Behavioral Interventions to Improve the Performance of Collegiate Volleyball

Abstract

The purpose of this study was examining the three interventions across practice and in-game settings (i.e., goal setting plus verbal feedback; public posting plus verbal feedback; and goal setting, public posting, and verbal feedback together) on the percentage of correct blocks of collegiate volleyball players. Participants of this study consisted of three female volleyball players at the collegiate level, that are a part of a 4-year private college in the Midwest. Data were collected by videotape and analyzed by the primary researcher after respective practices and games. Each performance of blocking attempts, blocking footwork, and arm movement for the swing blocks were coded as either correct or incorrect and subsequently converted to percentages for both practices and games. The experimental design used was an ABACAD design as reported by Cooper (Applied behavior analysis, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, 2007; as reported by Johnson Strategies and tactics of behavioral research, Taylor, and Francis Group, New York, 2009). Three packaged intervention conditions were evaluated after an initial baseline (i.e., A) was conducted: (1) goal setting plus verbal feedback (i.e., B); (2) public posting plus verbal feedback (i.e., C); and (3) goal setting, public posting, and verbal feedback together (i.e., D). The results of the study indicate improvement in volleyball blocking skills across all three participants, across both practice and game settings, when involved in the behavioral intervention procedures. Consumer satisfaction rating by the target players and their respective collegiate volleyball coaches are also presented. Additionally, interobserver agreement and procedural integrity data are provided to additional credibility and internal validity for both the measurement system and the implementation of the intervention. Implications and recommendations for practice in highly competitive collegiate settings, as well as possibilities for future research in women’s athletics, are also discussed.