Introduction. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of learning a complex gymnastic routine with different frequencies of externally imposed and self-controlled model demonstration. Material and Methods. Thirty undergraduate physical education (PE) students were randomly assigned to 3 groups: G100 (100% frequency), GS (self-controlled frequency) and GC (control group). Each participant from groups G100 and GS performed 150 trials of a complex gymnastic routine during 10 practice sessions. The learning effect was evaluated on the basis of the mean absolute error value and measured during pre-acquisition (baseline), acquisition (practice sessions) and post-acquisition (retention and transfer tests) phases. Results. It was revealed that observational learning with self-controlled and high externally imposed frequency of model demonstration proved to be equally effective. The differences were found during the acquisition phase only. The self-controlled group achieved higher outcomes than the externally imposed group. Conclusions. This study indicates that performance during practice sessions does not always reflect the permanency and adaptability of the motor skill learning process.

Preliminary studies have reported that motor control is negatively impacted following an infection of COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on maintaining balance in highly skilled athletes. As part of a larger investigation that was initiated in 2019, twelve professional handball players were recruited to participate in a study that was designed to measure static balance performance. Following the initial pre-test, six participants (body height 184.8 ± 4.7 cm; body weight 85.5 ± 3.3 kg; age 21.3 ± 1.2 years) were infected with COVID-19. The remaining six participants (body height 188.7 ± 2.6 cm; body weight 92.3 ± 3.7 kg; age 26.3 ± 3.3 years) never tested positive for COVID-19 and were presumably not infected with the virus. The experimental design required all the participants to complete an initial balance assessment (pre-test) and a later balance assessment (post-test). To fully analyze our data, we conducted a 2 (condition: COVID, no-COVID) X 2 (test: pre-test, post-test) ANOVA with repeated measures on the second factor. Our analysis revealed that the skilled athletes who contracted COVID-19 had a significant decrease in balance performance from the pre-test that occurred prior to being infected with COVID-19 relative to the post-test that occurred following the COVID-19 infection. Additionally, the skilled athletes who were not infected with COVID-19 did not demonstrate the same deterioration in balance performance in the same period. This study highlights the impact COVID-19 has on static balance performance in a group of highly skilled handball players. Longitudinal studies are needed to fully understand the lasting impacts COVID-19 has on motor behavior.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of learning a complex gymnastic routine with different frequencies of model demonstration controlled by the experimenter or self-controlled by learners. Fifty undergraduate physical education (PE) students were randomly assigned to 5 training groups: GF100 (100% frequency), GF20 (20% frequency), GFF (faded frequency), GSF (self-controlled frequency) and GYF (yoked group). All five groups followed the same experimental design, with one difference: groups GF100, GF20 and GFF observed model demonstration under externally controlled frequency, whereas group GSF self-controlled that condition. Participants were asked to perform a complex gymnastic routine (maximum vertical jump) with swinging the arms forwards and upwards, pulling the knees up to the chest while grabbing the shins followed by a half-squat landing with arms extended sidewards. During the acquisition phase, all the participants completed a total of 150 trials, with 15 trials completed in three blocks during each of the ten practice sessions. In the present study, we used expert ratings based on the FIG-COP to evaluate movement quality. For each trial, three gymnastic judges assessed the performance. To assess the differences between the five groups, a repeated measures ANOVA was conducted on the last factor for retention and transfer (Group x Test) and practice (Group x Practice). Partial eta squared (ηp2) effect sizes were calculated for multiple comparisons and Cohen’s d effect sizes were calculated for pairwise comparisons. Post-hoc Fisher’s LSD test was used for pairwise comparison. No significant Group x Test interaction or Group main effect was found, indicating that no group performed better than another in retention immediate, delayed and transfer tests. For each group, a significant improvement compared to baseline was observed in the retention and transfer tests (d > 0.8). The most important finding from the current study was that groups under self-controlled and experimenter-controlled frequency of model observing appeared similarly effective in learning a complex gymnastic routine. No significant differences were observed between the five groups in retention and transfer tests.

The aim of the study was to determine the impact of internal and external (proximal and distal) attentional focus on table tennis backhand stroke accuracy in low-skilled players. Fifty-one undergraduate physical education (PE) students were randomly assigned to 3 groups: Group G1 (IF) was instructed to focus on the hand holding the paddle, Group G2 (EFP) was instructed to focus on the ball, while Group G3 (EFD) was instructed to focus on targets marked on the tennis table. The experimental groups followed identical instructions except for the instruction about the focus of attention. Participants were asked to score as many points as possible by hitting the ball inside the three smallest targets marked on the tennis table. They were required to do so using a backhand stroke. The practice session consisted of 45 trials in three blocks of backhand (15 trials at each target). A special scoring system was used to determine the accuracy of the strokes. One of the most important findings from the current research was that groups with an external focus of attention revealed significant improvements in accuracy in the post-test, while the group with an internal focus of attention achieved low training effects. No significant difference was observed between G2 (EFP) and G3 (EFD) in the delayed retention test, which indicates that proximal and distal attentional focus had similar effects on table tennis backhand stroke accuracy in low-skilled players.