True Shooting Percentage (TS%) is a better efficiency measure than regular field goal percentage because it accounts for the extra value of three-pointers and free throws in one combined number. Enter a box score line below to see the number, its tier, and a shareable result card.
Below the calculator you’ll find a manual step-by-step walkthrough, common calculation mistakes, a full benchmark table, why TS% overtook field goal percentage as the standard efficiency stat, and an expanded FAQ.
True Shooting Percentage Calculator
🏀 Blogyz CalcUses the standard TS% formula with the 0.44 free-throw coefficient used by Basketball-Reference and NBA.com. Some analysts prefer a slightly different coefficient (around 0.475 for the modern NBA), which moves results by a few tenths of a percentage point.
Why TS% Beats Field Goal Percentage
Regular field goal percentage treats a made three-pointer the same as a made two-pointer, which understates the value of three-point shooters. True Shooting Percentage weights points against a possession-adjusted shot total that factors in the extra point from threes and the free-throw line, giving a fairer efficiency picture.
Worked Example
A player scores 28 points on 18 field goal attempts and 6 free throw attempts — the calculator’s defaults. The denominator works out to 2 × (18 + 0.44×6) = 41.28, giving a TS% of 67.8%, well into elite territory. Compare that to a plain field-goal-percentage calculation ignoring free throws and threes entirely, and the same box score line would look far less impressive.
The 0.44 Multiplier, Explained
The 0.44 coefficient applied to free throw attempts exists because not every free throw trip is a true two-shot possession — and-one free throws, technical fouls, and other situations mean free throw attempts don’t map 1-for-1 onto field goal attempts. Decades of NBA play-by-play data settled on 0.44 as the figure that best approximates a possession-equivalent value.
TS% Looks Different by Position
Centers and big men typically post the highest TS% in the league because most of their shots come from close range — dunks, layups, and putbacks are far higher-percentage looks than jump shots. Guards and wings who create their own shot off the dribble usually post lower TS% even when they’re excellent scorers, since a higher share of their attempts are contested mid-range and long-range jumpers. Comparing a rim-running center’s TS% directly to a shot-creating guard’s TS% without accounting for shot difficulty is a common analytical mistake.
This is exactly why analysts increasingly pair TS% with shot-location data before drawing conclusions — a guard posting a modest 55% TS% while carrying the offense’s shot-creation burden through pull-up threes and floaters is doing something very different from a big man posting 65% almost entirely off dunks and putbacks generated by teammates. Neither number is “wrong,” but neither tells the full story alone.
Step-by-Step: How to Calculate True Shooting Percentage by Hand
Step 1: Multiply free throw attempts by 0.44 (this converts free throw trips into a possession-equivalent value). Step 2: Add that result to field goal attempts. Step 3: Multiply the total by 2 — this is your denominator. Step 4: Divide total points scored by that denominator, then multiply by 100 to get a percentage. For example, 28 points on 18 field goal attempts and 6 free throw attempts: 0.44 × 6 = 2.64, plus 18 = 20.64, times 2 = 41.28, then 28 ÷ 41.28 × 100 = 67.8%.
The formula looks more complicated than it is because it’s solving a real problem — a made three-pointer is worth 50% more than a made two-pointer, and a free throw is worth roughly half a normal shot attempt in terms of possession cost. TS% bakes all of that directly into the math instead of forcing you to eyeball it.
Common Mistakes When Calculating TS%
The most frequent mistake is confusing TS% with effective field goal percentage (eFG%) — eFG% adjusts only for three-pointers and completely ignores free throws, while TS% adjusts for both. Using the wrong formula for the stat you’re trying to report is extremely common in casual basketball discussions. A second mistake is forgetting that technical free throws and free throws awarded after the shooting foul are still counted in the free throw attempts total, even though they don’t come from a live field goal attempt. A third mistake is applying TS% to a tiny sample — like a single quarter — where a couple of makes or misses can swing the percentage by 20 points or more and make the number essentially meaningless.
