Does a Brief Mindfulness Intervention Counteract the Detrimental Effects of Ego Depletion in Basketball Free Throw Under Pressure?

Research has shown that a brief mindfulness intervention may counteract the depleting effects of an emotion suppression task upon a subsequent psychological task that requires self-control. However, the effects of a brief mindfulness intervention on perceptual–motor tasks particularly in stressful situations have not yet been examined. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a brief mindfulness intervention can counteract the detrimental effects of ego depletion in basketball free throw performance under pressure. Seventy-two basketball players (Mage = 28.6 ± 4.0 years) were randomly assigned to one of the following 4 groups: depletion/mindfulness, no depletion/mindfulness, depletion/no mindfulness, and control (no depletion/no mindfulness). The subjects in the mindfulness intervention participated in a 15-min breath and body mindfulness audio exercise, and those in the control condition (no mindfulness) listened to an audio book. A modified Stroop color-word task was used to manipulate self-control and induce ego depletion. Participants performed 30 free throws before and after the experimental manipulations. Results showed that basketball players’ free throw performance decreased after ego depletion, but when ego depletion was followed by the mindfulness intervention, free throw performance was maintained at a level similar to the control group. Our results indicate that a brief mindfulness intervention mitigates the effects of ego depletion in a basketball free-throw task.