how high could you get your free throw percentage

S

Super-Grover

Contributor
Veteran XV
Friend of mine and I had an argument today. He said he could shoot 80 percent from the Free Throw Line if given enough time to practice. I said he couldn't.

In fairness to me, he said if he devoted his life to it, he could shoot 90 percent. I reminded him that maybe 5 NBA players in HISTORY have ever shot 90 percent for a season.

So he backed off to 80 percent.

Obviously, if you devoted your life to free throw shooting, you would improve significantly from your current self. But everyone would have a right wall of performance, based solely on talent, that they'd bump up against.

The discussion arose because he was blaming Shaq for not practicing hard enough to improve. I theorized that it was Shaq's talent that was holding him back, and that he could practice forever and never reach 80 percent.

Thoughts? What do you think you could shoot if allowed to put in a year's worth of practice?
 
there is a difference between free throw practice by yourself and free throws in the 4th quarter of an nba game.
 
i shoot 80+%(when practicing) so yes i believe your friend can too.

I'd say my % in games (intermurals since theres no FT's in pickups) is around 70.

Pressure changes everything, so maybe this question should be "What do you think you could shoot in game\pressure situation"

edit: nash\allen are probably 99% when they practice :D
 
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Can i rebound?
 
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i think 85% is probably very attainable if you really devote yourself to it

that said i probably shoot them at like a 65% clip in real games, so there's that
 
Yeah, some days in practice he could easily push the 80-90% assuming he practiced enough. Especially if he already plays etc.
 
Shaq has some bizarre psychological issues that keep him from making any free throws during games. It probably has to do with his size during childhood.
 
Darkstrand said:
it's not pressure it's running up and down a court 20 times between each 2 free throws
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fatigue, psychological pressure all play a role.

plus in the case of shaq, he has freakishly large hands and cant hold the ball like a normal person. Not that he shouldnt be able to cope with that but yea.
 
i can consistently hit 9/10 free throws

i play 4 times a week, probably shoot about 200 free throws a week total.
 
I suck at basketball, but I know I could hit 60-70% easy. If I were feeling bold, I would say 75%. With practice, 80 seems quite reasonable.
 
i think the good pros can hit 95% or so when no pressure and fully rested.

also depends on how many you're shooting

i got a good chance to make 100% if only shooting 1 basket
 
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