How this calculator works
Raw field goal percentage treats a made three-pointer the same as a made two-pointer even though it is worth one more point. Effective field goal percentage corrects this by adding half of the three-pointers made to the total makes before dividing by attempts, because the extra point is half of a two-point basket. A player who makes 10 of 20 shots with 4 threes has an eFG of (10 + 2) / 20 = 60 percent, compared with a raw field goal percentage of 50 percent. Free throws are excluded; true shooting percentage is the rate that includes them.
Formula
eFG% = (field goals made + 0.5 x three-pointers made) / field goal attempts. Rearranged: field goals made = eFG x attempts - 0.5 x three-pointers; three-pointers = 2 x (eFG x attempts - field goals made); attempts = (field goals made + 0.5 x three-pointers) / eFG.
Worked example
A player makes 10 field goals, 4 of them three-pointers, on 20 attempts. eFG = (10 + 2) / 20 = 0.600, or 60.0 percent. Another player makes 8 field goals with no threes on 16 attempts: (8 + 0) / 16 = 0.500.
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Frequently asked questions
How is eFG different from true shooting percentage?
eFG covers only field goal attempts. True shooting percentage also counts free throws in the denominator, so it measures scoring efficiency across all shot types.
Why add only half of the three-pointers?
A three-pointer is worth one more point than a two-pointer, and one point is half of the two points that a made field goal is worth in the shooting-percentage sense. The 0.5 factor puts the extra point on the same scale as a make.
Can eFG exceed 100 percent?
It can approach 150 percent in theory if every attempt is a made three-pointer, because each make contributes 1.5 makes. The field allows values above 1 so the reverse calculation can solve for counts.