It’s likely that the Mavericks’ coaching staff made these adjustments, considering Rondo never tried anything so radical with the Celtics. Even though it’s an odd stance, it was probably suggested to help him keep his elbow in, but that isn’t an easy task with his wide shoulders and long wingspan.
“Rondo is getting better everyday,” Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle told BBALLBREAKDOWN in early January after being asked about Rondo’s mechanical changes. “The important thing is that we just need to stick to the process and the results will take care of themselves.”
However, Rondo has had his worst results of the season with this new form, at just 26.3% on 19 free throw attempts. And before he could even get adjusted, he suffered facial fractures that would sideline him through the All-Star break.
Help me, Holger: Post All-Star Break Rondo’s FT%: 33.3% (6 games, 2-of-6)
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon published an interesting story that detailed a time before the All-Star break when shooting guru Geschwindner was practicing with Dirk Nowitzki, with Rondo watching from the sidelines. After the practice, Dirk turned to Rondo and said, “If you want to work with Holger, now is the time.”
He took the opportunity and spent those two weeks working with the 69-year-old shooting maestro. Rondo did admit that he’s not expecting immediate results, but did seem encouraged by his time with Geschwindner. As expected, Rondo revised his free throw stance once again.
If this stance looks familiar, you’re right; Rondo simply reverted back to what he was doing at the start of the season with ten toes pointed towards the rim. This is exactly what Dirk does at the line, and it’s probably what Holger, old school with his methods, teaches. The Psychology of Shooting
Choose Only One
It’s encouraging that Rondo is making an effort to work with Holger, but it’s important that he either continues with him throughout the summer, or finds another technique and stays with it. Even Carlisle said that it’s important for Rondo to stick to the process, and he’s right, but that still isn’t happening.
“Rondo can figure out any puzzle. That’s one thing I’m learning about him,” Carlisle told reporters before Rondo’s January homecoming in Boston. “He’s got a great intellectual curiosity about the game of basketball, but more specifically about how to make it work and how to win.”
Rondo is one of the most cerebral players in the NBA, but that could be working to his disadvantage at the free throw line. He has been unable to solve the free throw shooting puzzle for over a decade now, because he has constantly tinkered with his stance, instead of staying loyal to one technique and letting it naturally become part of his game.
The fact that Rondo has used four majorly different free throw stances this season alone is a sign that he isn’t giving any one technique enough time to become a habit. No matter how amazing of a coach Geschwindner is for Nowitzki, it doesn’t necessarily mean his methods will work for Rondo, who has received technical advice from other knowledgeable shooting coaches in the past. It takes a long time for the conscious to become unconscious, which is what needs to happen for Rondo. He has constantly changed his mechanics, instead of perfecting one for an extended period of time.
Rondo’s Self-Deception
After Rondo’s embarrassing bricks from the line against the Bulls in November, he was asked if he has ever considered trying any unconventional techniques at the free throw line, such as mumbling under his breath like Karl Malone or blowing a kiss to the rim like Jason Kidd.
“I haven’t thought about talking to myself or any of the things you just said,” Rondo snickered. “I’m going to continue to work and I’ll spend more hours in the gym if I have to.”
Rondo is an enigma, a unique and polarizing player that is unlike anyone else in the game. You’d think that someone like him would be willing to try an off-the-cuff idea at the free throw line, but he laughed off the thought of that.
Rondo has probably convinced himself that his problems aren’t psychological, even when everyone else tells him they are, no differently than how people can trick themselves into thinking things that aren’t true. “I hope it hasn’t got to mental yet,” he added. “I still want to get fouled. I’m trying to draw fouls. I’m trying to get in a better rhythm. I don’t think it’s mental for me yet.”
The problem for Rondo is that Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge even admitted that Rondo’s problems are psychological.
“It’s something, as a coach, you can’t talk too much about because it’s more of a psychological thing for Rondo,” Ainge told 98.5 The Sports Hub in November. “He makes free throws regularly in practice. He’s going to make free throws and I’m not worried about it.”
It’s not shocking Ainge feels this way when you consider the free throw differential outlined in the first section of this article, and that he hits free throws “regularly” in practice. No one from Dallas has spoken on the matter, but they have certainly made it a point to try and fix his issues from the line. More Player Breakdowns
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Rondo Needs to Talk to a Sports Psychologist
Rondo has improved as a jump shooter over the course of his career, and the above statistics show he has actually progressed as a free throw shooter, but only on his second (or third) attempt. It’s possible that Rondo’s problem is mostly psychological, if the original hypothesis that in recent seasons it took Rondo one shot to get his rhythm is accurate.
Maybe his overall confidence has also dropped throughout his career, which is why the numbers have progressively dipped on his first attempt. Maybe this season is the breaking point for Rondo and it’s all unraveling for him – it’s a contract season and he’s looking to prove that he’s worthy of a max contract, and he was also traded from Boston to Dallas, a team he’s struggling to fit in with.
Is it not possible that Rondo has just been in his own head all these years? He might stick his elbow out when he shoots, because he has such long arms that naturally protrude outwards, but plenty of players have horrendous shooting mechanics and still shoot around the league average percentage or better.
That’s precisely why Rajon Rondo should put aside his biases against kooky sports psychologists, and try to work with one to see if he can solve his problem. Rondo once laughed at the idea of “talking to himself” at the free throw line, but maybe that’s something he should do.
Karl Malone shot 54.8% from the line in the first two years of his career, but he knew that he had to improve, so he talked to a psychologist. There, he learned about something called a “trigger word,” which is a word or phrase used to initiate a process or an action. Sports psychologists may use it to put players in a place they feel comfortable, focused, or whatever state of mind they desire in specific situations.
After learning to use a trigger word, Malone shot 75.7% for the rest of his Hall of Fame career. To this day, no one knows what The Mailman muttered to himself when he stepped up to the free throw line, but it worked. Malone stuck with it and it eventually became part of his routine, which ultimately led to greater success in his career.
A player as smart as Rondo probably thinks of everything going on during the game when he’s at the free throw line, like the next play, the situation, and of course his own mechanics. But Rondo also shouldn’t be thinking of “nothing” at the line, because a player like him needs to be focused on using sound mechanics, whether it’s maintaining balance, keeping the elbow in, or following through.
If Rondo is willing to open his mind and work with a sports psychologist, he may teach him a trigger word to put him in a calm state of mind at the free throw line. Just like he is when he’s in the practice gym shooting around all by himself, with no pressure built up like there is during a live NBA game in front of millions of fans watching on television.
And if Rondo isn’t willing to try that, then maybe he doesn’t care about improving as a free throw shooter as much as he claims he does.