The effect of observing different information on learning the basketball jump shot

Background: Absolute and relative information may have different roles during motor learning through observation.Objective: This study aimed to address the effect of observing different information on the learning of the basketball jump shot. Methods: For this purpose, 30 participants were included in the study and divided into three groups (Full Body, Arm, and Wrist) according to the information they observed. Full Body group observed information relating to all body parts, Arm group observed information relating to the throwing arm, and the Wrist group observed the information relating to the throwing wrist. All information was presented in the point light format. During data acquisition, participants performed 30 trials which were observed in the model 5 times before the first trial and once before the remaining trials. Twenty-four hours later, 10 trials were performed as a retention test. After retention, there was a re-acquisition period in which all groups observed full-body information in an order similar to the acquisition period and then performed 10 trials. Accuracy, visual search (eye fixations), and kinematics data (intra-limb coordination variability) were acquired. Results: No between-group difference existed in the accuracy measurement. Results of the kinematics data (intra-limb coordination) showed that Full Body and Arm groups performed more like the model than Wrist group. Visual search data showed that all groups were fixed more on the throwing arm than other parts of the body. Conclusions: These results showed that restricted relative information can be more useful for learning a throwing action.