demonstrations:learning_curves_in_sports_skills
Learning Curves in Sports Skills
Materials: ★★☆ Available in most school laboratories or specialist stores
Difficulty: ★☆☆ Can be easily done by most teenagers
Safety: ★☆☆ Minimal safety procedures required
Categories: The Brain and Nerves, Sports Science
Alternative titles: Motor Skill Acquisition, Practice Makes Progress
Summary
Students practice a simple sport-related skill in repeated blocks and quantify performance over time to reveal a learning curve (better accuracy, faster times, reduced variability).
Procedure
- Select one skill for the whole class (e.g., golf putting, basketball free throws, dart/beanbag target throws, sport stacking, table tennis keep-ups, agility ladder or cone-slalom).
- Define performance metrics before starting (e.g., percent made, miss distance in cm, completion time, radial error, and trial-to-trial standard deviation).
- Conduct a brief standardized warm-up (e.g., 2–3 practice attempts that are not scored).
- Run a Baseline block (e.g., 10–20 attempts) and record metrics for each trial.
- Implement structured practice:
- Use 3–5 blocks of 10–20 attempts with consistent rest (e.g., 60–90 seconds) between blocks.
- Keep setup constant (distance to target, target size, course layout).
- Optionally compare practice schedules by splitting the class: one group uses massed practice (blocks back-to-back), another uses spaced practice (short unrelated activity between blocks).
- Add a Retention test after a fixed delay (e.g., 10–15 minutes or next class): 10 additional trials under the same conditions; record metrics.
- Plot and analyze:
- Compute block means for accuracy/success, precision (SD), and time.
- Graph performance vs. block to visualize improvement rate, consistency gains, and retention.
Links
Variations
- Golf putting accuracy: 3–4 blocks of 10–20 putts at set distances; measure % made, mean miss distance, and SD.
- Basketball free throws: 5×10 shots; compare massed vs spaced practice or blocked vs interleaved drills; track % made per block and learning slope.
- Dart/beanbag target throws: use soft-tip/Velcro darts or beanbags; record radial error (cm), score, and variability across blocks.
- Sport stacking (cup stacking): time best of 3–5 attempts per session; expect decreasing times and reduced variability.
- Table tennis keep-ups/basic strokes: count consecutive hits or successes in 60 s; track errors per block.
- Agility ladder or cone-slalom (soccer): time to complete and foot-faults per run; expect faster times and fewer faults.
Safety Precautions
- Use non-hazardous equipment (beanbags, soft-tip/Velcro darts, plastic cups) and ensure ample space.
- Establish clear lanes/areas; keep bystanders behind a safety line; one active participant per lane.
- Remove tripping hazards; ensure proper footwear on smooth floors.
- No running with equipment; supervise all timed/agility tasks.
Questions to Consider
- What pattern in your graph indicates learning? (Improved accuracy/success, faster times, and reduced variability across blocks.)
- Did massed or spaced practice produce better retention? (Spaced practice typically supports better retention, even if initial gains look slower.)
- Why analyze both mean performance and standard deviation? (Mean shows accuracy/speed; SD shows consistency—both are essential for skilled performance.)
- Did improvements persist at the retention test? (If yes, learning transferred beyond temporary warm-up effects; if no, gains were transient.)