The Effect of Metacognitive Strategy Training on Cognitive Flexibility and Explicit and Implicit Learning of a Sports Motor Skill: A Case Study of Basketball Free Throws in Adolescent Girls

Introduction: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of metacognitive strategy training on cognitive flexibility and explicit and implicit learning of basketball free throw motor skill in adolescent girls.

Research Method: This study was a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test, including two experimental groups and two control groups (metacognitive training/explicit and implicit learning and no metacognitive training/explicit and implicit learning). The statistical population included female high school students with an average age of 16.81 years, and 60 individuals were selected by convenience sampling. Free throw skill was assessed using the Zachary et al. (2005) test, and cognitive flexibility was evaluated using the Dennis and Vander Wal (2010) questionnaire. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and repeated measures, and a significance level of 0.05 was considered.

Findings: The findings showed that metacognitive strategy training significantly improved free throw performance in the acquisition, retention, and transfer phases (η² = 0.20, 0.24, 0.28) and also increased cognitive flexibility (η² = 0.16). Comparison between groups showed that implicit learning combined with metacognitive training provided better performance in all three phases compared to explicit learning. Also, groups receiving metacognitive training had higher results in cognitive flexibility compared to groups without training.



Conclusion: Integrating metacognitive strategy training into sports practices can lead to increased motor skill performance and enhanced cognitive flexibility, enabling athletes to better manage their learning processes and improve their overall competence.