Effects of implicit, explicit and sequential learning in the acquisition of the basketball shooting skill in novices

This study aims to examine the effect of explicit and implicit learning in children, as well as a sequential application of learning modes, in the acquisition of the basketball shooting skill in an ecological setting. Participants (n=80) were novices in basketball, ages 9 to 12 years old. The experimental groups followed one of the three different methods of training, which combined technical and tactical aspects: (a) explicit, (b) implicit, or (c) sequential (implicit first and then explicit). The control group participated only in the measurements. A pre-test and a post-test measured the performance of basketball shooting skills in isolation. A transfer test in a 3-on-3 game condition was also applied. Results indicate that all intervention groups improved in a similar manner as a consequence of practice and there was no difference between the groups in the performance of the basketball shooting skill in isolation and under game condition. The sequential group obtained a performance drop similar to the explicit group in the transfer test, which may be due to the amount of explicit knowledge accumulated by them. The current findings indicate similar effects of implicit and explicit motor learning when they are applied in complex environments with children.