Background/Purpose The purpose of the study is to examine the skill performance in three groups (no-feedback [no-FB], self-controlled feedback [SC-FB; feedback given when learners ask the coach], and coach-controlled feedback [CC-FB; feedback given whenever the coach sees the demand]) based on three different levels of task difficulty (easy, intermediate, advanced) with and without expert performance feedback.
Method The testing instrument included a standard badminton court, 100 standard feather shuttlecocks, and racquets. Participants included 53 college-aged students enrolled in a university in Midwest region and were randomly assigned into one of three groups. Main tasks were to return shuttlecocks into designated areas. All participants performed all three skills (backhand short serve [BSS]; forehand long serve [FLS]; forehand cross court [FCN]). The experiment consisted of two phases: acquisition and retention. Each participant performed 30 trials for acquisition test and 12 trails for retention test for each skill.
Analysis/Results Two separate one-way ANOVAs were used to examine the mean difference in performing the tasks among groups for acquisition and retention tests. The results were taken of total point of trials in each phase. No significant mean difference found in acquisition test in groups for all three tasks. However, a significant mean difference existed in retention test in FCN, F(2, 50) = 3.65, p = .033, M no feedback = 12.74, M coach-control = 20.65.
Conclusions Learning of relatively difficult skill with expert feedback would have better retention and skill performance is significantly efficient comparing to their counterparts.