True Shooting Percentage (TS%)

In basketball, true shooting percentage is an advanced statistic that measures a player’s efficiency at shooting the ball. It is intended to more accurately calculate a player’s shooting than field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three-point field goal percentage taken individually. Two- and three-point field goals and free throws are all considered in its calculation. It is abbreviated TS%.

It is calculated by: TS% = Points ÷ ((2 x Field Goal Attempts) + (0.88 x Free Throw Attempts), where:

• PTS = points scored;
• FGA = field goal attempts;
• FTA = free throw attempts.

Potential Weakness. The coefficient 0.44 is related to ratio in FTAs from 2 point or 3 point possessions in NBA and and-1 attempts. If all FTAs are from 2 point shooting foul possessions, the coefficient should be 0.5, 0.333 for all 3 point shooting foul possessions, and 0 for all and-1 possessions. For different leagues or in different era, the FTAs ratio is different. It is questionable to use same true shooting percentage formula on those leagues unless the coefficient 0.44 is being adjusted. This raises another question that the true shooting percentage is not comparable for different leagues, age, gender, etc. even for different era.

Example:

A player has 1851 points scored across 1205 field goal attempts and 665 free throw attempts.

TS% = 1851 ÷ ((2 x 1205) + (0.88 x 665)

TS% = 1851 ÷ (2410 + 585.2)

TS% = 1851 ÷ 2995.2

TS% = 0.618

The player’s true shooting percentage would be 0.618, or 61.8%.