Abstract
Learning a sports skill is a complex process in which practitioners are challenged to cater for individual differences. The main purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a Nonlinear Pedagogy approach for learning a sports skill. Twenty-four 10-year-old females participated in a 4-week intervention involving either a Nonlinear Pedagogy (i.e.,manipulation of task constraints including equipment and rules) or a Linear Pedagogy (i.e., prescriptive, repetitive drills) approach to learn a tennis forehand stroke. Performance accuracy scores, movement criterion scores and kinematic data were measured during pre-intervention, post-intervention and retention tests. While both groups showed improvements in performance accuracy scores over time, the Nonlinear Pedagogy group displayed a greater number of movement clusters at post-test indicating the presence of degeneracy (i.e., many ways to achieve the same outcome). The results suggest that degeneracy is effective for learning a sports skill facilitated by a Nonlinear Pedagogy approach. These findings challenge the common misconception that there must be only one ideal movement solution for a task and thus have implications for coaches and educators when designing instructions for skill acquisition.
Highlights
Motor skill acquisition during childhood forms the foundation for lifelong participation in sport, essential for long-term health and fitness benefits [1]
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a NP approach, in relation to a Linear Pedagogy (LP) approach
Post hoc analysis showed that performance accuracy scores were significantly different (p = 0.019) from pre (NP = 0.6260.53; LP = 0.6560.59) to post test (NP = 0.9560.44; LP = 1.1060.78)
Summary
Motor skill acquisition during childhood forms the foundation for lifelong participation in sport, essential for long-term health and fitness benefits [1]. Learning a sports skill is a complex process that involves a multitude of factors. A key challenge for movement practitioners is to cater for this abundance of individual characteristics during practice. An instructional approach underpinned by a robust theoretical framework is essential for effective acquisition of a sports skill. Practitioners (e.g., coaches, teachers, etc.) have adopted approaches which are prescriptive and repetitive, utilizing technical demonstrations that provide learners with a ‘‘visual template or criterion model’’ for the desired skill [3]. An increasing amount of evidence from the Dynamical Systems Theory (DST) perspective challenge these traditional assumptions about skill acquisition [3,7,8]
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