A question for the Scoop basketball coaches out there...

[ErickJD08]

I am always baffled by good jump shooters who are below average free throw shooters.  Chris Duhon, Jason Williams, and I am sure many others all fall into this category.  Why is DJO a below average free throw shooter?  His form looks good (I know a little but not a ton) and he looks like he has good rhythm.  Does anyone have any thoughts?  If anyone spots any issues, can they be worked out with good coaching and time in the gym?   

[Skatastrophy]

I don't know anything about the mechanics of DJO's shots, but oftentimes it's said that FT misses are due to a lack of mental toughness.  I'm not accusing DJO of not being tough, I'm just throwing that out there.

[gumbyandpokey]

I am always baffled by good jump shooters who are below average free throw shooters.  Chris Duhon, Jason Williams, and I am sure many others all fall into this category.  Why is DJO a below average free throw shooter?  His form looks good (I know a little but not a ton) and he looks like he has good rhythm.  Does anyone have any thoughts?  If anyone spots any issues, can they be worked out with good coaching and time in the gym?   

On some of his bad misses, he has faded away slightly, which caused the ball to come up short.  

And it's usually a case of nerves that causes this.

[DomJamesToTheBasket]

One factor is the number of times he gets to the line in a given game.  Consistency can be difficult in 2-3 attempts.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I don't know anything about the mechanics of DJO's shots, but oftentimes it's said that FT misses are due to a lack of mental toughness.  I'm not accusing DJO of not being tough, I'm just throwing that out there.

That's bullsh*t. It can be mental, but it's got nothing to do with not being "mentally tough." That's a tired cliche. This kind of thing happens all the time in sports. You miss a couple big ones and you start thinking about it. Golf, baseball, basketball.

[Big Papi]

Oh if only someone had the magic formula, they would make a mint.  Lots of factors involved but they all probably fall under two main categories.  Mechanics being one, followed by confidence.  You need to have consistent form on your shots.  That comes with repetition.  With repeition and good consistent mechanics, a player needs to be confident.  Factors that influence mechanics and confidence is fatigue, crowd, crowd noise, lack of routine, etc.

DJOs problems is primarily due to a lack of consistent mechanics, sprinkle in some key misses early on in the year and his free throw shooting percentage is not where it should be.  

Definitely not an isolated problem.  Free throw shooting in general is awful mainly because no one really practices free throw shooting going all the way back to grade school.  I believe Novak spent hours upon hours shooting free throws when he grew up.  I think most kids these days prefer to work on their 3 point shooting and cross-over dribble while going to the rack over fundamentals.

[Fullodds]

Mechanics, muscle memory, confidence.

DJO and many college players leave their legs out of the ft too much. Many will lean back and miss (James did this all the time). Good ft shooters need to bend their knees and start the shot from the floor up with good follow through and rotation. You want to almost fall off the line to the hoop with your follow through. Easy to do in a gym all alone, more required mentally in front of 16,000+

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It's self confidence...but it's not "mental toughness." You don't play D1 basketball, with all the responsibilities it represents, without mental toughness.

By the way, comparing DJO and James on the FT line is a joke. I'd take DJO a million times over DJ. DJO hit three straight HUGE free throws against UConn. You could pretty much count of James missing all three of those, were it him at the line.

[🏀]

It's self confidence...but it's not "mental toughness." You don't play D1 basketball, with all the responsibilities it represents, without mental toughness.

By the way, comparing DJO and James on the FT line is a joke. I'd take DJO a million times over DJ. DJO hit three straight HUGE free throws against UConn. You could pretty much count of James missing all three of those, were it him at the line.

All three? He'd miss the first two crucial shots, but make the worthless third.

[BM1090]

Confidence is the number one component of free throw shooting. I have myself as a prime example.

I played in two basketball leagues while I was in high school. Both relatively competitive. In one league I was a 88% free throw shooter. I hit every clutch free throw.

In my other league, the first game I went 0-4 on free throws. I was never the same in that league and ended under 50 percent. It was 100 percent mental. I would think too much about the shot, which in turn would screw up my mechanics. It's better to go up there and just shoot it

[Blackhat]

assuming you have fundamentally sound mechanics which DJO does then........

 free throw shooting comes down to confidence, calmness, and focus.   

 DJO has the stroke, he's got to work on the mental edge at the FT line. 

[77ncaachamps]

DJO's a rhythm shooter.

Hard to get that standing still at a line.

[Skatastrophy]

That's bullsh*t. It can be mental, but it's got nothing to do with not being "mentally tough." That's a tired cliche. This kind of thing happens all the time in sports. You miss a couple big ones and you start thinking about it. Golf, baseball, basketball.

You're really splitting hairs if you're making a distinction between "mental," "mental toughness" and "confidence" in a free-throw shooting situation.