The effects of two instructional conditions on sport skill-specific analytical proficiency of physical education majors

A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was utilized to determine the effects of two instructional conditions on sport skill and novel skill analytical proficiency of physical education majors. One condition included traditional skill instruction on the tennis serve and the other condition included skill analysis training on the tennis serve. Analytical proficiency was assessed by an adapted form of the Modified Slice Tennis Serve Rating Form, an instrument which divides the tennis serve into six performance levels. Each level was characterized by a written description and an outline figure. Each instructional group received three sessions of treatment. Skill instruction consisted of visual and kinesthetic experience with the tennis serve. Skill analysis instruction consisted of visual and verbal training based on a specific observational framework designed to facilitate the visual organization of the spatial and temporal components of movement. Each group was posttested with the Novel Dance Skill Analysis Test, an instrument designed to assess each group's ability to analyze a novel skill. This assessment was included to determine if analytical proficiency was a generic ability. The Novel Dance Skill Analysis Test was designed to assess a subject's ability to visually recognize various aspects of performers executing dance jumps, turns and leaps from a filmed performance.;Analysis of the data indicated no significant differences in pretreatment measures of analytical proficiency between the skill instruction group and the skill analysis group(;It was concluded that: (1) traditional skill instruction does not significantly improve analytical proficiency of a specific sport skill; (2) observed differences in analytical proficiency between the skill instruction group and the skill analysis group were a direct result of the observational and analytical experience gained through skill analysis training; and (3) analytical proficiency did not transfer to a novel skill.