Drummond using virtual reality to improve free-throw shooting
Detroit Pistons All-Star Andre Drummond teased early this offseason that he'd found the perfect remedy toward improving his horrid free-throw shooting, although he wouldn't reveal the method.
The cat is now out of the bag, as the 23-year-old center said he's been using virtual reality to fix that aspect of his game.
"I’ve been doing it three times every week. I have a system (at the team’s Auburn Hills practice facility) and I have one at my house, too," Drummond said. "So every day after practice, I’ll go home or watch it here."
The technology allows Drummond to watch himself making free throws - both from a first-person perspective, viewing the ball going over his head into the hoop, or from third-person, evaluating his technique from afar.
"They’re all makes, obviously, so it’s constantly watching myself shoot the same shot, over and over again, and now while I’m out there it’s second nature," he added. "I know I’m not going to be able to make every shot and that’s one thing I really had to tell myself. But the more I shoot the same shot, the better chance of making it."
Drummond ranked fifth in free throws attempts with 586 during the 2015-16 campaign, yet he barely converted one-third, making just 35.5 percent - the worst number of his four-year run in the Motor City. In fact, Drummond's career free-throw percentage (38 percent) is the lowest of any player whose taken as many shots from the charity stripe in NBA history.
The near-7-footer was desperate to conjure up a strategy that would help the weakest aspect of his game. Even though virtual reality has proven effective so far, it apparently took time before Drummond was fully accepting of it.
"You can ask Malik (Allen) or Aaron (Gray). The first couple of days or weeks, it was hell for me," Drummond grinned. "It was hard. I was doing something new. I’ve never done virtual reality in my life and to really accept the fact that I needed help with that part of my game was tough just to give in. When I finally gave in to training my brain to focus on one thing, it kind of worked out for me."