Changes in compensatory variability as a function of task expertise and distance during basketball shooting

The purpose of this study was to identify how compensatory control of the shooting arm changed under the interacting constraints of task expertise and shooting distance. Expert, intermediate and novice male basketball players (n=10 in each group) performed 30 shots from three distances (4.25, 5.25 and 6.25 metres). The dependent variables included shooting performance together with variability of the wrist, elbow and shoulder joints at the instant of ball release. A significant main effect for expertise was observed for both shooting performance and shoulder joint variability at ball release. No significant main effects for expertise were found for either wrist or elbow joint variability at release. Quadratic regression analyses revealed greater compensatory control of the shooting arm for the expert participants compared to their intermediate and novice counterparts. The level of compensatory control shown also persisted with increasing shooting distance regardless of level of expertise. Findings are harmonious with existing data on movement variability during dynamic throwing tasks, specifically demonstrating how expert performers exploited variability in a functional manner to satisfy the constraints of the task