| Description |
In competitive situations, the jump shot (JS) in basketball must be performed rapidly and accurately; however, current research and teaching methods prioritize accuracy while overlooking the importance of execution speed during training. This dissertation undertook a two-study approach: (1) determine how kinematics of JS motor patterns change as a function of the relative emphasis on release speed relative to accuracy and (2) to examine how focus of attention (FOA) influences JS performance in speeded conditions. Repeated-measures designs were implemented in both studies, and crucial kinematic and performance variables were measured on each trial. In study 1, participants completed 15 JS trials in each of three counterbalanced conditions: (1) normal, (2) accuracy emphasis, and (3) speed emphasis. Participants shooting for speed caught the ball with lower center of mass (COM) and shot with less of the following: shoulder flexion (Mdiff = 3.58, p < 0.001, d = 0.91) and elbow extension at release (Mdiff = 2.99, p = 0.002, d = 0.96); wrist extension at follow-through (Mdiff = 6.35, p = 0.026, d = 0.69); and accuracy (Mdiff = 0.35, p < 0.001, d = 0.79). Results suggest execution time is affected by COM level at catch, and, in speeded conditions, accuracy is compromised by reductions in shoulder flexion and elbow extension at release, and wrist extension at follow-through. In study 2, participants completed 10 JS trials in five counterbalanced conditions: (1)normal, (2) speed - no FOA, (3) speed - wrist FOA, (4) speed - elbow height FOA, iv and (5) speed - rim FOA. Results showed that when shooting for speed, focusing on the rim yields significantly improved performance relative to focusing on the wrist (Mdiff = 0.09, p = 0.009, d = 0.33) and no attentional focus (Mdiff = 0.09, p = 0.023, d = 0.32). No performance differences were found between the rim FOA and elbow height FOA conditions. These results suggest that to minimize release time and maximize accuracy, participants should catch with a low COM and focus attention on either the rim or elbow height at release. These results set the groundwork for training speed-resilient JS patterns. |
