EFFICACY OF WRIST STRATEGY COACHING ON HANDSTAND PERFORMANCES IN NOVICES: INVERTING EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT LEARNING OF SKILL-RELATED MOTOR TASKS

Authors

  • Jonas Rohleder German Sport University Cologne Institute of Professional Sport Education and Sport Qualifications
  • Tobias Vogt German Sport University Cologne, Institute for Professional Sport Education and Sport Qualifications, Cologne, Germany

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52165/sgj.11.2.209-222

Keywords:

skill acquisition, balance, postural control, declarative knowledge, model observation

Abstract

In gymnastics, mainstream handstand coaching emphasizes developing an aligned rigid body configuration, frequently leaving wrist-controlled balance work to implicit learning. However, skill-related motor behavioral research suggests the wrists to primarily contribute postural control in handstands. Considering recent research on handstands revealing experience-dependent motor behavior, the present study aimed to examine motor learning effects of explicit wrist usage coaching on handstand performances in skilled and less skilled novices. Therefore, twenty-five volunteering sport students served as participants completing a three-week training intervention which solely and explicitly addressed successful wrist usage during handstand. A video-tutorial introducing participants to the wrist strategy of hand balance preceded five practical training sessions that all neglected providing explicit postural advice. Participants performed three handstands on a plane gymnastics mat prior to (pre-test) and after (post-test) completing the training intervention. Standardized video recordings of each trial allowed retrospective group assignment (skilled and less skilled novices) based on pre-test mean balance times. With this, balance times, expert assessments (postural execution and balance control strategies) and goniometric analyses of shoulder and hip joint angles served to detect practical changes in handstand performances. Enhanced balance times as well as increased scores for postural execution and balance control strategies were revealed for less skilled novices (p < .05), but not for skilled novices (p > .05). Furthermore, in both groups changes in shoulder and hip joint angles failed significance. In conclusion, present findings suggest practitioners to make entirely unexperienced handstand learners explicitly aware of the wrist strategy’s operating principle.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Andrieux, M., & Proteau, L. (2016). Observational Learning: Tell Beginners What They Are about to Watch and They Will Learn Better. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 51. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00051

Asseman, F., & Gahéry, Y. (2005). Effect of head position and visual condition on balance control in inverted stance. Neuroscience Letters, 375(2), 134–137. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2004.10.085

Blandin, Y., Lhuisset, L., & Proteau, L. (1999). Cognitive Processes Underlying Observational Learning of Motor Skills. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 52(4), 957–979. doi:10.1080/027249899390882

Blenkinsop, G. M., Pain, M. T. G., & Hiley, M. J. (2016). Evaluating feedback time delay during perturbed and unperturbed balance in handstand. Human Movement Science, 48, 112–120. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2016.04.011

Blenkinsop, G. M., Pain, M. T. G., & Hiley, M. J. (2017). Balance control strategies during perturbed and unperturbed balance in standing and handstand. Royal Society Open Science, 4(7), 161018. doi:10.1098/rsos.161018

Braun, C. (2016). Observational Learning in the Context of Skill Acquisition. In T. Heinen, I. Čuk, R. Goebel, & K. Velentzas (Eds.), Gymnastics Performance and Motor Learning: Principles and Applications (pp. 34–43). New York: Nova Science Publsihers, Inc.

Breslin, G., Hodges, N. J., & Williams, A. M. (2009). Effect of information load and time on observational learning. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 80(3), 480–490. doi:10.1080/02701367.2009.10599586

Buchanan, J. J., & Dean, N. (2014). Consistently modeling the same movement strategy is more important than model skill level in observational learning contexts. Acta Psychologica, 146, 19–27. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.11.008

Cicchetti, D. V. (1994). Guidelines, criteria, and rules of thumb for evaluating normed and standardized assessment instruments in psychology. Psychological Assessment, 6(4), 284–290. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.6.4.284

Croix, G., Lejeune, L., Anderson, D. I., & Thouvarecq, R. (2010). Light fingertip contact on thigh facilitates handstand balance in gymnasts. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 11(4), 330–333. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.02.003

FIG (2017). 2017 Code of Points: Men’s Artistic Gymnastics. Lausanne: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique.

Gautier, G., Thouvarecq, R., & Chollet, D. (2007). Visual and postural control of an arbitrary posture: The handstand. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(11), 1271–1278. doi:10.1080/02640410601049144

Gautier, G., Marin, L., Leroy, D., & Thouvarecq, R. (2009). Dynamics of expertise level: Coordination in handstand. Human Movement Science, 28(1), 129–140. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2008.05.003

Hayes, S. J., Hodges, N. J., Scott, M. A., Horn, R. R., & Williams, A. M. (2006). Scaling a motor skill through observation and practice. Journal of Motor Behavior, 38(5), 357–366. doi:10.3200/JMBR.38.5.357-366

Hedbávný, P., Sklenaříková, J., Hupka, D., & Kalichová, M. (2013). Balancing the handstand on the floor. Science of Gymnastics Journal, 5(3), 69–80.

