Abstract
(1) Background: How to optimally promote the process of acquiring and learning a new motor skill is still one of the fundamental questions often raised in training and movement science, rehabilitation, and physical education. This study is aimed at investigating the effects of differential learning (DL) and the elements of OPTIMAL theory on learning a goal-kicking skill in futsal, especially under the conditions of external and internal foci. (2) Methods: A total of 40 female beginners were randomly assigned to, and equally distributed among, five different interventions. Within a pretest and post-test design, with retention and transfer tests, participants practiced for 12 weeks, involving two 20-min sessions per week. The tests involved a kicking skill test. Data were analyzed with a one-way ANOVA. (3) Results: Statistically significant differences with large effect sizes were found between differential learning (DL) with an external focus, DL with an internal focus, DL with no focus, traditional training with an external focus, and traditional training with control groups in the post-, retention, and transfer tests. (4) Conclusions: The results indicate the clear advantages of DL. It is well worth putting further efforts into investigating a more differentiated application of instructions combined with exercises for DL.
Highlights
How to optimally promote the process of acquiring and learning a new motor skill more effectively is still reckoned as one of the core questions in movement science, therapy, and training science [1]
The present test results were consistent with previous research conducted on differential learning (DL) (e.g., [45,46,47]), which show the advantages of DL in comparison to the rather repetitive approaches in the acquisition and learning phases
This has been observed in research on tennis, with varying intervention durations, where the rising advantage of DL increased over time [48,49,50]
Summary
How to optimally promote the process of acquiring and learning a new motor skill more effectively is still reckoned as one of the core questions in movement science, therapy, and training science [1]. The traditional approach to skill acquisition is based on reductionist-atomistic thinking, accompanied by an excessive emphasis on cognition since the “cognitive turn” in the 1960s [2] This is a way of thinking that is mainly based on linear models, explicit verbalization, a lot of imitations, and the internalization of knowledge about a correct prototype that is shown by a lot of repetition and corrective instructions to avoid making mistakes [3]. Following this traditional logic of a control loop with external feedback, the main theoretically assumed key factors influencing skill learning [14] would first need to be identified, and their interactions would need to be appropriately understood by practitioners and coaches to establish a strong theoretical basis for an appropriate pedagogical approach [15]
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