A comparison between ecological-dynamic and cognitive approach to improve accuracy in basketball shot

Background The shot is a fundamental skill in basketball that requires high accuracy, because is the tool by which players translate their team's offensive actions into points. Basketball is one of the most practiced situational sports in physical education hours in schools. However, it is still mostly teaching according to a traditional, prescriptive-based model. The aim of the study was to compare prescriptive teaching with ecological-dynamic learning for improving shooting accuracy in a group of 3rd year high school students. Methods The sample is made up of 32 students (16 ± 0.72) divided into 2 groups: Group A, consisting of 16 students who were administered a training protocol based on the ecological-dynamic approach, and Group B, consisting of 16 students, who followed a cognitive approach. The close range shooting test was administered in and out to test the students' level of shooting accuracy. A t test for paired dependent samples was performed for each group to test which of the two groups had the greater improvement. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results The results were statistically significant in both cases (p < 0.05); however, group A had a greater improvement in shooting accuracy than group B. Conclusion The ecological-dynamic approach was able to improve accuracy in shot more than the cognitive approach in a group of high school students.