Janelle, C. M., Champenoy, J. D., Coombes, S. A., & Mousseau, M. B. (2003). Mechanisms of attentional cueing during observational learning to facilitate motor skill acquisition. Journal of Sports Sciences, 21(10), 825–838. doi:10.1080/0264041031000140310

Kerwin, D. G., & Trewartha, G. (2001). Strategies for maintaining a handstand in the anterior-posterior direction. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33(7), 1182–1188. doi:10.1097/00005768-200107000-00016

Kochanowicz, A., Niespodziński, B., Marina, M., Mieszkowski, J., Biskup, L., & Kochanowicz, K. (2018). Relationship between postural control and muscle activity during a handstand in young and adult gymnasts. Human Movement Science, 58, 195–204. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2018.02.007

Kochanowicz, A., Niespodziński, B., Marina, M., Mieszkowski, J., Kochanowicz, K., & Zasada, M. (2017). Changes in the Muscle Activity of Gymnasts During a Handstand on Various Apparatus. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Advance online publication. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000002124

Laguna, P. L. (2008). Task complexity and sources of task-related information during the observational learning process. Journal of Sports Sciences, 26(10), 1097–1113. doi:10.1080/02640410801956569

Lam, W. K., Maxwell, J. P., & Masters, R. (2009). Analogy Learning and the Performance of Motor Skills under Pressure. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 31(3), 337–357. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.31.3.337

Magill, R. A. (2014). Motor learning and control: Concepts and Applications (10th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Maleki, F., Nia, P., Zarghami, M., & Neisi, A. (2010). The Comparison of Different Types of Observational Training on Motor Learning of Gymnastic Handstand. Journal of Human Kinetics, 26, 13–19. doi:10.2478/v10078-010-0043-0

Malhotra, N., Poolton, J. M., Wilson, M. R., & Omuro, S. (2015). Dimensions of Movement-Specific Reinvestment in Practice of a Golf Putting Task. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 18, 1–8. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.11.008

Masser, L. S. (1993). The Comparison of Different Types of Observational Training on Motor Learning of Gymnastic Handstand. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 12, 301–312.

Masters, R., & Maxwell, J. (2008). The theory of reinvestment. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1(2), 160–183. doi:10.1080/17509840802287218

Post, P. G., Aiken, C. A., Laughlin, D. D., & Fairbrother, J. T. (2016). Self-control over combined video feedback and modeling facilitates motor learning. Human Movement Science, 47, 49–59. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2016.01.014

Rohbanfard, H., & Proteau, L. (2011). Learning through observation: A combination of expert and novice models favors learning. Experimental Brain Research, 215(3-4), 183–197. doi:10.1007/s00221-011-2882-x

Rohleder, J., & Vogt, T. (2018a). Performance control in handstands: Challenging entrenched coaching strategies for young gymnasts. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 4(10), 1–15. doi:10.1080/24748668.2018.1440459

Rohleder, J., & Vogt, T. (2018b). Teaching novices the handstand: A practical approach of different sport-specific feedback concepts on movement learning. Science of Gymnastics Journal, 10(1), 29–42.

Schmidt, R. A., & Lee, T. D. (2011). Motor Control and Learning: A Behavioral Emphasis (5th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Sun, R., Merrill, E., & Peterson, T. (2001). From implicit skills to explicit knowledge: a bottom-up model of skill learning. Cognitive Sciences, 25, 203–244. doi:10.1016/S0364-0213(01)00035-0

Uzunov, V. (2008). The handstand: A four stage training model. Gym Coach, 2, 52–59.

Veit, J., Jeraj, D., & Lobinger, B. H. (2016). Augmented Feedback for Movement Error Correction in Gymnastics. In T. Heinen, I. Čuk, R. Goebel, & K. Velentzas (Eds.), Gymnastics Performance and Motor Learning: Principles and Applications (pp. 45–52). New York: Nova Science Publsihers, Inc.

Verburgh, L., Scherder, E. J. A., van Lange, P. A. M., & Oosterlaan, J. (2016). The key to success in elite athletes? Explicit and implicit motor learning in youth elite and non-elite soccer players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34(18), 1782–1790. doi:10.1080/02640414.2015.1137344

Vogt, T., Kato, K., Schneider, S., Türk, S., & Kanosue, K. (2017). Central neuronal motor behaviour in skilled and less skilled novices - Approaching sports-specific movement techniques. Human Movement Science, 52, 151–159. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2017.02.003

Yeadon, M. R., & Trewartha, G. (2003). Control Strategy for a Hand Balance. Motor Control, 7(4), 421–442. doi:10.1123/mcj.7.4.421

Downloads

Published

2019-06-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Rohleder , J., & Vogt, T. (2019). EFFICACY OF WRIST STRATEGY COACHING ON HANDSTAND PERFORMANCES IN NOVICES: INVERTING EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT LEARNING OF SKILL-RELATED MOTOR TASKS. Science of Gymnastics Journal, 11(2), 209-222. https://doi.org/10.52165/sgj.11.2.209-222