Fakultät Kommunikation und Umwelt
Refine
Year of publication
- 2018 (1) (remove)
Document Type
- Master Thesis (1)
Language
- English (1)
Has Fulltext
- yes (1)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (1)
Keywords
- Basketball free throw (1) (remove)
Institute
Purpose: The present study aims to investigate the acute effects of mental practice on novices’ basketball free throw performance and their motor self-efficacy. Moreover, it is examined whether internal visual imagery combined with kinesthetic elements enhances performance more than external visual imagery.
Methods: In order to test the research questions, a sample of 61 participants who are currently not participating in any type of basketball program were assigned to one of the following three conditions with the help of the matched sample method: The internal visual imagery group with kinesthetic elements, the external visual imagery group, and the control group. The experimental interventions with a duration of 15 minutes (mental imagery internal or external or mathematic exercises) followed by physical practice were repeated three times in a row. Consequently, the basketball free throw enhancement was measured via the shot accuracy. The results were compared by using an ANOVA with repeated measurements. Changes in the participants’ motor self-efficacy were assessed via a pre- and a post-test of the MOSI (Wilhelm and Büsch, 2006).
Results: Results showed no significant differences between the groups, neither in the performance increase nor in the self-efficacy.
Conclusion: The current study can serve as a reference point to avoid overestimating the effectiveness of mental practice. Findings are discussed in terms of possible explanations and hints for future research are given.