| Abstract | This study examined the effects of goal constraints (accuracy, velocity, or both) on the performance and learning of an ontogenetic skill. Participants were undergraduate female college students (N=16), with no prior golf experience. Participants were randomly placed into one of 4 groups - Control, Accuracy, Velocity, or Accuracy and Velocity. Participants in all groups practiced a golf swing for 6 sessions and returned one-week following practice for a retention session. All participants were told that the goal of the golf swing was to hit the ball with both velocity and accuracy. There was no instruction concerning the swing given to participants in any of the four conditions. Participants in the Control group received no augmented information during practice or retention. The participants in the Accuracy condition were reminded to emphasize accuracy during practice sessions. The participants in the Velocity condition were encouraged to increase their velocity of swing during practice sessions. The participants in the Accuracy and Velocity condition were encouraged to focus on increasing both velocity of swing and accuracy during practice sessions. Analysis of motor pattern change indicated that participants in the velocity conditions improved their swing with practice and retained their swing better than those in the Accuracy alone condition and Control condition. It was concluded that scaling up on the constraint of velocity will improve the use of the order parameter (open kinetic chain). Results indicate that complex skills such as a golf swing can be learned without the aid of instruction by scaling up on a constraint that becomes a control parameter. |
