Impact of Positive and Negative Motivation and Music on Jump Shot Efficiency among NAIA Division I College Basketball Players

The objective of this study was to determine whether music, positive feedback, and/or negative feedback impacted jump shooting performance in NAIA Division I male and female basketball players. Using a cross-over design, participants (N=20) took 50 shots from 15 feet and 50 shots from the 3-point line under four conditions (silence, music, positive feedback, negative feedback). The number of shots made were recorded and a one-way ANOVA was used to determine differences between gender. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine differences between conditions in shooting performance and to identify differences in gender by condition. Analysis yielded no significant (p>.05) differences between gender or gender by condition. However, significant differences (p<.05) between conditions were noted, as participants had better shooting percentages in silence and music conditions compared to positive and negative reinforcement for shots from 15 feet. Participants also had better shooting percentages in the music condition compared to negative and positive feedback. Silence and music yielded significantly better shooting percentage compared to positive and negative feedback; however, these conditions did not necessarily mimic in-game conditions. Further research must be conducted on player performance during game time situations with negative and positive feedback from the crowd (i.e. home crowd versus away crowd).