I missed the free throws that cost us the championship. It was the worst feeling ever.
I realized that random practice wasn’t working. I needed specific drills to fix my terrible technique and my even worse mental game.
This is my personal playbook, the simple drills I used to go from a choker to the most reliable shooter on the team. Let’s get started.
1. How the ‘Mikan’ and ‘Form’ Drills Changed My Life:
When I was missing those big shots, I realized my real problem wasn’t my nerves; it was my technique. If your form is shaky, the pressure will always expose it. You can shoot 100 free throws a day, but if you’re practicing bad form, you’re just getting really good at missing.
My first step was forgetting the pressure and going back to the absolute basics. I focused on two drills that are so simple, a kindergarten class could do them, but they were the secret to building perfect, repeatable muscle memory.
The Problem Spot:
The number one thing I was doing wrong was letting my elbow stick out to the side like a chicken wing. When your elbow sticks out, the ball goes wild. If you want the ball to go straight, your arm needs to be straight.
My first major goal was to force my elbow to stay tucked directly under the ball, pointing straight at the basket. This is called the “shooting channel,” and the simpler you keep it, the better.
I started every single shooting session with two key drills to lock in that perfect form.
Drill #1: The Form Drill:
This drill is done right in front of the basket. You don’t even need to use the free-throw line yet!
- Stand Close: I stood about three feet away from the basket. The goal is not to make the shot; the goal is to practice the perfect release.
- One-Handed Shot: You only shoot with your shooting hand (I’m a righty, so I used my right hand). On the other hand (the guide hand) rests gently on the side of the ball; it doesn’t push the ball at all.
- The Elbow Check: Before every shot, I focused 100% on my elbow. I made sure it was directly under the ball. If I felt my elbow swing out, I stopped the shot and reset.
- The ‘Cookie Jar’ Finish: This is the most important part! When you finish your shot, your index and middle fingers should be the last things to touch the ball, and your wrist should be totally snapped down, pointing straight at the ground. It should look like your hand is reaching into a deep cookie jar. If your hand finishes high or floppy, you lose all control.
- The Backspin Test: I only counted the drill as successful if the ball had smooth backspin. If the ball wobbles when it flies, that means your release was messy.
I used to do 50 makes of this drill before I was allowed to move back to the free-throw line. It was tedious, but it built the fundamental muscle memory that my arm needed to remember what “straight” felt like.
Drill #2: The Mikan Drill:
The Mikan drill is usually a layup drill, but I used a modified version to fix the rhythm of my free throw, the rhythm between catching the ball, dribbling, and jumping.
Free throws aren’t jumping shots, but they need a little bit of leg push. I realized I was too stiff.
- The Dip and Rise: I started focusing on the “dip and rise.” When you catch the ball from the referee, you need to bend your knees slightly (the dip) as you bring the ball down. Then, you straighten your legs (the rise) as you lift the ball up to shoot. It should all be one smooth motion, like a little, quiet spring.
- The “Slow Mikan”: I would stand at the free-throw line and practice this rhythm without shooting. Dip, rise, snap the wrist. Dip, rise, snap the wrist. I would repeat this 20 times, treating it like a dance move, making sure the leg push and the arm lift happened at the exact same time. The ball should not rest; it should move.
This drill helped me connect my legs to my arms. The energy from my legs, through my back, and out of my wrist is what makes the ball fly smoothly. Once I locked in the “Cookie Jar” finish with the “Dip and Rise” rhythm, my shots started feeling consistent, even when I was nervous.
Mastering these two technique drills was the boring part, but it was the necessary foundation. Once the technique was fixed, I could move on to the hard work: repetition.
2. My ’50 Before Anything’ Drill for Consistency:
Once I felt confident that my elbow was tucked and my wrist was snapping into the “cookie jar,” I faced the next challenge: consistency. Hitting one good free throw is easy; hitting ten in a row is hard. Hitting them perfectly in a game is even harder.
I realized that great free-throw shooting is all about muscle memory. Your body has to know how to execute the shot without your brain having to think about it. If you have to think, “Tuck the elbow, snap the wrist,” you’re going to miss.
The only way to achieve this robotic, perfect repetition is through high volume. I came up with my non-negotiable drill: The ’50 Before Anything’ Rule.
