You know I always wondered. Everyone always waves their arms and yells while the opponent shoots their FTs. But, what if, just as the guy is about to release the ball, everyone goes instantly quiet? Or maybe the opposite where everyone sits quiet and then shouts at the exact same moment as he shoots. I would think either would mess up the shooter big time. If anytrhing, it would mess up the shooter's depth perception mid-shot.
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I think Duke did a study into distractions during FT's. They concluded that random movement and yells don't distract the player all that much compared to a completely silent crowd. I guess it really is all in their head. What they did notice was that rhythmic movement (everyone moving in the same direction) does reduce FT%. It was something along the lines that the random movement is filtered by the brain (like how we can filter out the air conditioner running all the time or other recurring sounds), but the rhythmic movement offsets their balance since the brain must focus on it. Rowdies, you know what to do.
Don't make all the drunk kids think! No seriously, it's not a bad idea. Personally, i'm a big fan of putting your arms up in the air to one side and collectively moving them to the other side as the guy releases the ball for his shot.
The entire crowd should go quiet as the shooter goes into his routine. Except for 1 guy with a loud voice. This guy should make some kind of joke or something. USC could maybe hire Will Ferrell, his voice is perfect.
Hahaha, that's hilarious. I love the Comets Jam Cam dude too, I'm at the library and was trying my absolute hardest to suppress my laughter, but it leaked out. We do the arms from one side to the other when the FT shooter is about to release it at UVA.
Some of the good suggestions have already been taken. I was going to propose doing something just before the shot. Rowdies: Have one dude in the front of the ROWDY section hold 10 signs with bodily movements or noises before the game. Examples for these would be: shake hands, jump, sway, scream, flap arms, etc. When an opponent is about to shoot the free-throws, the FRONT Rowdy will show the large sign with enough time for everyone to see, and put it DOWN with enough time. When the time is right, do the action "COUGH!" or "SNEEZE!" just before the opponent shoots. This will work best when ALL do it. WE FIGHT AS A UNIT. Sincerely, Spoiler
