Effect of observational expert and beginner model on learning of basketball free throw: Role of imagination capability

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of observational Expert and beginner model on learning basketball free throw skill in those with different levels of imagination capability. For this purpose, 30 students with high imagination capability and 30 students with low imagination capability were selected among volunteered students and divided into 6 groups. The free throw accuracy and model were measured with 10 throws at the pre and post-test stages. At the exercise stage, the participants also performed 240 throws based on the specific protocol of the group. The experimental groups watched the video of the Expert or beginner model at the beginning of each exercise block. The control group did not watch any kind of video. The results of multivariate covariance analysis showed that the accuracy and the model of throws in different groups were significantly different. So that those with high imagination capability benefit more from observational learning and learned better than those with low imagination capability. Also, those with high imagination capability significantly benefit from Expert model observation. The results of this research show that in addition to the characteristics of the observed model, which can have a great impact on observational learning, the observers’ characteristics are also very influential in this. One of these effective characteristics was the individual's imagination ability, so that people with lower abilities were more likely to encounter problems with the use of observational learning. Therefore, developing of individual's imagination ability is necessary for this type of learning.