The best free throw shooters share biomechanical characteristics that help them control the height of the release point and the trunk tilt, in particular.
Markerless Motion Capture Technique Reveals the Biomechanics of Free Throw Shooters
In the peak of basketball season and a close game, the team that achieves the highest free throw success rate often wins. Understanding the biomechanics of the best free throw shooters can translate into crucial player performance improvements. Researchers at the University of Kansas in Lawrence used a markerless motion capture technique to achieve this, and they published their findings in a research paper last August in the journal Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.
Previous Research on Free Throws
There has been a lot of previous research on various aspects of basketball. For example, there is considerable debate about whether the “hot hand” phenomenon in basketball is real, which means players score more points consecutively than statistics would suggest. A study from 1985 showed it to be false, but more recent statistical analyses (including a 2015 study examining the law of small numbers) by other researchers provided some justification for the existence of such real streaks, although it may only apply to certain players.
About 20 years ago, Larry Silverberg and Chia Tran from North Carolina State University developed a method to simulate the motion of millions of basketballs on a computer and used it to examine the mathematics of free throwing. According to their work, in an ideal free throw, the ball has backspin at a frequency of 3 Hz when it leaves the player’s fingertips, the release angle is about 52 degrees, and the release speed is relatively slow, ensuring the highest probability of making the basket. Among these variables, release speed is the hardest for players to control. The target point also matters: players should aim for the back of the rim, which is more forgiving than the front.
There was also a study in 2021 conducted by Malaysian scientists to analyze the optimal angle for free throw shooting in basketball, based on data extracted from 30 National Basketball Association players. They concluded that player height is inversely proportional to the initial speed and optimal release angle, with the latter directly proportional to the time taken for the ball to reach its peak height.
Jayhawk Laboratory Sports Performance Research
The Cabarkapa lab has been studying basketball player performance for several years now, including the effect of breakfast consumption (or lack thereof) on shooting performance and what happens to the muscles when players overtrain. They published a series of studies in 2022 to assess the effectiveness of the most common coaching cues, such as “bend your knees,” “lower your arm,” or “release the ball as high as possible.” In one study, Cabarkapa and others analyzed high-definition video of free throw shooters to look for movement differences between players who excel at free throws and those who do not. The results indicated more bending at the hip and knee joints and the angle, leading to a lower elbow position when shooting.
However, no movement differences were found in shooting between skilled players who score and those who fail to do so, so the team conducted a follow-up study using a three-dimensional motion crossover system. This study confirmed that less knee and elbow joint flexion and a lower elbow position were critical factors. There was only one significant difference between successful and unsuccessful shots: the position of the forearm was nearly parallel to the imaginary lateral axis.
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A third study compared players who shoot from two-point range and players who shoot from three-point range (whether skilled or unskilled), using high-speed video and a force plate system. They found that two-point shooters had better elbow position and elbow flex during the early phase of the shooting motion, as well as a better shoulder angle at the time of ball release. In contrast, three-point shooters also had better elbow flex but kept their torso in an almost vertical position and were able to jump vertically higher at the time of ball release.
Strength and Success in Free Throw Shooting
The Cabarkapa lab conducted a recent study investigating the relationship between player strength and success in free throw shooting, double points, and three-point shots. A strong correlation was not found, although they concluded that this does not mean strength does not matter when it comes to shooting accuracy; rather, there may be other factors to consider.
The Final Study and Its Results
In this final study, Cabarkapa and colleagues recruited 34 healthy active males with at least four years of basketball experience. After warming up, each player took 10-15 practice shots, then stood at the free throw line and attempted ten free throws, with a 10-15 second rest between each to rule out fatigue as a factor. The researchers used a three-dimensional motion crossing system involving nine high-resolution cameras to capture the biomechanics of each shot for analysis.
The results were as follows: the best free throw shooters had more control over their shooting motion, particularly in key variables such as knee flexion, peak center of mass, and average angular velocities, compared to unskilled players. The best players also achieved a higher release height and their bodies tended to lean forward less when releasing the ball. Finally, excessive focus on height at the release can often be detrimental, causing even the best free throw shooters to fail to score more points.
Cabarkapa stated: “These results indicate that the motion of shooting a basketball is not as simple as some might think. Shooting efficiency cannot be attributed to just one biomechanical variable, but rather is based on a combination of many body movements executed in a controlled manner.”
Source: arstechnica.com
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