Investigation of eye movement characteristics during free throws at varying intensities among basketball players and its correlation with free throw percentage.

Abstract

BackgroundFree throws serve as a crucial scoring mechanism in basketball games. As the level of basketball and the intensity of competition continue to improve, the frequency of free throw attempts gradually rises. However, with heightened game intensity, maintaining a consistent free throw success rate becomes increasingly challenging. The aim of this study was to investigate the eye movement characteristics exhibited by basketball players during free throws of varying intensities, as well as explore the relationship between these eye movement characteristics and free throw percentage.MethodsTwenty elite female basketball players were recruited to perform free throws at varying exercise intensities (low, moderate, and high) while wearing an eye tracker device. Eye tracking data was collected using the Tobii Glasses 3 eye tracker. Additionally, the Polar team pro, a heart rate monitoring system manufactured in Finland, was utilized to monitor participants' heart rates during different exercise intensities.ResultsThe average number of fixations on the hoop and net during free throws of varying intensities exhibited statistically significant differences (P ConclusionsUnder the three kinds of sports intensity, the players mainly focus on the hoop position, the moderate intensity free throw has the best stability, and the information search strategy and information processing efficiency are the highest. In high intensity free throws, the longer the fixation duration at the hoop, the higher the free throw percentage; The higher the number of fixations at the hoop, the lower the percentage of free throws.