Lithonia, the second-ranked AAAA boys team, went 13-32 from the foul line against Redan in mid-January. It very nearly cost the Bulldogs their first and only region loss.
“Games are won and lost at the free throw line,” Lithonia coach Wallace Corker said.
A free throw is a 15-foot, uncontested routine shot. But, in certain situations, it might as well be a desperation half-court heave. It’s a shot that becomes harder and harder the more the mind becomes involved. Opposing coaches know it. They call timeouts to make players think about it. Sometimes they even intentionally foul to send a struggling player to the line. Coaches take different approaches to the foul line.
“Whenever I have a player that struggles at the line, I try to make sure the player is relaxed as possible,” Buford girls coach Gene Durden said. “I have had games in the state where opposing coaches have called timeouts to freeze the free throw shooter and make them think for a whole timeout before shooting them. During the time out, I will say things like ‘After Susan hits both of these free throws, we are going to do this.’ I try to let them know I have confidence in them without telling them. I also remind them of the fundamentals of shooting a free throw from practice to reinforce their confidence.
“The biggest thing about free throws is how you practice them at practice before games,” Durden added. “We use a lot of different techniques such as shooting them when we are tired, shooting them with pressures on them such as running, only shooting two at a time, then walk away from the line; having them shoot them in game situations during practice. I think these techniques help to give players confidence in tough free throw situations.”
Corker tries to calm his players down before big free throws.
“My strategy on free throws is to get them to be patient and focus on the rim,” Corker said. “Make sure they have a good rhythm follow through and finish. Free throw shooting should be practice every day.”
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