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Tip: Laurie Koehn on becoming a clutch free throw shooter
By Laurie Koehn // April 21, 2004
When Laurie Koehn was nine, she practiced shooting free throws for her hometown's free throw contest … 100 shots a day. She won the contest in Hesston, Kansas - "a little dot on the map" - four years running. Today Koehn is one of the most accurate free throw shooters in the country, nailing 95 out of 105 from the charity line for her school, Kansas State, in 2002. She has a collegiate career free throw shooting percentage of .875. A leader of the 2003 Pan American basketball team, Koehn takes a few minutes to give usolympicteam.com viewers a few tips on a lost art … the free throw.
"Free throws are extremely important," Koehn said. "There are a lot of games that you see that come down at the end of the game where you might only be up by three and the other team starts fouling you, if you make those free throws, you make it a five-point game and they can't tie it up. Being able to make free throws, you able to make them pay when they foul you. It's a huge advantage when you can get to the line.
"I seriously believe that when you go to the line and miss a free throw it's a lack of concentration."
Becoming a clutch free throw shooter
Tip # 1 - Line it up …
"Make sure you are square with the basket. Have your dominant hand's foot a little bit ahead of the other one. Centered up on the line, so you pretty much have a straight on shot."
Tip # 2 - Pick a spot …
"Have a spot on the rim that you focus on. Pick a spot that every time you shoot a free throw - really every time you shoot a shot - you look at the same spot. For me, it's the front of the rim. For maybe some people, it's the back of the rim. For some people, they say, it's the whole goal. Have a spot that you look at and focus on every time.
Tip # 3 - Have a routine …
Have the exact same routine every time you practice and every time you do it in the game. Mine's real short because I think the more you practice free throws, the shorter you want your routine to be because it doesn't take quite as long. If you're dribbling the ball 10 times, it's going to take 30 minutes to shoot 100 free throws. I just take two dribbles, square up and shoot it. Nothing fancy.
Tip # 4 - Practice tired …
"I think it's good to practice free throws when you're tired. In a workout, after you've shot 100 moving jump shots, then you go to the line and shoot a couple free throws. Always when you're a little bit tired because in a game you're probably going to shoot it after you've just driven to the rim or you've been running up and down the court a while.
Tip # 5 - What to think about …
"You should practice it enough that you go up to the line and you are comfortable because you're done it so much that if feels natural to be then and you just think, 'you're in practice.' It's just like every free throw that you've ever done in the gym by yourself or with your rebounder."
Tip # 6 - Follow-through …
"Make sure you get that follow-through … put your fingers right over the rim."
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