An Eye Opening Experiment

I did not realize it. Quiet eye held the key to the success I was looking for.

The testing consisted of shooting free throws while wearing a very strange looking helmet with cameras focused on my eyes, the whole time connected to a computer. It seemed very basic but the technology behind it was amazing. I really did not know what to make of it but I thought I had nothing to lose by giving it a try. Upon completion of the testing, I was given the opportunity to have an outside look at what my eyes were looking at while I was preparing to shoot my free throw. What I saw amazed me.

Alan uses Vickers' eye tracking apparatus to tune up his free-throw.

All along I thought I had done a decent job of focusing my eyes on my target as I was completing my routine. Little did I know that my eyes were actually busy 'looking' around. What I mean by this is that, even though I was looking in the direction of the hoop I was shooting at, my eyes were jumping from the top corner of the backboard to the bottom corner, from the front of the rim to the back of the rim. When I stopped to think about it, that was a lot of information for my mind to register and then pass along to my body. I needed to teach my eyes how to focus on one single spot, giving my mind a chance to sight my target and then pass along the critical information to my body to perform the exact movements. It all seemed very scientific, but what it came down to was a slight alteration of my free throw routine.

Instead of just looking at the hoop, I had now learned to select a very specific spot on the rim and focus my eyes there for only a very short time. It was not important what spot I chose as long as I was able to focus on it EVERYTIME. Different shooters choose different locations as their targets, some the back of the rim, others the front of the rim and still others choose the middle of the rim. For me, I chose the back of the rim, more specifically the notch where the mesh is tied to the rim. This gave me a spot I could immediately locate on every hoop and thus perfect my routine. The importance of the routine is to have the same shot every time. How can one expect to have a high free throw percentage when one never knows what the shot will look like? By having a specific routine, doing the same action every shot and focusing on the same spot every time, I had a much higher chance of my shot being the same every time.

All along I thought I was focusing my eyes on my target. Little did I know that my eyes were actually busy 'looking' around.

Essentially, when I finally got my routine in place and was ready to perfect it, it looked like this. First I made sure my feet were lined up, next I dribbled the ball three times, line up my hands, sighted my target for one second, and then let my body perform the motion I had taught it to. A routine such as this did not happen over night nor did my free throw percentage increase over night, but what it did do was give me the confidence to face the challenge that lay before me - finishing my play at the free throw line.

In the previous seasons, I did not have the attitude of a successful free throw shooter, one in which I was glad to be put on the free throw line in the toughest of situations. I had often hoped the ball would go in rather than knowing that it would go in. Now I had a new confidence that allowed me to step up to the line knowing that if I focused my eyes on my target then my body would do the rest. As a result of all this, by the next season I had brought my free throw percentage up to 80%- that is a margin of more then 10 percent.
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