Dribble Accuracy and Arm Coordination Pattern According to Motor Expertise and Tempo

Abstract

Skilled movements in motor learning result from efficiently controlling the many degrees of freedom in human movement. To acquire motor skills, harmonious coordination of body segments in time and space is crucial for accurate and consistent performance. The purpose of this study was to compare dribbling accuracy, consistency, and coordination patterns of body segments according to motor expertise and tempo. To achieve this, we had eight basketball experts and eight beginners perform static dribbling at three different speeds for 20 s. Force plates measured radial error while motion capture equipment measured the angular data of the right arm’s fingers, wrist, and elbow. The measurements obtained from the force plate were used to analyze the participants’ dribbling performance, including accuracy, consistency, and coordination patterns. The research results showed that there was no significant difference in dribbling accuracy according to skill level, but skilled players showed higher consistency in the anterior–posterior (AP) direction (p < 0.001). In the comparative analysis of coordination patterns, skilled players showed an in-phase structure, whereas beginners showed an anti-phase structure (elbow–wrist: p < 0.05; wrist–finger: p < 0.001; elbow–finger: p < 0.001). This study suggests that achieving proficiency in basketball dribbling requires a strategy that involves coordination of movements with an in-phase pattern for stability in performance.