Forgive me if its been brought up before I was out of the country for the first two weeks of the season and starting to catch up on all the games I missed (I had no internet access for those two weeks). I noticed something about Harden's FT stroke in the Portland game that I hadn't seen before. I'm not sure when he started to do this, I've caught up to watching the Clippers game and he did not exhibit this in that game. Basically - Harden's FT motion now has a hitch in it. Previously he would shoot the ball in one smooth motion. In the Portland game he would bring the ball up and stop it right in front of his face and then complete the motion. He shot 19/20 so I guess it was a good thing, but Harden was a good FT shooter to begin with, why would he change his shooting motion all of a sudden? I have seen players who aren't good shooters change their routine or motion all the time, but this is probably the first time I've seen a player who is a consistent 85%+ at the line change up his motion. It will be interesting to see if he does this new motion tonight vs the Grizzlies. I am curious as to why he changed it. I doubt it is due to some nagging injury but who knows? It would help explain some abysmal shooting numbers, but I am sure that would have been mentioned before. Anyways figured I would put it out there as a change of pace from all the McHale/Effort/Harden Sucks threads.
I noticed this from the beginning of the season. It looks weird and who knows why he did it. Percentages from the line look the same.
I noticed it the first game right away. It's not a hitch really... he is just setting the ball at his chest (like Capela and Howard do) instead of down near his waist. I don't know why he changed it. He's a good free throw shooter, so it probably won't matter if he shoots like that. But if it ain't broke, why fix it?
I noticed this right away as well. I think it's effecting his field goal percentage. He's not shooting his free throws like his normal shot. We all know Harden is a rhythm player and going to the free-throw line helps him get out of shooting funks. I wonder if changing his free throw stroke is effecting his normal shooting rhythm.
He wants to shoot 90%. So maybe he did work on something in the summer. A change to your free throw stroke doesn't necessarily mean you changed your jump shot. See Rick Barry Do you see a "hitch" in his jump shot?
I also noticed the way he shoots his FT has changed. Well, its early but so far his free throw percentage has been the highest ever at .881
I believe he's doing it to get in the habit of getting the ball above his chest at the beginning of the dip. In theory this decreases the side to side misses, it also improves the natural arc of not only a free throw but in a jump shot as well.
Looks like he put in some work over the summer to improve his FT. FT from chest should be more accurate than from hip.
At the game I was watching his form during shoot around and something just seems off, which is probably a result of his free throw form. Chuck Hayes has left his mark.
Yep. Spot on. Maybe he's still adjusting, that's why his regular jumpshots are off. Free throws are a bit simpler.
Disagree. It really just comes down to preference. A good shooter will be able to shoot both ways because it's more about natural ability and feel for shooting than whether you come set at your hips or chest. I personally never liked coming set to my chest because you don't have as much range of motion. You don't have as much "flow" to your motion... it's more rigid. Coming from the hips seems to give more momentum and makes it easier to shoot with nice touch. That's just my own personal preference. The best shooters come set at the hips/waist: Some of the worst come from their chest: Just something interesting I've noticed. But really, it's personal preference. If you are a good shooter then you can shoot well either way, and if you are a bad shooter you will shoot bad either way.
I agree. Both ways are fine, obviously. The dude is shooting 88.1%. It actually looks like he is copying Larry Bird. Watch Larry's legendary "hitch." <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/El7ALhdafsk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I agree, I'm just not sure I'd call it a hitch. Maybe I'm wrong, but I was always under the impression a hitch was something kind of uncontrollable like the pause in Barkley's golf swing that he can't help and the pause in Chuck Hayes' free throw shot that he can't help. Bird and Harden are really just coming set at their chest before they start their shooting motion.
Yeah, "hitch" is definitely the wrong word. Bird and Harden are different in that they come to a full stop at the chest. They are throwing darts. They want the ball and basket in their eye-sight for a full count before throwing. Here's Nash showing is legendary practice strokes before each FT showing how the top portion of the shot is the key. He chooses a more continuous motion than Bird and Harden, but he even has a slight stop. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pf0lAO21AZk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
