Free throw

In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws are generally awarded after a foul on the shooter by the opposing team, analogous to penalty shots in other team sports.

Free throws are also awarded in other situations, including technical fouls, and when the fouling team has entered the bonus/penalty situation (after a team commits a requisite number of fouls, each subsequent foul results in free throws regardless of the type of foul committed). Also depending on the situation, a player may be awarded between one and three free throws. Each successful free throw is worth one point.

Free throws can normally be shot at a high percentage by good players. In the NBA, most players make 70–80% of their attempts. The league’s best shooters can make roughly 90% of their attempts over a season, while notoriously poor shooters may struggle to make 50% of them. During a foul shot, a player’s feet must both be completely behind the foul line.

There are many situations when free throws can be awarded. The first and most common is when a player is fouled while in the act of shooting. The second is when the fouling team is in the team bonus (or foul penalty) situation.

If a player is injured upon being fouled and cannot shoot free throws, the offensive team may designate any player from the bench to shoot in the place of the injured player in college; in the NBA, the opposing team designates the player to shoot, and the injured player can’t return, unless the foul committed was a flagrant-2, in which case the player’s own team also gets to pick the replacement shooter.

If a player, coach, or team staff (e.g., doctor, statistician) shows poor sportsmanship, which may include arguing with a referee, or commits a technical violation (delay of game, excessive time outs, or when a team has no eligible players remaining after a player has fouled out or subsequently the last player to foul out must re-enter the game, the latter two are NBA rules) that person may get charged with a more serious foul called a technical foul.

Finally, if a referee deems a foul extremely aggressive, or that it did not show an attempt to play the ball, the referee can call an even more severe foul, known as an “unsportsmanlike foul” in international and NCAA women’s play or a “flagrant foul” in the NBA and NCAA men’s basketball.

Free throws are organized in procession. The shooter takes their place behind the free throw line (5.8 m (19 ft) from the base line, 4.6 m (15 ft) from the basket). All the other players must stand in their correct places until the ball leaves the shooter’s hands: up to four people in the NCAA rules and three people in the FIBA rules from the defensive team and two people from the shooting team line up along the sides of the restricted area (keyhole, paint, lane). These players are usually the ones that rebound the ball. Three line up on each side. A defensive player always takes the place closest to the basket.

The remaining players must remain behind the three-point line and the “free throw line extended” (an imaginary line extended from the free throw line in both directions to the sidelines).

Leaving their designated places before the ball leaves the shooter’s hands, or interfering with the ball, are violations. In addition, the shooter must release the ball within five seconds (ten seconds in the United States) and must not step on or over the free throw line until the ball touches the hoop. Players are, however, permitted to jump while attempting the free throw, provided they do not leave the designated area at any point. A violation by the shooter cancels the free throw; a violation by the defensive team results in a substitute free throw if the shooter missed; a violation by the offensive team or a shot that completely misses the hoop results in the loss of possession to the defensive team (only if it is on the last free throw).

Under FIBA rules, if the shooter does not commit a violation, and the ball goes in the basket, the attempt is successful, regardless of violations committed by any non-shooter.

The majority of adult professional players shoot free throws in the overhand style, despite both theoretical and practical demonstrations that the underhand style (aka “granny-style”) usually produces better average results.