The ’50 Before Anything’ Rule:
This drill is exactly what it sounds like. Every single time I stepped onto the court, whether for practice, before a game, or just messing around, I was not allowed to shoot a three-pointer, a mid-range jumper, or a layup until I had made 50 free throws.
I didn’t care how long it took. Sometimes it took 25 minutes; sometimes it took 45 minutes if I was having a bad day. But 50 makes was the toll I had to pay to start playing the fun parts of basketball.
The point of this drill wasn’t just to get the reps; it was to force my body into the rhythm of the free throw.
The Power of the Routine:
During the ’50 Before Anything’ drill, I couldn’t just stand there and throw the ball. I had to use my complete, detailed pre-shot routine every single time. This is where the magic repetition happens.
My routine was simple, but I never varied it:
- Receive and Reset: Catch the ball from the imaginary ref.
- The Spin Check: Spin the ball in my hands exactly two times. This feels silly, but it makes sure the laces (the lines on the ball) are facing the same way every time, giving me a better grip.
- The Dribble: Dribble the ball one time hard on the floor. This settles my nerves and gets my legs ready.
- The Dip and Rise: I then line up my feet, execute the “dip and rise” motion, and shoot.
By making 50 shots while repeating the exact same steps, my brain started to link the two-spin, one-dribble, dip-and-rise sequence to the perfect shot. It became an automatic reflex.
Tracking the Streak:
To keep the repetition drill interesting (because it can get boring!), I added a mental challenge: the consecutive streak.
Even though the goal was 50 total makes, I started tracking how many shots I could make in a row.
- If I missed a shot after making 15 straight, I got angry, but I quickly learned that the streak wasn’t about the shot I just took; it was about the shot I was about to take.
- I used the streak to reward myself mentally. When I hit 25 in a row for the first time, it felt incredible!
The frustration of missing the 49th shot and having to start the consecutive counter all over again taught me a powerful lesson: Consistency requires the same focus on the 49th shot as it does on the 1st.
The ’50 Before Anything’ rule transformed my shooting. It turned my shaky technique into muscle memory, and it solidified my pre-shot routine so well that when I got fouled in a game, my body didn’t panic and invent new movements; it just automatically went into the two-spin, one-dribble sequence that led to a successful shot. This repetition was the key to building consistency, but it wasn’t enough for the fourth quarter…
3. How to Practice Free Throws When You’re Tired:
I quickly learned that shooting a free throw when you are fresh is easy. But when the game is on the line in the fourth quarter, your legs feel like cement, your lungs are burning, and your heart is pounding like a drum. That’s when my perfect technique would fall apart.
My problem wasn’t technique or repetition anymore; it was fatigue. I realized I had to teach my body to shoot perfectly, even when it was completely exhausted. I needed drills that simulated the real, physical stress of a close game.
I created two simple drills that put my body through the wringer, forcing my muscle memory to take over when my brain couldn’t think straight.
Drill #1: The “Sprint and Shoot” Drill:
This drill is designed to simulate getting fouled on a fast break, when you’ve just run the length of the court at full speed and suddenly have to stop and shoot.
- The Sprint: I would start at one baseline (the end of the court) and sprint as fast as possible to the opposite free-throw line. Full, lung-burning speed.
- The Stop: I grabbed a ball waiting near the line (or had a partner pass it instantly).
- The Immediate Routine: Without taking a single second to rest, I had to immediately start my pre-shot routine: two spins, one dribble, dip and rise.
- The Shoot: I took the shot while my heart was still pounding and my breathing was heavy.
The key to this drill is the immediate transition. You don’t wait for your breath. You force your body, in that moment of high stress, to go from a state of pure chaos (the sprint) into the perfectly calm, repetitive state of your free-throw routine.
When I started this drill, my shots were terrible. My legs would tremble, my breathing would mess up my timing, and I’d rush the shot. But after weeks of practice, my body learned a critical lesson: the routine is mandatory, even when tired. Now, when I’m gassed in a real game, I feel that panic, but my hands just automatically start the two-spin sequence, and the shot feels steady.
Drill #2: The “Line Drill” Free Throws:
Every basketball player knows the Line Drill or Suicides, running from the baseline to the free-throw line, back to the baseline, to the center court, back, and so on. It’s designed for total leg fatigue.
