Dwight Howard hit a career-low 48.9 percent from the free throw line in 2015-16, a pretty significant millmilestone for someone who entered the league in 2004, and someone whose free throw work has been endlessly scrutinized for over a decade.

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Howard, then working for the Houston Rockets, was also a repeated target of the ‘Hack-a-Shaq’ defensive philosophy, fouled purposely throughout contests in order to send his sub-standard stroke to the charity stripe in hopes for a pair of clangs. Though the NBA put in some rule changes regarding that strategy over the offseason, this strategy figures to sustain in 2016-17 when Howard suits up for his hometown Atlanta Hawks.

Desperate, Dwight has now taken to attempting to improve his stroke from even farther out than the 15-foot free throw line. Howard is apparently looking to become more confident in hitting 19-footers, in the hopes that the muscle memory will aid him as he works to crack more than even from the stripe from here on out (via Ananth Pandian at CBS Sports):

Dwight Howard working on his muscle memory shooting from 19ft. This leads to confidence at the free throw line???? #NBA pic.twitter.com/Jtjutv1ObL — Lethal Shooter (@LethalShooter__) August 28, 2016





This is somewhat akin to a baseball player loading up his bat with donuts, or swinging with several bats at once as he waits in the on-deck circle prior to an at bat. If you can master the heavier swing – or, in Dwight’s case, “shot” – the less strenuous one should be a cinch.

Howard, as you’d expect, did not shoot from behind the high school-level three-point line all that much in 2015-16, and we’re hoping that he won’t be expected to replicate former Hawks center Al Horford’s role as a sometimes-perimeter shooter in 2016-17.

The Hack-a-Shaq rule changes are largely cosmetic – Howard isn’t exactly saved by the fact that teams won’t be allowed to foul him intentionally in the final 120 seconds of the first quarter – so this won’t be the last we’ll see of his endless trips to the line. Dwight has had his fair share of free throw form advice since 2004, and while he probably won’t be emulating Wilt Chamberlain’s attempts at fixing his own free throw stroke by shooting from 18-feet …

… every bit of shooting practice helps.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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