Research in Sport Medicine and Technology

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the kinematics and kinetics of successful versus
unsuccessful basketball free throw shots. Six professional basketball players (age= 23±2.09 years members
of Iranian premier basketball league participat in test. Kinematics of arm motion during basketball free throws
were recorded by two Casio zr200 camera in frequency of 240 Hz. Wilcoxon test was used for significant
differences between successful versus unsuccessful free throws (p ≤ 0/05). Angular velocity of the wrist was
found to be significantly higher in successful versus unsuccessful shots at the time of ball release (p ≤ 0/028).
Wrist (p ≤ 0/008) and shoulder (p ≤ 0/023) joints were found to have significantly more flexion in successful
versus unsuccessful shots while elbow (p ≤ 0/002) remained significantly less flexed in successful shots.
Angular displacement of wrist (p ≤ 0/034) and elbow (p ≤ 0/004) was shown to be significantly greater in
successful versus unsuccessful shots. Integrated EMG of Anterior Deltoid (AD), Triceps Brachii (TB) and
Flexor Carpi Radialis (FCR) muscles was more in successful free throw versus unsuccessful free throw, but
the only significant difference was observed in the Integrated EMG of the Triceps Brachii muscle (p ≤ 0/034).
In summery, increasing the wrist angular velocity and activity of triceps brachii muscle affected successful
free throws.