I modified this ultimate conditioning drill into a shooting test:
- Run the Line: I would run a full Line Drill sequence (baseline to free throw, to half court, to the opposite free throw, all the way to the end line, and back). Total physical exhaustion.
- Shoot Two: The moment I finished running, I would step to the line and shoot two free throws.
- The Price: If I missed the first shot, I had to run another full Line Drill. If I missed the second, I ran another full Line Drill. I would only continue the shooting portion of my workout once I made both shots in a row after running.
This drill taught me the hardest lesson in basketball: painful consequences for missing.
It simulates the heavy legs of the final minutes of a game, where you are so tired that your form wants to break down. The fear of having to run another suicide drill, the physical penalty, forced me to slow down my heart rate and concentrate harder on the fundamentals of the shot, even while sucking wind.
The mental toughness I built in this section of my training was the reason I was able to step to the line, with all the pressure in the world, and finally hit those game-winning free throws. I had already practiced the shot when I was 100 times more tired than I was in that moment.
4. My Secret for Hitting Shots When the Coach is Yelling:
I had fixed my technique (Section 1) and built up repetition (Section 2). I even learned to shoot when I was completely exhausted (Section 3). But there was one last thing that killed my game: mental pressure.
In a real game, the pressure isn’t just your tired legs; it’s the noise, the coach screaming, the entire season riding on your shoulders. The clock is zero, and you feel frozen. I had to create drills that were designed specifically to stress out my mind so that the actual game felt easy by comparison.
The secret I discovered is simple: Make the consequences of missing in practice worse than the consequences of missing in the game.
Drill #1: The “Make Ten, Run Ten” Drill:
This drill is designed to punish inconsistency and reward laser focus. It forces you to treat every single shot like it’s the most important shot of the day.
- The Goal: The goal of the drill is to make ten free throws in a row.
- The Penalty: If you miss any shot, you immediately run ten full-court sprints (down and back five times). Then you go back to the line, and your consecutive count resets to zero.
I loved and hated this drill. I might hit nine shots perfectly, and then my concentration would waver on the tenth, I’d miss, and suddenly I was running until I felt sick.
The physical penalty (the running) was the tool, but the mental lesson was the goal: it taught me that I had to focus on the small, simple routine every single time, without letting my mind drift forward to the celebration of making the tenth shot or the panic of missing it. This drill taught me to stay locked in on the present moment.
Drill #2: The “Game Scenario” Drill:
This is the best way to simulate the mental stress of a real game without actually playing one.
Before I took any shot during my pressure workout, I would yell out the scenario at the top of my lungs. I made sure it was dramatic and specific.
- “Score is 88-87! 4 seconds left! Two shots to take the lead! Must make both!”
- “We are down by one! If I make this shot, we go into overtime! Miss it, we lose!”
- “Bonus situation! This is the first of a one-and-one! If I miss, the other team gets the ball!”
I would do this for 20 shots in a row, changing the high-stakes scenario every time.
Why is yelling in the scenario important? Because it forces your brain to generate the same adrenaline and anxiety you feel in a real game. You feel the physical change, your heart rate goes up, and your mouth gets dry. Then, you force your body to use the automatic routine (two spins, one dribble) to overcome that panic.
When I started this drill, I missed more than half the time because the imaginary pressure was too much. But after weeks of screaming scenarios, when I got to a real game, the actual pressure felt familiar. I had already been there and won that mental battle 50 times in practice.
The combination of the physical consequence (running) and the mental consequence (imagining the loss) was the key to forging a strong mental game. I had learned to ignore the noise and focus only on the mechanics that I had made automatic.
5. The Perfect Tracking Hack:
It’s easy to feel like you’re getting better just because you made three shots in a row today. But sometimes, when you have a bad practice, you feel like you’re getting worse. This emotional roller coaster is exhausting and messes with your confidence.
I realized that feelings lie, but numbers don’t. The only way to truly know if all that hard work, the sprints, the technique drills, the punishment runs, was paying off was to track the data. This simple hack gave me the confidence I needed to trust my shot in the most difficult game situations.
