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Anatomy of a free throw

Ever wondered why some players just can't seem to hit free throws? Why, when the game is on the line, do they freeze up and miss what should be the easiest shot to take?

The answer isn't simple, but a solution could be stated in two words - Josh Pastner.

That's right, the senior guard/co-captain/assistant coach/soon to be doctor is at it again, this time teaching a few reporters the art of the free throw.

Yesterday, myself and fellow colleague Bryan Rosenbaum took to the hardwood of Bear Down Gymnasium with Pastner to learn the correct way to get an easy two or three points.

Both Bryan and I entered the gym thinking we knew what to do, but after hitting just two-of-five and three-of-five respectively, we decided to take the tutelage of Pastner.

We left the gym 30 minutes later shooting 80-90 percent from the stripe, a far cry from our 50-60 percent that we thought was good enough.

1. "You line your foot up with the small dot on the floor. Every wood floor has a dot on the free throw line. If you are a left-handed shooter you line your left foot, if you are a right-handed shooter you line your right foot. Repetition is big. Whatever you do, you have to do it over and over and over. You have to do the same thing every time you step to the line. Whether it is taking two dribbles and spinning the ball and taking three dribbles, you have to do it every time. When you are done with it you always take a deep breath so you can relax.

2. "Step two is concentration. When you are concentrating, you have to block everything out. It is you, the ball and the rim - nothing else. You block the fans, your teammates and everyone else around you out. That is where the deep breath comes in - you have to get relaxed and focused on what you have to do.

3. "Step three is when you are ready to shoot, you want a good knee bend, a good base with shoulders apart. When you shoot, you have to end high on your toes in a controlled manner. You want to finish with your weight going forward, not backwards, but up controlled, kind of like a calf raise. That will get the ball over the front part of the rim."

4. "The fourth part is when you shoot, you have to hold your follow through when you release the ball. If you hold the follow-through, it makes sure that you shoot the ball, not throw it. You hold it until the ball hits the floor, not until the ball hits the rim or goes through the net, until it hits the floor. It allows you to get the touch and accuracy necessary to hit the shot every time."

These are four simple rules to hitting a good percentage of your free throws, but sometimes other factors come into play when you step to the line. These are things that Pastner says a good shooter doesn't worry about.

"You have to go in knowing that you can only worry about what you can control," he said. "You can't control the crowd, you can't control your teammates or the referee. The only thing you can control is yourself. When you are up there you have to mentally get all of that stuff out of there. What winners do is they see what they want to happen. They see the ball going through, perfect rotation through the bottom of the net."

Pastner is credited with working late nights with almost all the players of the UA men's basketball team.

But there is still one person that he would love to teach - Shaquille O'Neal.

"I would love to work with Shaq, I have even sent letters to him," Pastner said.

Maybe if Shaq answered Pastner's letters, the "Hack-a-Shaq" technique that is used widely by NBA coaches would be ineffective.