At 83 years young, Tom Steury recently made his 1 millionth free throw since he began tracking his efforts in 2005. He’s a sweet-shooting, swish-seeking inspiration to me.
Fascinating....I had assumed 90% was the free throw threshold, and any percentages achieved over that were luck. But I see Mark Price was 559 of 590 over consecutive seasons, which comes to 94.7%. For some reason, no NBA player has been able to do anything like what Tom can do for a career.
I also would have thought people dropped off with age.
I don't think the obsession requires any explanation. I have plenty to live for, but the value of it is intuitive to me.
I don't know that anyone would pursue it in this way if she didn't think she had a chance to become elite at it, or at least if she didn't have a particular goal. A lower numeric goal can come to represent something important for you.
I admire the mental toughness behind the skill. Not really the discipline of doing it every day, but of keeping the skill, of not choking, of being comfortable in the idea that you are that good. And I was surprised to read that Tom is in fact so comfortable that he thinks about other things while he shoots. It all sounds like therapy to me, if it's successful -- or maybe that the successful practitioners should be therapists! Sharing the principles in other realms, of course and helping people apply them.
Therapy, indeed, is what I call it for my own "practice." I should hasten to add that there is a vast difference between shooting in front of an arena full of screaming fans, with all the attendant pressures of that setting, versus a relatively (or completely) empty gym with nothing on the line beyond one's own pursuit of 15-foot perfection. I do think I'd shoot at least 80% righty in an NBA setting (and 75% lefty), allowing for a 10-percentage-point drop-off in my case. The trick is to qualify with my other skill sets. :-)
I remember this discussion from a class I was in, "back in the day." It answers one of my questions, which is that there is no difference between home- and road-free throw percentage. That does not mean that haviing a crowd isn't a detriment, however. I also wonder if being short of breath and keyed up, if having to think about things other than shooting free throws, leads to one's being less focused. It would seem, then, that shooting after timeouts and tv timeouts would help.
The most important free throw I ever took---the most pressure-packed, game-on-the-line shot---came my senior year of high school after the other team called a timeout with three seconds left. Score was tied, and they were trying to "freeze" me as I went to the line for a 1-and-1. If I missed, that was it---we'd likely head into overtime. If I made it, I'd get another shot. I took the shot, my 13th free throw attempt of the game, and it didn't feel that good coming out of my left hand (back then I shot free throws only lefty). The ball went in (my 10th make of the game) and my reaction was not joy, but utter relief. I shot the 2nd one (which felt GREAT), but somehow, it bounced in and out--to my shock. Their rebounder threw an outlet pass in the hopes of securing a last-second half-court bomb....and my teammate Tom stole the ball to seal the win. Oh, and we were on the road :-).
I don't know why our sports memories come in slow motion and last for the rest of our lives, but they do. I suppose it can be that way for an event we watched, but it's particularly true for one we were in the middle of. Flailing, I suppose it's the glory of the thing, the fame. So that it wouldn't be any different if it were a spelling bee. But then, some people call spelling bees and chess sports, too. Do concert pianists remember their performances in the same way? I tend to doubt it. Maybe jazz performers do, because of the improvisation? More opportunity for surprise and failure there?
Now you shoot free throws at a higher percentage right-handed, but then you shot them left-handed? You clearly must have been under the misapprehension that you were better left-handed?
Fascinating....I had assumed 90% was the free throw threshold, and any percentages achieved over that were luck. But I see Mark Price was 559 of 590 over consecutive seasons, which comes to 94.7%. For some reason, no NBA player has been able to do anything like what Tom can do for a career.
I also would have thought people dropped off with age.
I don't think the obsession requires any explanation. I have plenty to live for, but the value of it is intuitive to me.
I don't know that anyone would pursue it in this way if she didn't think she had a chance to become elite at it, or at least if she didn't have a particular goal. A lower numeric goal can come to represent something important for you.
I admire the mental toughness behind the skill. Not really the discipline of doing it every day, but of keeping the skill, of not choking, of being comfortable in the idea that you are that good. And I was surprised to read that Tom is in fact so comfortable that he thinks about other things while he shoots. It all sounds like therapy to me, if it's successful -- or maybe that the successful practitioners should be therapists! Sharing the principles in other realms, of course and helping people apply them.
Therapy, indeed, is what I call it for my own "practice." I should hasten to add that there is a vast difference between shooting in front of an arena full of screaming fans, with all the attendant pressures of that setting, versus a relatively (or completely) empty gym with nothing on the line beyond one's own pursuit of 15-foot perfection. I do think I'd shoot at least 80% righty in an NBA setting (and 75% lefty), allowing for a 10-percentage-point drop-off in my case. The trick is to qualify with my other skill sets. :-)
I remember this discussion from a class I was in, "back in the day." It answers one of my questions, which is that there is no difference between home- and road-free throw percentage. That does not mean that haviing a crowd isn't a detriment, however. I also wonder if being short of breath and keyed up, if having to think about things other than shooting free throws, leads to one's being less focused. It would seem, then, that shooting after timeouts and tv timeouts would help.
https://slate.com/culture/2005/01/how-a-slate-scientist-changed-the-nba-forever.html
The most important free throw I ever took---the most pressure-packed, game-on-the-line shot---came my senior year of high school after the other team called a timeout with three seconds left. Score was tied, and they were trying to "freeze" me as I went to the line for a 1-and-1. If I missed, that was it---we'd likely head into overtime. If I made it, I'd get another shot. I took the shot, my 13th free throw attempt of the game, and it didn't feel that good coming out of my left hand (back then I shot free throws only lefty). The ball went in (my 10th make of the game) and my reaction was not joy, but utter relief. I shot the 2nd one (which felt GREAT), but somehow, it bounced in and out--to my shock. Their rebounder threw an outlet pass in the hopes of securing a last-second half-court bomb....and my teammate Tom stole the ball to seal the win. Oh, and we were on the road :-).
I don't know why our sports memories come in slow motion and last for the rest of our lives, but they do. I suppose it can be that way for an event we watched, but it's particularly true for one we were in the middle of. Flailing, I suppose it's the glory of the thing, the fame. So that it wouldn't be any different if it were a spelling bee. But then, some people call spelling bees and chess sports, too. Do concert pianists remember their performances in the same way? I tend to doubt it. Maybe jazz performers do, because of the improvisation? More opportunity for surprise and failure there?
Now you shoot free throws at a higher percentage right-handed, but then you shot them left-handed? You clearly must have been under the misapprehension that you were better left-handed?