The effect of analogy, implicit, and explicit learning on anticipation in volleyball serving

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of analogy, implicit, and explicit learning on the acquisition and retention of the anticipation skill in volleyball. The participants were 60 female novices, aged 9 to 12 years, who were randomly selected and assigned into four equal groups (implicit group, explicit group, analogy group, and control group). There were three measurement periods: a) a pre - test measurement followed by a practice period of 12 training sessions, b) a post test and c) a retention test one week after the post test. The evaluation criteria were reaction time and accuracy of the response. The factorial ANOVA (4 groups x 3 measurements) with repeated measures on the last factor (measurement) was used to analyze the data. All the learning groups improved over time. However, the analogy group. was faster and more accurate than the implicit group, and the latter was faster and more accurate than the explicit one. It is possible that the information obtained through the different learning methods may follow different memory systems independently. It is concluded that analogy learning can be an effective method for improving anticipation skill in sport settings.