Document Type : Original Article
Researcher
Student
Ministerial Ethics Committee
This study aims to investigate the mediating role of working memory in the effect of attentional focus instructions on basketball free-throw performance among seventh-grade male students. The research design is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest structure and experimental and control groups. The study population consists of all seventh-grade male students in Abyek during the 2024–2025 academic year. Participants will be selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: internal focus, external focus, and control.
The instruments used include a working memory test, attentional focus instructions, and a basketball free-throw test. First, participants will complete the working memory task, and then, based on their assigned group, they will perform a series of free throws under specific focus instructions.
The findings of this research may contribute to a better understanding of the role of cognitive processes (working memory and attentional focus) in sports performance and may provide practical implications for coaches to improve the free-throw accuracy of young basketball players. This study involves no medical or pharmacological intervention, poses no risk to participants, and will be conducted under safe conditions similar to regular basketball practice.