The influence of analogy instruction and motion rule instruction on the learning process of junior tennis players

Abstract

Coaches often use analogies and explain motion rules in their verbal instructions; however, little is known about how such communication influences the execution of movements of advanced players of various sports. In this study qualitative investigation is made into the effectiveness of analogy instruction and motion rule instruction on the tennis serve performance of advanced junior players. In a pretest, posttest, and retention test design, participants (n = 44; 11.5 years of age) were assigned to an analogy group, a motion rule group or a control group. After a 5-week intervention, experts used video recordings to assess changes in participants’ performance during the various phases of the tennis serve. While participants in the analogy group and the motion rule group improved their movements of the serve overall from the pretest to the posttest, their serve generally deteriorated from the posttest to the retention test, except during the impact phase of the serve. These results suggest that advanced junior tennis players generally benefitted from both analogy instruction and motion rule instruction. However, the participants seemed to benefit more from motion rule instructions over time, as the motion rule group demonstrated more consistent performance on the retention test than the analogy group.