EFFECT OF MATCH PLAY ON THE KINEMATICS OF ONE-HANDED STATIONARY NETBALL SHOOTING

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence has suggested that at the completion of a competitive netball match, shooters may experience match tiredness or fatigue that may negatively influence their shooting technique and accuracy. Although several studies have examined the effect of fatigue on the performance of sport skills such as running, no studies were found which examined the influence of match play on the mechanics of netball goal shooting. The purpose of the present study was therefore to identify the effect of match play on the kinematics of one-handed stationary netball shooting performed by 10 highly skilled shooters (mean age = 23 * 3.4 years). Subjects were filmed performing one-handed stationary shots for goal 3.0 m from the post, before and immediately after (within 5 minutes of match completion) participating in one of their scheduled New South Wales Netball Association State League Competition (Division 1) matches. The shooting action was filmed using a 16 mm LOCAM Model 5001 high speed camera (100 Hz; lateral view) and a Panasonic M7 VHS video camera (25 Hz; anterior view). Two successful representative shots, one before and one after the competition match, were selected for analysis for each subject The two trials per subject were digitised and smoothed using a second order Butterworth filter (cutoff = 10 Hz). Linear velocities, joint and segmental angles, and amplitudes of segmental movement were derived from the smoothed displacement data for each shot. The subjects' shooting accuracy was also quantified during match play via game analysis procedures. T-tests for dependent means showed there was no significant difference (p < 0 05) in the kinematics of one-handed shooting performed by the subjects when standing 3.0 from the goal post before and immediately after a competition netball match Observations of individual subject results reflected this high consistency in shooting technique, despite the limited number of shots analysed per subject. It was concluded the spatial and temporal aspects of the shooting technique of this sample of highly skilled netball shooters were sufficiently automated to prevent changes in technique as a consequence of the physical demands of participating in a competition match.