Old dogs, new tricks: training the perceptual skills of senior tennis players.

Full Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine whether multidimensional perceptual-cognitive skills training, including situational awareness, anticipation, and decision making, improves on-court performance in older adults when compared with a physical training program, including stroke and footwork development. Senior tennis players (N = 27) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: perceptual-cognitive skills training, technique-footwork training, or no training. Results indicated that participants receiving perceptual-cognitive skills training had significantly faster response speeds, higher percentage of accurate responses, and higher percentage of performance decision making in posttest match situations. Findings provide clear evidence that perceptual-cognitive skills can be trained in aged individuals. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered.

Author information

Author/s: Caserta, Ryan J (RJ); Young, Jessica (J); Janelle, Christopher M (CM);

Affiliation: Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of sport & exercise psychology (J Sport Exerc Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Aug; vol 29 (issue 4) : pp 479-97

Dates: Created 2007/10/30; Completed 2007/12/11; Revised 2008/01/25;

PMID: 17968049, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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