Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Scientific Journal

The Effect of Neurofeedback Training on Sport Performance Enhancement and Conscious Motor Processing in Skilled Dart Players

Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license

Authors

Ebrahim Norouzi 1
Fatemeh Hosseini 2
Mohammad Kazem Vaez Mousavi 3

1 Ph.D Student of Motor Behavior, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Motor Behavior, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

3 Professor, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences, Imam Hossein University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jmlm.2018.238453.1279
Abstract
The employment of neurofeedback is growing rapidly in sport performance enhancement. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of neurofeedback training on motor performance and conscious motor processing of skilled dart players. The subjects were 20 male skilled dart players. The research was conducted in five phases: pretest, neurofeedback training, posttest 1, under pressure test and posttest 2. Neurofeedback training consisted of prevention training of the alpha frequency band (8 to 12 Hz) in F4. To analyze data, descriptive statistics and mixed ANOVA were used. Results indicated that the amounts of conscious motor processing for neurofeedback training group decreased in posttest 1 (P=0.001) and under pressure test (P=0.001) but this reduction was not observed in the control group (P=0.83). The dart throwing points for neurofeedback training group and control group in the posttest 1 increased compared with the pertest (P=0.001), but only neurofeedback group (P=0.001) was able to preserve this increase in the under pressure test. The findings indicated an effect among neurofeedback training, conscious motor processing and sport performance. In other words, the neurofeedback training leads to the desired motor performance and creates automatic sense in the athlete by reducing the conscious motor processing.
 

Keywords

Conscious processing
dart throwing
neurofeedback
quiet mind
under pressure
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Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning
Volume 10, Issue 1
Spring 2018
Pages 139-157

  • Receive Date 04 September 2017
  • Revise Date 24 July 2018
  • Accept Date 01 January 2018

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