Scaling sporting equipment for children promotes implicit processes during performance

• Published in: Consciousness and cognition 2014-11, Vol.30, p.247-255
• Main Authors: Buszard, Tim, Farrow, Damian, Reid, Machar, Masters, Rich S.W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activity levels. Psychomotricity; Athletic Performance - physiology; Attention - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Children & youth; Cognitive ability; Developmental psychology; Dual task; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Implicit learning; Learning; Learning. Memory; Male; Memory; Memory, Short-Term - physiology; Modified equipment; Motor ability; Motor learning; Motor Skills - physiology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor activities; Skill acquisition; Sporting goods; Sports Equipment; Talent development; Working memory
• ISSN: 1053-8100; 1090-2376
• DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.07.004

•Less skilled children had lower working memory capacity than more skilled children.•The use of full size equipment by children appears to increase conscious processing.•The benefits of using scaled equipment were most evident less skilled children.•The use of scaled equipment appears to encourage implicit motor learning. This study investigated whether children who used scaled equipment compared to full size equipment during a motor task demonstrated reduced conscious involvement in performance. Children (9–11years) performed a tennis hitting task in two attention conditions (single-task and dual-task) using two types of equipment (scaled and full size). A more skilled group and a less skilled group were formed using hitting performance scores. The more skilled group displayed greater working memory capacity than the less skilled group. For both groups, hitting performance and technique were better when scaled equipment was used. Hitting performance when using scaled equipment was not disrupted in either group by a cognitively demanding secondary task; however, performance was disrupted in the less skilled group when using full size equipment. We conclude that equipment scaling may reduce working memory engagement in motor performance and discuss the findings in the context of implicit motor learning theory.