Omni Brain : What is the best way of distracting a free throw shooter?

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The Omnibrain is a psychology graduate student at an online university. He hopes that the three weeks and $29.95 that he is spending on his Ph.D. will get him a job at a Tier 1 research university. Do online universities have postdocs? Ok...just kidding, The Omnibrain is a real graduate student at a real school somewhere in the continental United States - or maybe Europe.

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What is the best way of distracting a free throw shooter?

Category: Popular Culture • Sports
Posted on: November 7, 2007 3:17 PM, by The Omnibrain

If you had control of the crowd behind a free throw shooter at a basketball game and you wanted him to miss what would you do?

Here's one highly entertaining way:

Help us come up with some others!

Find more posts in: Brain & Behavior Humanities & Social Science

Comments

Preface: I watch a lot of rugby.

Rugby kicking genius Johnny Wilkinson claims that his accuracy is based on focusing on a person in the crowd who he will "kick the ball to".

I figure all you need to do is have everyone in the crowd put their hands in the air leaning to the right and wiggling their hands. then just as he comes into kick everyone moves their hands to the left. It should be a big enough motion to put him off.

Yay sportsmanship!

Posted by: Hadyn | November 7, 2007 3:50 PM

I do not think you CAN distract a good free-throw shooter (90% and above in my book), they are too focused, and have practiced too long, and their muscle memory is too good.

However, a Shak-type? Yes, almost anything can distract them, including a sudden silence, and I think that every shooter has a certain, personal tipping point of what will and will not distract them. This looks like a great research project for some under-grad, but remember: PROMISE TO NEVER GIVE THESE REULTS TO DUKE OR YOU WILL BURN IN HELLL FOREVER, IF THERE WERE A HELL!

Posted by: J-Dog | November 7, 2007 4:23 PM

I think it would be more effective to shine a 50 mW laser in his eyes.

Posted by: Tegumai Bopsulai, FCD | November 7, 2007 5:27 PM

I think you are perhaps correct that their attention is very focused but as psychologists we know that certain things can be processed even the absence of attention. The question is whether any of those things can be used to distract the free throw shooters during their shot. Also, there are things in the environment that people use to plan their goal directed movement - and if these things are changed then the movement planning/execution can be screwed up. The question is which things would work?

And Tegumai... we should keep this to things within the rules of sports ;) I think you might get ejected from the arena for that one.

Posted by: Steve Higgins | November 7, 2007 5:47 PM

Another of the many reasons I hate basketball. It is very poor sportsmanship to distract people like that, but apparently it's all right in basketball.

Posted by: Stephen Downes | November 7, 2007 7:38 PM

This isn't an ethics question.... this is a question of possibility.

Posted by: Steve Higgins | November 7, 2007 9:34 PM

If everyone sitting behind the basket just before the shot simultaneously holds out a regulation basketball hoop and net (or one that looks reg), the real hoop might get lost in the background.

Posted by: Dave S. | November 8, 2007 1:03 PM