The Effect of a Mental Training Program on Developing the Free Throw in Basketball

Abstract

This study aims at identifying the extent of the effect of employing mental training on developing the free throw in basketball. The study sample consisted of (10) students from the players of the school (Ahwaz middle school for boys). The sample was randomly divided into two groups: the first experimental group (n=5) used the mental training program that includes relaxation, watching the video, mental visualization, attention, and concentration, in addition to skill training. The control group (n=5) which used the skill training program that includes (sprinting then shooting, zigzag running then shooting, bending the arms from the prone position then shooting, shooting with the eyes closed, and shooting from a stationary position). Both groups received physical and skill exercises at the same time. To answer the study hypotheses, arithmetic means, standard deviations, and the (T- test) were used for the pre- and post-tests of both groups. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-measurements of the experimental group members in favor of the post-measurement, and that there were statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-measurements of the control group members in the first test (the fast running and then shooting test) in favor of the post-test, and that there were no statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-measurements of the same group members in the remaining tests. The results also showed that the members of the experimental group that used (mental training accompanying skill training) achieved a noticeable development in the development of the free throw and outperformed the members of the control group in all free throw tests, as the results indicated the existence of statistically significant differences between the two groups in favor of the experimental group