Differential effects of motor imagery perspectives on open and closed basketball skill learning in children

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Different motor imagery perspectives may optimize how children learn open and closed basketball skills. This study aimed to investigate the effects of internal visual imagery (IVI) and external visual imagery (EVI) on the acquisition of open (jump shot) and closed (free throw) basketball skills in boys aged 9-12 years. METHODS: Seventy-two novice elementary school boys (11.33 ± 0.98 years old) were randomly divided into six groups: IVI-closed skill, IVI-open skill, EVI-closed skill, EVI-open skill, Control-closed skill, and Control-open skill. After initial skill acquisition (6 sessions), a pre-test was held, and then participants completed a 8-session intervention consisting of 15 min of motor imagery (or math practice for controls) followed by 20 trials of basketball practice three times weekly. Finally, a post-test was administered, and after a one-week interval, a 10-trial retention test was administered. Data were analyzed using mixed ANOVA, one-way ANOVA, and Tukey's post-hoc test in SPSS version 27 at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: The results showed that there was no significant differences between the groups in acquisition phase (p = .25). However, in the retention test, the EVI group performed better for open skill (p = .01), whereas the IVI group showed advantages for closed skills. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that various imagery perspectives have varying effects on children's acquisition of skills, with EVI particularly enhancing the long-term retention of open skills. This study highlights the importance of motor imagery perspectives in basketball training programs.