07 de septiembre 2021
Abstract:
The objective of the present research is to determine the differences in visual behavior and the upper limbs variability in coordination between expert performers and novice performers in basketball free throws.
Methods: Nine right-handed men were tested. The skilled group consisted of four players who had an experience of 9.2 years (SD: 1.2) and play 9 hours per week (SD: 12). The novice group consisted of five players with no experience in Basketball. Visual behavior was evaluated using an eye-tracker head mounted and the upper limb kinematic behavior using a High-speed camera during 30 free throws.
Results: There was a significant difference between the expert and novice performers in accuracy for the 30 trials (p<0.034). In Visual behavior were no significant differences the duration of the last visual fixation before the onset of elbow extension in execution phase (p>0,05) between expert and novice groups. There were statistically significant differences in the elbow-wrist variability in coordination in the throws duration time-windows of 100%, 90%, 80%, 30% (pvalue <0.05). 100% represent the last time-windows before ball release. The expert performers shows greater consistency in coordination, however novice subjects exhibit greater variability in the coordination in these intervals.
Conclusion: The results suggest that the task of shooting free throws requires a long visual fixation to the site of interest, which temporarily is similar in subjects with different levels of skill. The higher reproducibility pattern suggests elbow-wrist coordination to be the key perceptuo-motor behavior in order to reach expert performance.