There were no significant differences between experts and non-experts in their frequency of practice, playing experience, and knowledge of free-throw shooting techniques, but there were significant differences in their methods of self-regulation during practice. [...] It was found that experts set more specific goals, selected more technique-oriented strategies, made more attributions to strategy use, and displayed higher levels of self-efficacy than either non-experts or novices. When asked to self-reflect after two consecutive misses, free-throw experts were more mindful of their specific, technique-oriented flaws than boys in the other two groups.
What's interesting is that if there are clear ways to improve free-throw performance through deliberate practice, why, then, have professional basketball players not improved their free-throw performance over time?