The Low-Tech Notebook Secret:
I didn’t use a fancy app or a computer program. I used a small, simple notebook and a pen. Before every practice, I would write down two things:
- The Drill: Which drill was I doing? (e.g., ’50 Before Anything’ or ‘Sprint and Shoot – Two Shots’).
- The Result: I recorded the total number of shots taken and the total number of shots made.
For example, a typical entry might look like this:
Drill: 50 Before Anything. Attempted: 62. Made: 50. Streak High: 18.
Drill: Sprint & Shoot (10 Attempts). Made: 6/10 (60%).
This gave me a simple, beautiful thing: A percentage.
The Confidence Booster:
Seeing the numbers allowed me to understand two important things about my game:
- Identifying Weakness: I realized my “Sprint and Shoot” percentage was always much lower than my “50 Before Anything” percentage. That told me exactly where I needed to spend more time, not just shooting, but shooting when tired. The numbers pointed out my weakest spot, so I could fix it.
- Seeing Progress: When I looked back at the notebook from four weeks ago, my “Sprint and Shoot” percentage was only 45%. Now it was 60%! That visible progress was the greatest confidence booster in the world. When I had a terrible practice day and missed everything, I just opened the notebook and saw, “You are still better than you were last month.” That made me keep working.
Tracking your free throws isn’t just about recording history; it’s about proving to yourself that your hard work is changing your game. It turns the entire process into a competition against your past self, and the only person you have to beat is the shooter you were yesterday.
This discipline in tracking allowed me to step into the final section of my training: creating the perfect anchor for my nerves.
6. The Simple Pre-Shot Routine That Fixed My Nerves:
I told you earlier that my body learned the two-spin, one-dribble routine. This routine is more than just mechanics; it’s an anchor for your brain.
When you are standing at the free-throw line and the crowd is screaming, your brain is panicking and sending useless signals. If you don’t give it something to focus on, it will focus on the noise and the pressure.
My best hack was to make my routine a meditation that my brain had to follow. It was always the same simple sequence, and I would execute it slowly, deliberately, and without rushing, no matter what:
- Deep Breath: I would take one deep breath the moment the ref handed me the ball. This is the reset button for my nerves.
- The Spin Check: I always held the ball in the exact same spot on my fingers and spun it twice to get the seams right. This is the focus button.
- The Dribble: I always dribbled the ball one time right between my feet. This is the rhythm check for my legs.
- The Words: As I brought the ball up for the “dip and rise,” I would silently say the same word in my head: “Up.” Just one word, to remind me to use my legs.
By practicing this exact sequence thousands of times, I taught my mind: “When the pressure is high, you don’t look at the crowd; you focus only on the spin, the bounce, and the word ‘Up.’“
This routine gave me the confidence to ignore everything outside that perfect little 15-foot box and just execute the shot I had already mastered. The free-throw line became a place of total silence, and the shot became an automatic response to my routine.
Conclusion:
That entire summer, I wasn’t just working out; I was fundamentally rebuilding my shot, my concentration, and my self-belief. I went from being the player who hid on the bench during the last two minutes of a close game to the player the coach called on when the score was tied. The key wasn’t talent; it was discipline. Use the Mikan and Form drills to build perfect technique, use the Sprint and Shoot to master fatigue, and use the Make Ten, Run Ten drill to become a pressure killer. Start tracking your progress today, and I promise you will see those numbers rise. You can become the shooter everyone trusts at the line.
FAQs:
1. What’s the most common mistake in free-throw technique?
Letting your elbow stick out (the “chicken wing”) instead of keeping it tucked under the ball.
2. Should I practice free throws when I’m tired, or when I’m fresh?
You must practice when you are physically tired to simulate the pressure of the fourth quarter.
3. What is the single best way to beat game-time pressure?
Build an unchangeable, automatic pre-shot routine (spin, dribble, breath) to anchor your mind.
4. How can I stop missing easy shots when I have a high streak going in practice?
Use a drill like “Make Ten, Run Ten,” where missing the shot results in a physical consequence.
5. Should I jump slightly when I shoot a free throw?
Focus on a smooth “dip and rise” motion with your knees, but don’t actually jump off the floor.
6. How do I know if I’m actually getting better, not just having a good day?
Track your daily shooting percentage and consecutive streak in a notebook; numbers don’t lie.
