Does Training in a Specific Visual Condition Improve Accuracy of Skill Performance in Basketball Free Throw Shooting?

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to find out whether training in a specific visual condition was an advantage in learning the accuracy of skill performance in the basketball free throw shooting. 28 boys (mean age: 17.14+0.75 years) voluntarily participated in the study and practiced in two groups: with normal light (control group), and in a specific visual condition (focusing light on rim of basketball) (experimental group) for 15 sessions. Ten days after the last session of training, the groups were evaluated in normal and specific visual conditions. According to the results, both groups improved the accuracy of the throws in the training phase. In the normal visual condition test, the accuracy of the free throws of experimental group was significantly lower than the control group. Thus, the advantage of training in specific visual condition was not verified. The experimental group had an advantage only when the test was carried out in the specific visual condition. In conclusion, a specific training condition will improve learning of sport skills (e.g. the basketball free throws) only if similar sensory-motor and processing conditions govern the training and the test.

Keywords

• sensory-motor specificity
• processing specificity
• basketball
• vision
• leaning