Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the nature and effect of certain highly patterned behaviours utilized prior to free-throw shooting in basketball. Ten female basketball players served as subjects for this study. Subjects were filmed with a high-speed camera and monitored for heart rate during the performance of 10 free throws in each of two conditions: ritual and non-ritual. For the ritual condition, subjects were given unlimited time and freedom of movement prior to each free-throw attempt. For the non-ritual condition, subjects were not restricted by time, but were instructed to shoot the ball without utilizing any movements other than those required to project the ball to the goal. Dependent maesures were characteristics of behaviors, physiological changes measured by heart rates, mechanical data (speed, height and angle of release), and number of successful attempts. Results indicated no significant difference between conditions for free-throw success. However, partial correlation between dependent measures and successful free-throw attempts indicated that duration of behaviours was most crucial to free-throw shooting success. Verf.-Referat