Granny Shot

I recently heard the story of Rick Barry. Rick was an NBA player in the 1970s and is probably most famous for shooting free throws underhanded or what we might call a “granny shot.” Rick shot at just under 90% from the foul line in his career and in his last three seasons, he led the NBA in free throws and shot just under 95%. To put that in perspective, Rick would only miss 9 or 10 free throws in a season. LeBron James shoots at around 74% and misses about 100 free throws a year. 

So why don’t people shoot free throws underhanded? For one season, one of the greatest basketball players ever tried it. Wilt Chamberlin was an amazing player down low, but when he stepped to the line, he was awful. Wilt shot at 40%. So for one season, he had nothing to lose and gave the underhanded shot a try. He was incredibly better and even had a game where he made 28 out of 32 free throws. His percentage that season went to 61%. After that season, he stopped and went back to shooting overhand and his percentage went back to where it was before. He did it because he said, “it made him feel like a sissy.”

Sometimes we, as people, do things that don’t work because they feel right or we perceive them to be the way we should do them. Even when that is incredibly wrong. I see teachers do it and it’s hard to break a habit. I see students do it when their reputation or sense of self-worth seems to be out on the line. One on one, most students in my office can tell me exactly where they screwed up. They know what they did was wrong when they got a write-up. Yet, I’ll see the same kids multiple times because they only know one way to react. In a sense, they step to the free throw line and miss, knowing that they are doing the wrong thing, but they just can’t stop because of how they look to themselves and to others. 

We tell kids all the time not to worry about what others think, and while that sounds like good advice, it’s really not. Most people are not capable of truly not worrying about how they are perceived, especially most teenagers. If we as educators don’t keep that in mind when addressing issues with them, we are ignoring a biological fact. If pro players that are considered some of the best ever do not have the confidence to ignore their image toward others, we simply can’t expect a 15-year-old to do that either. Being better means that we have to take students and their image into account and appeal to a better image. That involves changing their mind about themselves and how they think others should see them. Unfortunately, that’s a lot harder and doesn’t happen as quickly.