HOBART (NBC26) — Free throws are one of the toughest things to pull off in basketball - from student athletes to professional players. Ryan Borowicz, the owner of the Driveway Basketball Training Center says the reason free throws are especially difficult is pressure from the crowd.
“The first thing is be able to take a deep breath for sure, Borowicz said. "You might want to look at the rim, you just want to calm your body down.”
Free throws are a shot that have been making big headlines in the playoffs. Buck's player Giannis is known for his controversial free throw ritual. Borowicz says he thinks the ritual hurts more than it helps.
"Everybody’s getting on him because he takes so long," Borowicz said. "He takes honestly twelve to thirteen seconds on a free throw. The Brooklyn crowd was counting it out which adds pressure and everything to it. If I were coaching I would just say simplify, simplify, simplify."
He says the three keys to a good free throw are relax, routine, and reassure - as in relaxing before you take the shot, having a go-to routine such as a specific amount of dribbles, and reassuring yourself so you go into it with confidence.
"I think that mental side of it is really big especially with pressure, it’s the NBA playoffs, the pressure gets more and more so to me you have to get more and more into your routine," Borowicz said. "Because routine is the same whether I'm here, whether I'm in my own driveway, whether I'm at practice, or whether I'm in front of 20,000 people."
