Cognitive, perceptual, and motor abilities in skilled basketball performance

The differences among athletes of differing skill should assist successful identification and selection of the best athletes in a specific sport. For the purpose of this study, a laboratory study was conducted with a group of 13 men on the elite male national team of basketball players, 22 to 23 years of age, and a control group of 15 men of equal age (physical education class) to assess differences in their scores on cognitive skills (memory-retention, memory-grouping analytic ability), perceptual skills (speed of perception, prediction, selective attention, response selection), and motor skills (dynamic balance, whole body coordination, wrist-finger dexterity, rhythmic ability). Analysis showed that elite male basketball players scored higher on hand coordination and lower on dynamic balance given their anthropometric measurements. Elite players were better on memory-retention, selective attention, and on prediction measures than the control group. The above skills are important in basketball performance. Researchers may examine whether other factors contribute more in the development of perceptual and cognitive skills.