The purpose of this study was to identify the dominant instructional interaction patterns of expert golf instructors. Instructors (N = 22) were selected by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Teaching based on the following criteria: (a) 10 or more years of golf teaching experience, (b) LPGA certification, (c) awards received for the quality of their instruction, and (d) peer and student recognition for outstanding teaching. The instructors were videotaped teaching a 60-min lesson to a novice college-age woman with no previous golf experience. The tapes were then analyzed using both the Cheffers Adaptation of Flanders' Interaction Analysis System (CAFIAS) and a qualitative analysis. Based on the findings from descriptive statistics and correlation analyses of the CAFIAS data and qualitative data analysis, several trends were identified. First, the dominant instructional behavior of these teachers was providing information to the students using both explanations and demonstrations. Second, the prevailing instructional interaction pattern of the expert teachers included extensive explanations and demonstrations followed by directions. The student followed the directions by practicing skills and received praise for their achievements. Third, high rates of directions and praise from teachers prompted student practice. Fourth, engaging students in subject-related discussion was positively correlated with teachers' questions but negatively correlated with teachers' criticisms. Finally, teacher acceptance was positively correlated with student analytic behavior, while teachers' talk negatively correlated with students initiating discussions.

The purpose of this study was to examine analytic perceptions of expert and novice tennis coaches. Four expert and four novice tennis coaches volunteered as study participants. Both a video analysis and a recall test provided data for this investigation. In the video analysis protocol, participants were asked to describe what they observed while viewing a 10-minute video of a tennis practice session. In the recall test, a series of 10 tennis related slides were viewed by each of the coaches. After viewing each slide for five seconds, the coaches were asked what they recalled from the slide. The completed written accounts from the video analysis and the recall test audiotapes were transcribed and served as the primary data. The researchers looked for recurring themes and categories using the generic qualitative study technique. Data analysis revealed six themes: (a) the quantity of cues perceived, (b) attention to critical features, (c) analytic depth, (d) recognizing meaningful patterns, (e) anticipating the future, and (f) from description to prescription. These findings, while new to the coaching literature, supported previous research in other fields regarding the importance and domain specificity of experts’ superior perceptual capacities.