Introduction

In basketball, a free throw shot is a unique skill where every player uses a special component of technical preparation, which is based on an automation of movement where players are always performing the technique/skills in the same way (correct rhythm and speed) (Lenik, Krzeszowski, Przednowek & Lenik, 2019). The basketball free throw is an unopposed attempt to score a point from the free throw line on the basketball court. There are many rules about the free throws and many changes made to this skill which are controversial (Wood, 2019). For example, teams could decline shooting free throws and instead elect to inbound the ball at half court (in years between 1939-1952), and NCAA started to award 3 free throws if player is fouled during a 3-point shot (in 1990). The goal of the free throw is to throw the basketball from a line 4.25m in front of a basketball ring into the basket, with a diameter of 0.45m and height of 3.05. Jenkins (1977) states that “…the higher free throw percentage won 80% of the games”. To back this up, studies have shown that roughly one-half of the games played in a season is determined by free-throws (Hays & Krause, 1987; Walker, 1985). According to Hays & Krause (1987) and Mersky (1987), free throws make up 20 to 25% of all points scored in a game. Similar to other sports, optimal performance is determined by speed, direction, and height/angle of the basketball to successfully score. There are many factors affecting the acquisition of this skill, which includes the physical characteristics such as height, which can have an effect on the projectile motion and force applied to the ball for it to go through the hoop (Biomechanics and Physiology of Sport, 2017).  The basketball free throw will be broken down into the key movement stages and will be analysed using the biomechanical principles. This blog will discuss and analyse the biomechanical principles that optimize performance for the basketball free throw, with various sources and visual aids to back up our work and help to answer the research question.