. Nobody was there to see it and it was a pretty insignificant event in the grand scheme of things, but reaching that goal was as exciting to me as some events I had witnessed as a sports fan. When it hit me that I had actually reached my goal, I punted the basketball in the air, took a victory lap around the back yard, and began thoroughly enjoying my Labor Day weekend, knowing that I could turn 50 as a (at least for 50 shots, under favorable conditions) 90% free throw shooter.
Among the things I learned on the way to my 45-of-50 goal:
- Of all the components of the free-throw skill, the follow-through is by far the one that makes the most difference. Forcing myself to not forget to nail the follow-through was a key ingredient in reaching my goal.
- A solid, effective routine is essential to shooting high percentages. I had been underestimating the value of settling on a single, unaltering routine and making sure each component was as optimized as possible. I had had kind of a routine that was never really cemented in my mind, so I finally focused on one single sequence of actions, which now is: 1) dribble three times and check proper hand position on the ball, 2) bounce on knees twice while locking in on the target - the very back middle of the rim, 3) lift ball to shoot and follow through with the first 2 fingers while extending to tip-toes, and 4) hold the hands up at the follow through point on the release.
- Lif t is huge - if that ball is not getting high enough into the air, it will not get into the optimal arc — I read something recently about this that I found very useful: ”the ball should be going through a circle, not an ellipse.”
- Breathing - this is one part of my routine that I did not describe above: I found that integrating my breathing patterns into my routine was really helpful, especially in keeping my arms and hand motion more consistent. I essentially inhale while doing my 3 dribbles, then exhale as I am starting to shoot.
- As has been well-documented, consistent free-throw shooting is more a psychological exercise than a physical one, even when no one is watching. Because of this fact, I believe that acting skills could be useful in improving free-throw shooting and other skills that require a lot of concentration and confidence. For example, during the streak that turned out to be the goal-reacher, I was kind of “acting” like someone who had already done it before. Pretending that I was doing something that I had already accomplished before simplified my thoughts and aided my concentration.