TITLE:
Benefits of Combined Mental and Physical Training in Learning a Complex Motor Skill in Basketball
AUTHORS:
Andrea Gaggioli, Luca Morganti, Maurizio Mondoni, Alessandro Antonietti
KEYWORDS:
Motor Learning; Motor Imagery; Mental Practice; Sport Performance; Complex Motor Skills
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.9A,
September
3,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Previous research in sport psychology and
rehabilitation suggests that training with motor imagery (mental practice) is a
potentially effective strategy to improve motor performance. The goal of the
present study was to investigate the benefits of combining mental and physical
training in learning a complex motor skill in basketball (the lay-up shot). To
this end, sixty female university students were randomly assigned to either
mental practice with physical training, or physical training alone. Motor
performance was assessed before and after a four-week training period. To
assess motor learning performance, a video analysis was carried out by three
independent raters on the motor task before and after the training in both
conditions. Results showed that mental practice condition improved coordination
and movement accuracy, suggesting the potential effectiveness of this approach
in training complex motor skills; furthermore, findings indicate the
feasibility and accuracy of using video-based analysis of movement in the
assessment of motor performance improvements.