Whether stepping to the line to knock down foul shots in basketball or stepping to the plate to knock the ball out of the park in baseball, focus is needed, according to two Malibu athletes.
Youth basketball player Cameron Swist said when he gets ready to attempt a shot from the free throw line, he is geared in.
“You think you are going to make the shot, breathe and concentrate on the basket,” the 12-year-old coached. “Then, you shoot.”
Baseball player Trevor Simonian, set to play baseball at the University of Pennsylvania next year, said he mentally prepares himself while taking swings in the on-deck circle before he is set to bat.
“I’m always watching the pitcher to see his mechanics,” he said. “I’m practicing keeping my weight back and focusing on my swing. When I get in the batter’s box, if I’m really looking to drive the ball, I’m looking for my favorite pitch, which is a middle, inside fastball. If I see it, I’m looking to hit it as hard as I can.”
Swist, a guard for the Malibu Elite, a youth travel basketball team, knows that getting fouled means an opportunity for a free throw shot.
Swist said to get an opportunity to take what should be the only uncontested shot during a basketball game, he likes to drive to the hoop when on offense. He said chances are high he will either make a lay-up or get fouled. If fouled, Swist will go to the charity line.
Once there, the young player said he has a routine to get comfortable.
“I do three dribbles, then spin the basketball in my hands,” Swist described. “Then, I shoot it.”
Richard Harris, coach of the Malibu Elite, said he directs his players to develop a routine for attempting foul shots.
“Every single step they take should be the same,” Harris said. “If they take a breath, they should take that breath every time they take a free throw. If they wipe their forehead, it should be the exact same every single time. That teaches consistency and builds a comfort zone.”
Harris, also the head coach of Malibu High’s boys hoops team, recommends slashing excess movement like spinning the ball or rotating the ball around the back from a hoopster’s foul line routine.
“Do as little as possible,” the coach said. “That’s less steps you have to memorize. You don’t want anything messing up your mechanics before your shot.”
Harris recommends players taking a breath before shooting a foul shot. He said that exhale helps players change their mindset to free throw shooting, and encourages them to take “some type of pause from game action.”
Another coaching gem from Harris is for shooters not to look at the hoop during their free throw shot routine, so they are “hyper-focused” on the back of the rim when shooting.
Harris said as far as shooting form is concerned, players should have their legs spread a bit and squared up with the basket and their back straight. When shooting, one hand will be placed on the side of the basketball, while the other makes the shooting motion. Harris said for players to keep their elbow of their shooting arm in or aligned toward the hoop when shooting.
Swist, the young player, said when he began playing basketball he wasn’t a good foul shooter. That changed though.
“I got better at shooting,” Swist said. “I keep shooting free throws in practice.”
Harris said practice is key.
“I’m a proponent of made shots,” he said.
Simonian hit four home runs for the Malibu High baseball team last spring. The 2017 high school grad said a few things go into hitting a dinger, including the aforementioned mental approach of being aggressive and confident.
“It requires upper and lower body strength,” he said. “You want to keep your weight back, so you can hit any type of pitch — whether it’s a fastball, curveball, change-up, slider — and then you want to have good bat speed. You also want to keep your head still. That gives you good balance when you are swinging.”
Simonian added that batters should aim to hit the ball to right centerfield or centerfield.
Simonian said once a batter steps in the batter’s box and gets in a proper batting position — knees bent, the bat positioned over the back shoulder — the batter should put most of his body’s weight on his back leg, so he can wait a bit more on pitches and step forward with all his weight to hit the ball.
“Keeping your weight back gives you the power,” he said. “If you are leaning forward and off balance it’s going to be really hard to use all of your body strength.”
Simonian, who came in second place in the Ventura County All-Star Game’s home run derby in June, said if a player is looking to knock the ball out of the park, the player must wait for the right pitch.
“If the pitch is right and I do all the right things, a home run will come naturally from that,” he said. “A home run is the result of a good combination of all the right steps.”
