There are certain similar characteristics to be taught for any kind of shot -  hook, layup, jump, free throw -  but that’s fodder for another article.

Usually the layup is the first taught shot - or at least a shot right under the basket.  When beginning to teach a shot from out on the floor, a good place to begin is with a free throw.  It is the shot where the correct fundamentals for making a shot can be taught and then transferred over to any other kind of shot.

What is right to teach depends on the player and their understanding of the shot process and the way they already deliver their shot.  In teaching the free throw, if the player is a raw novice, then all the steps I outline in the “7 Steps For Getting Started On The Path Toward Free Throw Mastery” (below) would be appropriate, until the player becomes more experienced and begins to exhibit an individual style.  Then, teaching should incorporate the experience and style of the player and where necessary, look to improve the player in one or more aspects within the shot process, rather than make wholesale changes in the shot process.

7 Steps For Getting Started

On The Path Toward Free Throw Mastery

*Use the appropriate sized ball for your age/size/gender.

*If using regulation height baskets, move up 4 feet closer to the basket than the big kids - 11' from the basket.

*If using age-related heights for baskets (8-9 feet), shoot from the regulation FT line.

1. Foot Placement: Align the toes of the shooting foot in the middle of the free throw line. Keep toes behind the FT line, shooting side foot forward slightly or both feet square but behind the FT line throughout the shot.

2. Holding The Ball: Without bouncing the ball, hold the ball in your non-shooting hand with the grooves facing toward you (left to right - parallel to the floor).  Place your index (first) finger in a groove above or below the air hole in the middle of the ball.  Place the thumb and pinky (if you can extend your fingers that much) of your shooting hand into the grooves on the ball below the one being used by the index finger, otherwise, spread them as much as you can.

3. Beginning The Shot : Breathe in and hold that breath while beginning your shot. Move the ball up past your chin, your eyes and in front of your forehead.  As you are doing this, begin to bring your shooting elbow in under the ball, so your elbow is pointing directly down at the floor.

4.The Shot Pocket: As you begin number 3 above, bend your knees slightly and bring the ball up in front of you to the shot pocket. Hold the ball just under your chin, with the back of the hand on the ball toward your chin.

5. Eyes On The Target: When you have done all of the above, you are ready to shoot, look at the basket - your "target" - and imagine your shot going up and over the rim, dropping into the basket. Maintain your focus on the "target" throughout the release of the shot.

6. Delivering The Shot: As the ball passes in front of your forehead, and you are into your shot, allow your guide hand (non-shooting hand) to stay above your forehead, where it came off the ball, while the elbow of the shooting arm comes under the ball and the shooting arm and hand continues the shot.  (You are only shooting with the one hand.)

7. Finishing The Shot: As the elbow of your shooting arm straightens, you deliver the ball upward and outward straight toward the basket. Don't allow your hand to turn or close, releasing the ball with the index finger pointing toward the basket.  As you release the shot, release the breath.     

Parts of these steps continue to be important, even as a player matures in their shot making technique and individual style.  However, there is no hard and fast rule about how is best to shoot a free throw.

Many choices about finger placement come into the picture.  I have tried most all of them and settled on one that works most consistently for me.  Though I have shot 98/100 with four different finger placements, I am most comfortable with only one.  The coach and player need to work together to find the one that feels and works right for that player.  Different strokes for different players?  That’s what Guinness World Record holder Bob Fisher believes: (http://www.nbsashooters.com/does-finger-length-and-finger-spacing-affect-shot ).

My friend, and co-founding member of the National Basketball Shooters Association, Ed Palubinskas, is possibly the best active free throw shooter in the world.  He is also a former “All World” selection as a player. He advocates the index finger in the center of the ball.  But that’s not all.  He contends that what the hand does most often affects the reliability of the shot. (http://www.nbsashooters.com/hands-rules ) (http://www.nbsashooters.com/’handy’-vs-‘army’-free-throw-shooting ).

And that’s where I want to go with the rest of this article.  You see, when players get to the point of having the athleticism of being able to deliver a shot when twisting and turning their bodies or falling away (like Dirk, Kobe, Duane or LeBron), one thing must remain constant:  The shooting shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand must follow the eyes and be on a straight line to the basket, regardless of what the rest of the body is doing, and combine with the right force and arc to get the ball to go in the basket.

The bottom line is, it’s not the rest of the body so much as the shooting arm that directs the shot and any resultant accuracy.

Transfer this to the free throw line.  I can face 90 degrees away from the basket and still make a shot, if I focus on the shooting arm doing what it does even when I face the basket.

A lot of teaching theories about balance, stance, feet at the line, body alignment, rituals, etc., fly out the window, if the shooting arm, from the shoulder to the finger tips, is not in alignment between the eye and the basket when delivering a shot. Of course, this needs to be combined with the needed up force and arc to enter the target.

Keep the wrist from twisting and watch the shot go straight – no ringers, no side of the rim hits.

Eddie P. hits it square in his recent article:  http://www.nbsashooters.com/basketball-free-throw-shooting-be-square-or-not .

For beginners, start out with rules.  Get them thinking about good fundamentals.  Let them learn what a good shot feels like.  Then, help them develop their own shot, keeping in mind that it’s not what their body is doing so much during the shot, it’s what the shooting arm is doing.