Exploring Visually and Hearing Precluded Free Throw Trials Among Elite Basketball Players: A Practical Training Method?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of a visually and hearing precluded free throw training intervention on lower and higher skilled university level free throw shooters. The study examined athlete’s shooting percentage, attentional focus, and imagery. Vision was precluded using occlusion goggles however restored while the ball was in midflight to provide knowledge of results (KR). Auditory factors were significantly reduced using hearing protection ear buds. The study revealed that the intervention group significantly improved compared to the control group at post-test, challenging the reliability of the specificity of practice hypothesis. Further, it was discovered that intervention funneled attention internally for some, but not all participants, as just under half of the intervention group used imagery when shooting without vision and hearing. Lastly, the imagery use and imagery vividness of the intervention group did not significantly increase at post-test when compared to the control group.