Effects of instruction, emphasizing on velocity, accuracy or both on the performance and kinematics in overarm throwing

In motor tasks like the overarm throw, velocity and accuracy are two important parameters of performance that may be incompatible and require different strategies in the execution of the motor task. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of instruction (emphasizing on velocity, accuracy or both) on performance and kinematics of overarm throwing. Results on nine experienced male team handball players (mean age 24 ± 2.2 yr.) showed that the type of instruction affected the maximal ball velocity. The difference in ball velocity was a result of the significant difference in maximal linear velocity of the wrist, elbow, and hip segments together with their absolute timing before ball release. The subjects did not seem to change their throwing technique, i.e. the relative timing of movement initiation of the different body segments.