HSE 422

Lecture 10:
Retention & Transfer of Sports Skills
Rob Gray
 Performance vs Learning

As already discussed, we need to separate

relatively permanent effects of learning
from the transient effects on performance
that can occur during practice
An effective way of doing this is to use
retention and/or transfer designs
 Motor Memory
• Definition: the persistence of the acquired
ability to perform a skill
Directly linked to the concept of skill retention – if
you can still perform a skill after a prolonged
interval of not practicing it then you must have a
memory of the skill (i.e., you learned something)
Could be stored in various different forms (e.g.,
motor program, schema, coordination pattern)
 Retention Tests
• Re-evaluate performance after athlete has had
some time interval away from practice
• Gives the transient effects on performance a
chance to dissipate (e.g., rest reduce fatigue)
• Only relatively permanent learning effects
should remain
 Retention Tests
• Performance test used should be identical
for all groups you are comparing.
• How long should the interval be?
– Typically at least 24 hrs is used by their is no
particular interval that is ideal
If you were changing the task difficulty in
practice, typically you would test at last level
reached
 Interpreting Retention Results

Retention

• New training method is superior

 Interpreting Retention Results

Retention
Retention

• New training method is slightly better

Might want to re-test again after longer retention interval
 Interpreting Retention Results

Retention
Retention

• No significant difference between methods

 Interpreting Retention Results

Retention

• How would you interpret this result?

• What might explain it?
 Warm-up Decrement
• Definition: A drop in the
level of performance
following a break or rest
period. The level of
performance is then very
quickly restored to level
obtained in the last practice
session before the break.
 Warm-up Decrement
• Is this forgetting and re-learning of the skill or
something else?
Not just physical warm-up (i.e., loosening muscles),
also a psychological effect
Not clearly understood why it occurs
Some sort of mental preparation effect? “Getting
your head in the game”
 Warm-up Decrement
• The decrement is frequently involved in
measures of learning (i.e., less of a decrement
and faster recovery are thought to indicate better
learning)
Difference score – difference between score on last
practice trial and first retention trial
Savings score – Difference in #trials it takes to reach
same score
 14
Savings Score Example
12
-It takes roughly 7 trials for
performance to “flatten out”
10 (reach its peak)
-Does this get better after
Number of Missed Shots

8
training?
Week 1 (Acquistion)
Power (Week 1 (Acquistion))
6 Week 4 (Retention)
Power (Week 4 (Retention))

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Trial #

13
 14

12

10
Number of Missed Shots

Week 1 (Acquistion)
Power (Week 1 (Acquistion))
6 Week 4 (Retention)
Power (Week 4 (Retention))

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Block #

14
 Savings Score

= # trials before - # trials after

= 7–4
= +3
Positive values indicates training is beneficial,
negative value would indicate performance is
getting worse
 But is this really relevant to learning?
• Difference and savings scores measure
transient effects that quickly go away
So are they really relevant for athletic
performance?
Do you care if a particular training
method/technology produces a shorter warm-up
period if the results are the same in the end?
• Putter 2 has worse difference and savings
scores but does it really matter?
 How long do we retain sensorimotor skills?
• Generally believed the answer is forever
“It’s like riding a bicycle...”
• Does experimental data back this up?
Generally, yes
Some evidence that discrete skills are not retained as well
as continuous ones but that is largely based on evidence
from highly-verbal (“non-sports like”) discrete tasks.
• Also could be due to differences in amount of practice
between discrete and continuous
1 Year Retention of Basketball Shooting

Memmert, D. (2006). Long-term effects of type of practice

on the learning and transfer of a complex motor skill. Perceptual & Motor Skills.
 Retention in Golf Putting

Dali & Christina(2004). Distribution of practice and metacognition in learning and long-term
retention of a discrete motor task. RQES.
 Transfer of Training
• Often training or practice takes place in an
environment that is very different than
competition conditions
For a training program or technology to be effective the
improvements observed in practice must transfer to the
real, competitive situation.
• Also situations where athlete may switch from one
sport to another
Does this help or hurt?
 Transfer of Training
Direction of Transfer:
Positive transfer – training program improves
performance and skill acquisition
Negative transfer – training program degrades
performance and skill acquisition
Magnitude of Transfer
High – training program has a large effect on
performance (i.e., much bigger than nothing at all or
just class room lectures)
Low – training program is not much better than
control group with no training.
 Factors Affecting Positive Transfer Negative Transfer
Transfer Example Example

Movement Racquets Ball vs. birdie

Response/Patterns Net
e.g., tennis & badminton Similar shot variations

Psychomotor Demands Water Boat size and level of

e.g., rowing, kayaking, & Dynamic balance balance
canoeing Coordination

Cognitive Demands Game purpose Travel on the court

e.g., basketball & handball

Biomotor Demands Explosive power No take off and jump in

e.g., sprint & long jump sprinting

Psychological Demands Narrow focus of attention Shifting attention in hockey

in archery and darts vs. judo and karate

23
 Measurement of Transfer
• Typically done by comparing
performance on a primary task (e.g.,
running) for different groups
No transfer group – has done no training
before beginning training in the main task
(running)
Transfer group(s) – trained in a different
task (cycling or swimming) before starting
training in the main task (running
Measurement of Transfer

Negative transfer

Positive transfer
 Proactive vs Retroactive Transfer
• Proactive Transfer
“forward acting”, training in the
past affects your current training
• Retroactive Transfer
“backward acting”, your current
training affects a skill you
learned in the past
 Quantification: % Transfer
% Transfer = (X-Y)/(X-C) * 100

X=performance score of no transfer No transfer group

group at start of training

C=performance score of no transfer
group at end of training
Y=performance score of transfer
group at start of training

Transfer group
 Quantification: % Transfer
% Transfer = (X-Y)/(X-C) * 100
No transfer group

Gives % improvement on one task

as a result of practicing another

Transfer group
 % Transfer Example
X=performance score of no transfer
group at start of training
35 C=performance score
= 29 No transfer group of no transfer
30 group at end of
training
25
= 21
20
Score

15
Y=performance
score of
10
transfer group
at start of
5 training
= 23
0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5

Trial Number

29
 % Transfer Example

X=29
C=21
Y=23

% Transfer = (X-Y)/(X-C) * 100

= (29-23)/(29-21)*100
= 6/8*100
=75%