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Abstract This study aimed to examine the effect of time of day (TOD) on the acquisition of basketball game actions from dynamic and static visualizations in physical education students (novice practitioners). Participants were quasi-randomly assigned to three treatments (static pictures, enriched static-pictures, or video). Morning and late-afternoon sessions were conducted, involving study phases and immediate-recall tests [game comprehension (GC) test and game performance (GP) test]. Oral temperature (OT) and mood states (MS) were also measured. Compared to the morning, the results revealed that afternoon resulted in higher OT, higher negative MS (e.g., anxiety and fatigue), and lower positive MS (i.e., vigor) in all experimental conditions. Moreover, the results showed that: (a) GC and GP decreased throughout the day (regardless of treatments), (b) GC and GP were better with enriched static-pictures (with arrows) than with static pictures, at both TOD, and (c) the video resulted in better GC and GP than the two static presentations, at both TOD. This study (a) highlights the morning's superiority in the acquisition of motor skills from dynamic and static visualizations, due to mood disturbances and lower arousal levels, and (b) encourages basketball teachers to use video modeling by experts, particularly in the morning, for explaining tactical skills.

Recent studies within the physical education domain have shown the superiority of dynamic visualizations over their static counterparts in learning different motor skills. However, the gender difference in learning from these two visual presentations has not yet been elucidated. Thus, this study aimed to explore the gender difference in learning basketball tactical actions from video modeling and static pictures. Eighty secondary school students (Mage = 15.28, SD = 0.49) were quasi-randomly (i.e., matched for gender) assigned to a dynamic condition (20 males, 20 females) and a static condition (20 males, 20 females). Immediately after watching either a static or dynamic presentation of the playing system (learning phase), participants were asked to rate their mental effort invested in learning, perform a game performance test, and complete the card rotations test (test phase). The results indicated that spatial ability (evaluated via the card rotations test) was higher in males than in female students (p < 0.0005). Additionally, an interaction of gender and type of visualization were identified, supporting the ability-as-compensator hypothesis: female students benefited particularly from video modeling (p < 0.0005, ES = 3.12), while male students did not (p > 0.05, ES = 0.36). These findings suggested that a consideration of a learner’s gender is crucial to further boost learning of basketball tactical actions from dynamic and static visualizations.

The present experiment examined the effect of content complexity on perceived cognitive load and game performance when learning basketball tactical actions from videos modeling examples displayed at different speeds. A two (presentation speed: slow vs. normal) × three (content complexity: low vs. medium vs. high) design between subjects was adopted in the experiment. Following the learning phase, 120 secondary school students were quasi-randomly assigned to six experimental conditions and required to rate their perceived cognitive and game performance. Data analyses revealed that for low complexity content, both speeds of presentation have similar effects on learning. Conversely, for medium and high complexity contents, participants exposed to the slow-presentation speed learned more efficiently than those exposed to the normal-presentation speed. The findings recommend the use of slow-speed videos when learning basketball tactical actions, particularly in playing systems with medium or high levels of complexity.

School-based exercise intervention is recognized as an optimal tool for enhancing attentional performance in healthy school children. However, gender differences in the training adaptation regarding attentional capacities have not been elucidated clearly in the current literature. This study aimed to investigate the effects of an 8-week Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 11+ for Kids training program on attentional performance in schoolboys and girls. Based on a quasi-experimental design, fifty-two children registered in year five of elementary school were assigned into the following groups: training boys (n = 13), training girls (n = 13), control boys (n = 13), and control girls (n = 13). The training groups undertook an 8-week FIFA 11+ Kids intervention with a training frequency of five times per week, whereas the control groups were deprived of any exercise during the study period. All the participants maintained their regular physical activity and weekly physical education (PE) lessons (two 50-min lessons per week of school curriculum) during the training period. The Chinese version of the Attention Scale for Elementary School Children (ASESC) test was used for attentional assessment at the baseline and one week after the interventional period. The Kruskal–Wallis H test was used for between-group comparison, whereas the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for within-group comparison. Significant differences in total scale, focused attention, selective attention, and alternating attention were found in group comparisons (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the training children significantly increased their values in relation to total scale, focused attention, sustained attention, and selective attention (p < 0.05). Only training girls significantly improved their divided attention after the training period (p < 0.001, MD = −0.77, ES = −0.12). In conclusion, the FIFA 11+ for Kids is an effective school-based exercise intervention for attentional improvement in school children. The schoolgirls demonstrated a positive outcome regarding divided attention after the interventional period.

This study examined the effect of time of day on immediate recall of motor skills (i.e., tactical behaviors in basketball) from different external visualizations. First-year students from a public university in sports science (novice practitioners, 18.96 ± 0.57 years) were quasi-randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: video modeling by experts, a sequential-with-tracing presentation of pictures, or a sequential-without-tracing presentation of pictures. Morning and late afternoon sessions were conducted involving study phases and immediate-recall tests (i.e., comprehension and game performance tests). Oral temperature and mood states were also measured at both times of day. The results revealed that participants exhibited better recall performances in the morning, irrespective of the visualization format used. At both time of day, tactical behaviors were better recalled from video modeling rather than the two sequential presentations of pictures. In addition, providing the learner with a permanent visual trace of the previous states improves the immediate recall of tactical skills from a sequential presentation of pictures, at both time of day. Furthermore, morning sessions resulted in lower oral temperature, lower negative mood, and higher positive mood, compared with afternoon sessions. Implications for using external visualizations aimed at the acquisition of motor skills, particularly tactical behaviors, are discussed.