Came across this blog that spoke about D12's free throw woes. When I did more research I learned that D12 was actually left handed! His dominant hand was his left and he made the switch after an injury as a kid. Could this be the reason his shooting form/touch has been horrible for so long? Is it too late to revert back? Wanted to get your thoughts... Excerpt: Dwight Howard blogs: "When I was growing up I was totally left-handed. I wrote left-handed, held a fork left-handed and shot the ball left-handed. But when I was in the eighth grade I tried to dunk on a guy and he undercut me and I landed on my left hand and broke my left wrist. After that, I taught myself to write with my right hand, eat right-handed and shoot the basketball with my right hand. Little did I know back then that something like hurting my wrist as a kid would help me as a NBA player. I made three straight left-handed hook shots on Tuesday against Milwaukee when the double-team came from the top side. Then, in the second half when they didn’t double team I could get to the middle of the lane and get to my right-handed hook shot."
He was a 67% FT shooter his rookie year. Until recently he's been close to a 60% shooter. I don't think his handedness is the issue (and obviously switching now after 15 years is out of the question).
Obligatory Spoiler <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/oleKfixy-7A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Maybe... Im left handed and shoot well as a right handed shooter, but im cross dominant. Neurologically, it may work for me, but not for someone who forced it. The obvious question would be, has he tried going back to left handed? I would think it wouldn't matter because he made the switch at such a young age, so his muscle memory would be set by now as a righty, but maybe there is still an underlying indecision somewhere.
Here's Dwight shooting free throws left handed in a shooting contest with a housewife: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/oyQ00-1wwRE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> It actually looks a bit more natural and smoother. The shot is really soft when it hits the rim, but when he shoots it righty it hits the rim hard. I wonder if he would go back to lefty?
the solution... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tU88dxJKTHI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/efFboJGDPVQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> you think a guy with dwight howard's fragile sensibilities would have the guts to try the underhanded free throw? i agree btw. He should try underhanded free throw shots.
