Special skills in female basketball players with different level of free throw efficiency

Abstract

We examined the especial skills of thirty-five skilled or semi-skilled basketball players. In addition to long training experienced, we used another inclusion criterion, i.e. 80% free throw efficiency (group E) and 50% free throw efficiency (group HS). In group E, free throw efficiency was higher than predicted on the basis of scores obtained from adjacent locations. In turn, the especial skill effect was not noted in group HS. The findings of our study support the learned parameters hypothesis as an explanation of the especial skill effect. Better scores obtained by group E may have resulted from the fact that they performed more shots and devoted more time to mastering this skill, which led to better parameterization and to the occurrence of the especial skill effect. Our results lead us to suggest that once developed, the especial skill can generalize to other nearby distances. Performance of the class members is governed by the schema rule, but there is an additional component of accuracy that is a function of proximity of the desired distance to the highly practiced 5.8 m distance – a kind of generalization gradient. This view predicts that the effects of high-level practice at 5.8 m should transfer most to its nearest adjacent distances.