Coach Ed Paulubinskas
Basketball legend. Master of the “Perfect Shot.” Coach.
Ed Paulubinskas has had a storied career as a player, coach, and teacher. He is also a world-renowned expert on both the jump shot and free-throw shooting. He has coached at every level, including being an NBA, WNBA, and Olympic shooting coach.
More importantly, Ed is also an inspiration to players around the world, loved for his humor, candor, and patience.
Ed was already making a name for himself at 18, earning the title of Mr. Basketball Australia. He played college basketball in the US at Ricks College and LSU, where he shot an incredible 92.4% from the free-throw line.
Ed’s talents were also on display on the international stage, where he played for the Australian Olympic team in 1972 and 1976. He set three world and Olympic records in scoring, averaging 33.1 points per game, and scoring a game-high of 50 points without a 3-point line. His Olympic scoring records held for 47 years—only surpassed in recent years with the addition of the 3-point line.
After his Olympic playing days, Ed went received a master’s degree at BYU and a teaching and varsity basketball coaching position at a Utah high school. He was living the life he had always wanted, teaching young men and women and coaching basketball.
One fateful day while driving home from varsity practice, Ed’s car hit an ice patch and crashed into a bridge, leaving him with a broken leg, leaving Ed temporarily in a wheelchair. But he didn’t let that stop him from basketball.
During his healing process, Ed spent countless hours in a wheelchair focusing on perfecting his shot. He used his time in the chair to push his upper body, arm, and hand to become more accurate than ever before. He learned the perfect elbow, arm, and hand position. He discovered the perfect shooting angle and the perfect follow-through.
Ed’s hard work and dedication paid off, and he has perfected his shooting to the point where he has not shot less than 99% in free throws, whether in competitive play, pick-up games, or casual shooting sessions in the driveway.
Ed developed the exact shooting mechanics that would later help countless shooters improve their field goal, free throw, and 3-point percentages by 20% or more.
In 1992, Ed coached Central Private High School girls’ varsity team. The team won the state championship. Christy Sides was Coach Ed’s standout player. With Coach Ed’s teaching skills, Christy set many scoring records finishing high school in 1995 with 3,375 points. Christy went on to have a great college career. Following her playing career Christy turned to coaching. Christy Slides is now the head coach for the Indiana Fever WNBA.
Due to the success of the girls’ team, Coach Ed was asked to take over the Central Private Boys High School team in Baton Rouge. That team had finished the season 3-30. Coach Ed taught his players to shoot in preparation for the next season. He taught the proper hand position, he taught the exact finger placement, he taught where to find their shooting pocket. He taught exercises to strengthen their fingers, hands, and arms. He taught them perfect follow-through.
The following year, this same team went 30-3, averaging 113 points per game. Shooting 70% from the field and 90% from the free throw line. In one year, they went from the bottom of their league to the semifinals in the state tournament.
In 2001, Ed was called on to be the Lakers shooting coach. That year, they won the world championship. Ed was given a team championship ring because of Ed’s work with stars and future NBA hall-of-famers Shaquille O’Neil and Kobe Bryant. Ed helped Shaq go from shooting 42% to 70% in free throws. He also helped Kobe raise his free throw percentage from 75% to 85%. Because of the vast improvement in Shaq’s free throws, teams had to change how they defended the center, ending the hack-a-Shaq strategy that had once limited the success of the MVP and the Lakers.
In 2008, Ed coached the Australian women’s Opals. That year, the Opals won the World Games.
The Phoenix Mercury hired Ed as a shooting coach in 2014. That year, Phoenix set the free throw record in percent made in professional basketball. Since Ed’s time with the Mercury, the team has gone on to set record after record in free throw and field goal percentage shooting.
As a coach and teacher, Ed has become a highly sought-after expert. AAU, High School, College, and Professional coaches worldwide have called on Coach Ed. They have asked him to come and teach the Perfect Shot to their players, all with great success. Teams in 39 countries, including Australia, China, the Philippines, Bahrain, Lithuania, Columbia, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the USA, have benefited from working with Ed.
Coach Ed has developed the science of shooting. With his extensive knowledge and ability to break down every aspect of the shot, Ed has become the premier basketball shooting coach in the world.
For the past few years, Coach Ed has been retired, only occasionally working with individual players and teams. But after seeing the sad state of shooting at the high school, college, and professional levels, Ed has come out of retirement.
He is now offering clinics open to the public. Over the next few months, new clinic locations will be available for anybody who wants to improve their shooting skills.
Don’t miss the opportunity to work with Coach Ed and take advantage of the country’s premier basketball shooting coach and shooting clinic.
With his expertise and experience, Ed will elevate your shot to the next level.
