Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange
Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to compare the effects of two varying distributions of practice sessions upon the improvement of long jump performance of women. Twenty-two volunteer freshmen women at South Dakota State University were divided into two equated groups by scores obtained on a standing long jump test, a fifty yard dash test, and the Iowa Brace Motor Educability Test. Group I practiced two times a week and jumped ten times at each practice session. Group II met four times a week and jumped five times at each practice session. The practice sessions were conducted for four weeks. Each subject was tested for distance jumped following a five-day orientation period. Initial jumping ability was established on this initial test. Tests were administered two weeks and four weeks following the beginning of the study and a retention test was given two weeks after the study had been completed. The subjects did not engage in jumping activity during those two weeks. The data were analyzed to determine the effects of the two varying distributions of practice on the improvement of the long jumping performance of the subjects. The findings of this study indicated no significant difference within the group means for Group I. However, Group II showed statistical significance within the group means. Group II also showed statistical improvement over Group I with regard to the mean difference in the changes between the groups from-Tests One to Two and Tests One to Three. The writer is of the opinion that distributed practice sessions (four-day-a-week group) are more beneficial in the improvement of a complex motor skill
