Enhancing performance expectancies through positive comparative feedback facilitates the learning of basketball free throw in children

The present study examined the influence of enhancing performance expectancies through comparative feedback on the learning of a sport motor skill, the basketball free throw, in children. Two groups of participants, a positive comparative feedback group (PF) and a control group, practiced 40 basketball free throws. All children received feedback regarding their punctuation scores after each block of practice. Participants in the PF group also received positive social-comparative feedback suggesting that their own punctuation score was better than that of a peer group's on the block. Learning effects were observed through a transfer test performed one day after practice. Participants in the PF group demonstrated higher learning of the task, showing greater punctuation scores on the transfer test than participants in the control group. Questionnaire results also showed higher levels of perceived competence, importance of doing well, and persistence related to the task among the PF group relative to the control participants. These findings provide the first evidence that enhancing performance expectancies through positive comparative feedback enhances the learning of sport motor skills in children. They also demonstrate the important motivational role of feedback on children's learning of motor skills.