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The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 95-in. and 110-in. racket head-sizes in relation to beginning player skills test, daily playing achievement, and self-efficacy over a 13-day tennis unit. Participants (n = 35) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups within one of two instructional classes. From the analysis of the data, it was concluded that students who used the larger 110-in. head-sized racket attained greater skill test scores and daily practice achievement for the forehand and backhand groundstrokes. In addition, participants using the 110-in. head-sized rackets improved their tennis self-efficacy to a larger degree and reported significantly less negative feeling states when compared to those using the 95-in. headsized racket.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of three racket lengths (26, 27, and 28 inches) in relation to beginning player skills test and last 5-day game playing achievement over an 18-day tennis unit. Participants (N = 83) were randomly assigned to one of three racket length groups in one of four instructional classes. Analysis of the skills test data indicated that students who used the shorter 26-inch racket attained greater achievement for the forehand groundstroke. However, no differences were reported between racket lengths for either the forehand or backhand groundstroke when examining game-play results or for the backhand groundstroke during skills testing.

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of refinement tasks on female seventh- and eighth-grade students’ (N = 200) daily practice success (average daily correct and total trials, and daily correct/total [C/T] ratios) and overall achievement (students’ pretest to posttest improvement) for an introductory 11-day volleyball unit. Six intact classes were randomly assigned to three groups: (a) control, (b) group receiving refinement tasks during skills progressions (extension, refinement, and application [E/R/A] group), (c) group receiving no refinement tasks during skills progressions (extension and application [E/A] group). From the analysis of the data, it was concluded that refinement tasks did have a significant positive effect on students’ daily practice success (daily C/T ratio) and overall achievement.

This study examined low- and high-skilled students’ (N = 68) immediate practice success in response to a teacher’s specific, congruent, and corrective feedback for different tasks (extension, refinement, and application). Data were gathered from an introductory 11-day volleyball unit taught to female seventh and eighth graders (two intact classes) by a physical education specialist. Practice success immediately after teacher feedback was characterized by significant improvement in performance by both ability groups for extension, refinement, and application tasks for the pass and refinement and application tasks for the set.

Mastery learning is an instructional strategy that embraces the philosophy that almost any student can learn what is being taught given sufficient time and help. Through Bloom’s group-based, teacher-paced model, 71 seventh-grade boys were taught basketball skills. Students in two treatment groups (mastery and nonmastery) and a control group were compared on the performance of psychomotor skills in isolation and in a competitive game situation before, midway through, and following their training. Students in the mastery group were not taught new skills until 80% had mastered the present skills. The mastery group performed significantly better on isolated skills than did the nonmastery and control groups. There was no significant difference between groups in the performance of skills in a competitive game situation.

This study compared volleyball achievement and task-specific self-efficacy for high-, medium-, and low-skilled learners using two teaching styles. Students were pre-, mid-, and posttested on skills and self-efficacy and were ability grouped from skill pretest scores. Learning trials were tallied for 58 students in two university classes, and growth curves for each student were created by plotting the percentages of successful trials against the 19 instructional days. ANOVA, used to determine relationships between the teaching styles and the rate of change in volleyball performance, revealed two significant aptitude treatment interactions (ATIs). For skill practice, low-skilled learners did better with command style on the set, and the practice style was best for low-skilled learners on the spike. Self-efficacy increased for all students, with no significant difference in style.