EFG Calculator - Effective Field Goal Percentage

What the effective field goal percentage calculator does

Effective field goal percentage, or eFG%, is field goal percentage done properly. It takes the basic shooting number and adjusts it for the one thing plain field goal percentage ignores, that a three-pointer is worth more than a two. This tool works it out. You give it your made and attempted twos and threes, and it returns your eFG%, along with your two-point and three-point percentages and your total points.

The idea is to answer a fairer question than raw shooting percentage can: taking the extra value of the three into account, how efficiently is this player really scoring from the field?

How to use it

1. Enter your two-point field goals made and attempted.
2. Enter your three-point field goals made and attempted.

Along with the effective field goal percentage, the tool shows your two-point and three-point percentages and your total points from the field, so you can see the whole shooting picture at once. Press Calculate for the result, or Reset to clear the fields.

How effective field goal percentage is worked out

You take your total makes, add half a make for every three you hit, and divide by your attempts:

eFG% = ((field goals made + 0.5 × three-pointers made) ÷ field goals attempted) × 100

That little 0.5 is the whole trick. A three is worth three points against a two's two points, which is exactly fifty percent more, so each made three earns an extra half a make in the formula. In effect, it converts your threes into their two-point equivalent, so a player who shoots threes can be compared fairly with one who does not.

An example, and why it beats plain FG%

Here is the case that shows why this stat exists. Take two players who each shoot 4 for 10 from the field.

• Player A made all four as two-pointers. Field goal percentage 40%, eFG% also 40%, total 8 points.
• Player B made all four as three-pointers. eFG% = (4 + 0.5 × 4) ÷ 10 × 100 = 60%, total 12 points.

By plain field goal percentage, both players are identical at 40 percent. But Player B scored twelve points to Player A's eight, off the same ten shots, and effective field goal percentage captures that exactly: Player A stays at 40 percent, Player B jumps to 60 percent. The lesson is one worth remembering, that a player shooting 40 percent on threes is more efficient than one shooting 50 percent on twos, and eFG% is the only one of the two stats that can tell you so.

What a good eFG% looks like

Because it gives extra credit for threes, eFG% tends to read a little higher than raw field goal percentage. Across the NBA, the league-wide average usually sits somewhere around 52 to 54 percent, a number that has crept up over the years as three-point shooting has taken over. An eFG% above 55 percent is excellent, and above 60 percent is elite, the territory of the very best shooters in the game. Below 50 percent is a sign of below-average efficiency from the field. As always, the figure makes most sense next to a player's role and shot selection.

Why it matters so much

This is not just a tidy correction, it is one of the most important stats in basketball. Shooting efficiency turns out to be the single biggest driver of which team wins, and eFG% is the cleanest one-number measure of it. It is the headline member of what analysts call the Four Factors of winning, a framework that ranks shooting ahead of turnovers, rebounding, and free throws in deciding games. A simple way to use it is the differential: compare your eFG% to your opponent's, and the team with the higher number is almost always scoring more efficiently from the floor. If you could track only one shooting stat for a team, this would be the one to choose.

Questions people ask

How do you calculate effective field goal percentage?

Add half a make for every three-pointer to your total field goals made, divide by field goals attempted, and multiply by 100. The 0.5 bonus reflects the extra value of a three.

How is eFG% different from field goal percentage?

Field goal percentage treats every made shot the same. Effective field goal percentage gives a made three extra credit, since it is worth more, which makes it a fairer measure of shooting efficiency.

What is a good eFG%?

In the NBA, league average is roughly 52 to 54 percent. Above 55 percent is excellent and above 60 percent is elite. Below 50 percent indicates below-average efficiency from the field.

Can eFG% be higher than 100 percent?

In theory, for a player who makes a very high share of threes, since each made three carries a bonus. In practice it effectively tops out well below that, and any full-season figure near 60 percent is already elite.

References

1. Basketball-Reference.com, Glossary (effective field goal percentage, defined as (FG + 0.5 × 3P) / FGA). https://www.basketball-reference.com/about/glossary.html