ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1593182
This article is part of the Research TopicMovement and ConsciousnessView all articles
Effects of Fatigue Levels on Basketball Shooting Performance: The Mediating Role of Attentional Focus Effects of Physiological Fatigue on Basketball Shooting Performance: The Moderating Role of Attentional Focus
Provisionally accepted
- 1Dazhou Vocational College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, DaZhou, Sichuan Province, China
- 2Sports Coaching College, Beijing Sports University, Beijing, China
- 3School of Physical Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
- 4Xi'an University, Xi'an, China
- 5School of Physical Education, Ningxia Normal University, Guyuan, China, Ningxia, China
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Objective: This study examined the moderating effect of attentional focus on basketball shooting performance under varying fatigue levels. Methods: A 2 (Attentional Focus: External vs. Internal) × 3 (Fatigue Level: No Fatigue, Moderate Fatigue, Severe Fatigue) within-subject design was employed. Thirty male basketball players (mean age: 20.1 ± 0.3 years) completed 20 standardized free-throw attempts under each condition. Shooting accuracy was recorded, and repeated measures ANOVA was performed to analyze main and interaction effects. Results: Significant main effects were observed for attentional focus (F (1,29) = 8.15, p = 0.008) and fatigue level (F (2,58) = 26.32, p < 0.001), along with a significant interaction effect between attentional focus and fatigue level (F (2,58) = 4.27, p = 0.018). Shooting accuracy under external focus (75.0%) was significantly higher than under internal focus (65.0%). Under severe fatigue, external focus resulted in a 15% higher shooting accuracy than internal focus, with this advantage increasing as fatigue levels intensified. Conclusion: Fatigue impairs basketball shooting performance; however, adopting an external attentional focus can mitigate its negative impact, particularly under severe fatigue conditions.
Keywords: Fatigue 1, Attentional Focus 2, External Focus 3, Internal Focus 4, Basketball Shooting 5, Sports Performance 6, Physiological Fatigue1, Attentional Focus2
Received: 13 Mar 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 YUANYUAN, Li, Shi, CAO and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: YING YING CAO, Xi'an University, Xi'an, China
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