TS% Benchmarks at a Glance
These are the exact thresholds this calculator uses:
| True Shooting % | Tier | What It Typically Means |
|---|---|---|
| 60% and above | Elite Efficiency | Among the most efficient scoring performances possible |
| 58% – 59.9% | Very Efficient | Well above the NBA league average |
| 54% – 57.9% | League Average | Roughly matches typical NBA scoring efficiency |
| Below 54% | Below Average | Scoring volume outpacing shooting efficiency |
Why TS% Replaced Field Goal Percentage in Serious Analysis
For most of basketball’s history, field goal percentage was the default efficiency stat — simple to calculate, but blind to the fact that a made three is worth more than a made two, and blind to free throws entirely. As the three-point shot became a bigger part of the modern game, that blindness turned into a real analytical problem: a player who shot 40% from three and never got to the free throw line could look statistically identical to a player shooting 40% on pure mid-range twos, even though the three-point shooter was generating far more actual points per shot. TS% was developed specifically to fix that gap, and it’s now the standard efficiency reference stat used across basketball analytics, broadcast graphics, and player-comparison tools.
What Actually Moves a Player’s TS%
Shot selection is the single biggest lever — players who prioritize shots at the rim, corner threes, and trips to the free throw line over long two-point jumpers post dramatically higher TS% than players who settle for contested mid-range looks, even with similar overall talent. Free throw shooting ability compounds this further, since a player who gets fouled often and converts those trips at a high rate gets a real efficiency boost that a poor free throw shooter with the same shot diet won’t see. This is part of why modern NBA offenses are built around rim pressure and three-point volume — it’s a direct, deliberate strategy to push team-wide TS% higher.
Where the 0.44 Comes From: Sources
True shooting percentage was popularised by Dean Oliver in Basketball on Paper (2004), the book that gave the analytics movement most of its vocabulary. The formula’s odd-looking 0.44 is an empirical estimate of how many free-throw attempts correspond to one used possession: and-one free throws, technical free throws and the first shot of a two-shot trip do not end a possession, so counting every attempt as half a possession (0.5) would overstate a player’s shot usage. Kubatko, Oliver, Pelton and Rosenbaum formalised the coefficient in “A Starting Point for Analyzing Basketball Statistics” (Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, 2007), and both Basketball-Reference and NBA.com Stats use 0.44 to this day. Because the mix of and-ones and technicals shifts over time, some analysts argue the modern NBA figure is nearer 0.475; the difference is small in practice.
| Level | Typical league-average TS% | Note |
|---|---|---|
| NBA, recent seasons | about 57–58% | Three-point volume has pushed this up from the low 50s in the 1990s |
| WNBA | about 53–55% | Fewer threes and free throws per possession |
| NCAA Division I men | about 53–55% | Varies by season and conference |
| Elite NBA scorer | 62%+ | Sustained over a full season, this is All-NBA territory |
The table is the piece most TS% explanations leave out: the number only means something next to its league average. A 55% TS% was an efficient scorer in 1998 and is slightly below average in today’s three-heavy NBA, so treat any “good TS%” threshold as a moving target and compare players to the same season. TS% also says nothing about volume or shot creation — a low-usage spot-up shooter can post a higher TS% than a superstar who takes the hardest shots on the floor — which is why it is normally read alongside usage rate, and why this site pairs it with the effective field goal calculator, which isolates shooting from the free-throw line entirely.
FAQ
What’s a good TS% in the NBA?
Above 58% is considered very efficient for a high-volume scorer; the league average typically sits in the mid-50s.
Can TS% exceed 100%?
In theory, extremely small sample sizes with a perfect night from three and the line can push it close to that range, but over a full game or season it almost always stays well under 70%.
Is TS% the same for offense and defense?
TS% is purely an offensive efficiency stat measuring a player’s own scoring — there is no standard ‘defensive TS%’ equivalent in mainstream basketball statistics.
Does TS% apply to team-level stats, not just individual players?
Yes — team TS% is calculated the exact same way using team-wide points, field goal attempts, and free throw attempts, and is commonly used to compare overall offensive efficiency between teams.
Why does the free throw multiplier use 0.44 instead of 0.5?
0.5 would assume every free throw trip is exactly two shots, but many trips are one-shot (and-one) or three-shot (certain fouls) situations — 0.44 is the empirically derived average that best approximates a possession-equivalent value across all these cases.
Can a player have a high TS% with a low field goal percentage?
Yes — a player who shoots a modest field goal percentage but draws frequent shooting fouls and converts free throws reliably can post a strong TS% despite unremarkable raw shooting numbers, since free throws are baked directly into the formula.
How is TS% typically tracked over a season versus a single game?
Season-long TS% is calculated the exact same way as a single game, just using cumulative points, field goal attempts, and free throw attempts — most analysts treat anything under 100 combined attempts as too small a sample to be a reliable read on a player’s true shooting efficiency.
Last reviewed September 2026 — formulas and references above were checked against the primary sources cited.
