Smooth Operators: Promoting Skill Acquisition in Novice Tennis Players

According to different skill acquisition theories, top-down/bottom-up processes will differentially impact on motor skill improvements and should inform the pedagogic approach adopted by the teacher/coach. Despite these predictions, there are few studies that compare different teaching/coaching approaches from these perspectives. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effectiveness of different coaching approaches when acquiring the tennis forehand drive shot among secondary school children (N = 24, age 12–13 years) in Kuwait. Specifically, three methods were compared: demonstration only, verbal instructions with demonstration and a design informed by the constraints-led approach. Measures of performance outcome, expert coach rating, learner understanding and preference, as well as upper-limb kinematics were obtained following a practice block, at delayed retention test after 1 week and on a transfer task. ANOVA revealed no significant differences between conditions for performance outcome or expert coach ratings. However, there were significant differences in the upper-limb movement kinematics (p < .05), as measured by jerk, indicating that VID had lower levels of jerk compared to CLA in all phases. Additionally, when questioned after the study on their perceptions, 92% of the participants preferred being coached using verbal instructions with a demonstration. Overall, findings indicate that the more prescriptive coaching method in this case led to improved understanding and movement smoothness and was also preferred by most participants. Teachers and coaches are therefore encouraged to carefully consider what methods are employed against learner needs and expressed preferences.

基于不同的运动技能学习理论，自顶向下/自底向上（top-down/bottom-up）加工过程会对运动技能提升产生差异性影响，这可为教师与教练员选取适配的教学方法提供理论依据。尽管存在上述理论预判，但从上述视角对比不同教学/训练方法的研究仍较为匮乏。因此，本研究旨在评估不同训练方法对科威特12~13岁中学生（N=24，年龄范围12-13岁）掌握网球正手抽击球技术的有效性。具体而言，本研究对比了三种训练方案：仅示范组、讲解结合示范组，以及基于约束引导式教学法（Constraints-led Approach, CLA）的教学设计组。在单次练习单元结束后、1周后的延迟保持测试以及迁移任务中，研究者采集了运动表现结果、专家教练评分、学习者理解度与偏好，以及上肢运动学相关数据。方差分析（ANOVA, Analysis of Variance）结果显示，各组在运动表现结果与专家教练评分维度上均无显著差异。但在上肢运动学指标（以加加速度Jerk为衡量标准）上则存在显著差异（p < 0.05）：相较于约束引导式教学法组，讲解加示范组（Verbal Instructions with Demonstration, VID）在所有运动阶段的加加速度水平均更低。此外，在研究结束后接受感知维度问卷调查时，92%的参与者更偏好采用讲解结合示范的训练方式。综合来看，本研究结果表明，本实验中采用的规范性训练方法不仅提升了学习者的技术理解度与动作流畅性，还获得了绝大多数参与者的青睐。因此，教师与教练员应结合学习者需求与明确表达的偏好，审慎选择适配的训练方法。