A Comparison of the Effects of Neurofeedback and Physical Practices on Performance and Retention of Dart Throw Skill

This study compared the effects of neurofeedback and physical practices on performance and retention of dart throwing skill. 24 subjects were selected by convenience sampling method from female physical education students of Urmia University who were all right-handed with no history of neurofeedback training and dart throwing. They were divided to three groups: physical practice, neurofeedback and control (each group 8 subjects). The practice protocol was conducted 3 sessions a week for 5 weeks and then posttest was administered. Retention test was conducted 5 days after the last practice session. The data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA with repeated measures of factor test, one-way variance, and post hoc tests. The results of two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures indicated that although the participants progressed in both neurofeedback and physical practices in the performance phase, there was no significant difference between the experimental groups at this stage. In addition, the main effect of the test phases was significant, but the main effect of group and interaction of the test phases and group were not statistically significant. That is to say the difference of the effects of neurofeedback and physical practices on performance and retention of dart skill was not significant. These results clarified the effect of neurofeedback and physical practices; therefore, they need to be used simultaneously.