The Effects of Practice Variability on the Acquisition of Bilateral Dart-Throwing Skills

Abstract

The study compared random versus blocked practice schedules in learning bilateral dart-throwing skills from three different distances (290 cm, 350 cm, and 410 cm). One hundred eight healthy non-athletes (12-18-year-old male students) volunteered for the study. The participants were split into six groups (n=18 in each group. Two groups had blocked practice with the dominant and non-dominant hand, two groups had random practice with the same, and two control groups with the dominant and non-dominant hand. First day: 81 acquisition trials (3 blocks, 27 trials in each block) were given to the participants. A 24-hour retention test consisted of 27 trials (03 blocks, nine in each block) in serial order. After an hour of retention, 18 trials (2 blocks, 09 trials each) are completed from unique distances (250 cm, 430cm). Results indicated that blocked practice with the dominant hand differs from other groups in skill development and retention. According to the results, random practice is superior to blocked practice and thus recommended for bilateral learning for dart-throwing.