The amount of practice affects the tennis forehand performance but not the perceived competence

Abstract

BACKGROUND: If practice makes it possible for individuals to become competent in performing motor skills, it seems logical to expect that they will come to perceive themselves as such. Although this is a widely accepted hypothesis, the limited evidence on this subject has not supported it.

AIM: To investigate whether perceived competence would change due to the amount of practice.

METHODS: Twenty-four individuals between 18 and 35 years of age, right-handed, of both sexes and inexperienced in sport of tennis participated in this study. They were randomly divided into two groups according to the amount of practice: (1) G180 (180 trials) and (2) G360 (360 trials). They were also subdivided into high (G180A and G360A) and low (G180B and G360B) perceived competence. The task was the open stance forehand. Perceived competence was assessed before and after practice using the Physical Self Perception profile questionnaire, a Brazilian version adapted to field tennis. Performance was assessed through scores related to the hitting zones.

RESULTS: Both groups improved their performances over practice and, in the last block, the G360 group performed better than the G180 group. The global perceived competence did not change with practice. Gains in the perceived competence were found only in relation to the physical strength (all groups) and physical fitness (except for the G180B group) subscales.

INTERPRETATION: The greater amount of practice provided greater gains in forehand performance, i.e., motor competence; however, it did not influence the level of perceived competence.