Recently at a camp, the coach told us to shoot free throws with one hand ("to help with the release") until we establish our form. Is he right?
-- M.M.
If he meant to use one-hand only from the free throw line, that is a bit far to be doing that, but if you can do it then go for it. It is a great way to isolate the Release motion to learn it. Once the Release is starting to be learned, then you can add the ìoffî hand for more stability. I would suggest you learn the Release in closer, shooting a mini free throw, for example, from 7-8 feet away with a tiny amount of leg energy to drive and stabilize the shot. The Release sends the ball medium high, approx., and youíre aiming for a swish.
When you can do that beautifully, then move back a bit, add more leg power and learn to make those shots well. The Release stays the same.The feeling you will get is ìto the end-of-the-arm, it can not go any further. Then all the way to the Line and use the biggest leg action for that distance. By starting small, you can train yourself to be more controlled and repeatable, getting a lot of success, and then slowly increase the difficulty by moving back.
As to the Release itself, I teach a pushing action with just the arm doing the work, not the wrist and hand. The main power comes from the legs, not the upper body. Also, if you use two hands to shoot with, using just one hand for a period of time is valuable to teach you NOT to use the second hand.