The Effects of Neurofeedback Training with a Focus on Handedness on Learning of Dart Throwing Skill

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of neurofeedback training with a focus on handedness, on learning of dart throwing skill. Thirty-nine Students of Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University )mean age: 21.62±2.57 years) purposefully participated in this research. After instructing and observing dart throwing film by participants, a pretest includes of 10 trails was conducted and then participants were assigned into four groups (right-handed neurofeedback, left-handed neurofeedback, right-handed control and left-handed control) according to pretest scores. Acquisition phase includes of 8 training sessions, participants completed 20 trials per session after neurofeedback intervention. 72 hours after the last training sessions, the retention test and then transfer test with non-dominant hand was conducted. Factorial analysis of variance with repeated measures on training sessions indicated that training sessions main effect was significant, that is, participants showed significant improvement in dart throwing performance during acquisition phase. In addition, one-way ANOVA revealed that there were no significant differences among groups in transfer test, while this difference was significant in retention test. In other words, neurofeedback groups achieved better scores than control group, but significant difference between right-handed and left-handed neurofeedback groups was not found. Theta/SMR protocol leads to sensory motor rhythm and attentional process enhancement, consequently increase in dart throwing performance. It appears that this protocol may help accelerating expertise process in dart.