Effective Field Goal Percentage (EFG%) is a very useful basketball statistic for coaches to use and get a true feel for how a player is shooting the basketball from all parts of the court.  The calculation for the stat is the following:

(FG + (3FG/2)) / FGA

… or the total number of field goals plus the number of three point field goals divided by two all divided by the number of field goal attempts.  The stat gives a percentage of shots made while also giving extra weight to three point field goals.  An easy way to think of the stat is a weighted average of the field goal percentage (FG%) and three point field goal percentage (3FG%) stats.

Using the Statistic

The Effective Field Goal Percentage stat can be used in several different ways.  One use is a quick view of a player’s effectiveness in shooting.  Instead of having to look at a variety of stats, a coach can pay attention to just one stat and get an idea of how a player is shooting

Another use of the Effective Field Goal Percentage statistic is to view how well a player is successfully mixing two and three point shots.  By using the EFG% stat and the number of attempts or the two and three point field goal percentages, it can be determined if the player is shooting too many three pointers when they could be scoring more by attempting easier two point shots.  Or a player who makes a good percentage of three pointers would be better to attempt more three point field goals – this can also be analyzed by comparing EFG%, FG% and 3FG%.