Effects of different teaching strategies on students’ psychomotor learning outcomes during volleyball lessons

Purpose To assess the effects of two different physical education teaching strategies on promoting improvements in students' volleyball gameplay performance. Methods A sample of 81 secondary school students (mean age: 14.7 years) were divided into a game-based group (n = 45), which experienced PE lessons based on Tactical Games Model (TGM), and a skill-based group (n = 36), which followed their traditional PE lessons based on directive- and drill-oriented approach. Psychomotor performance indexes (i.e., decision-making, skill execution, support, game play) were assessed by means of the Game Performance Assessment Instrument prior to, and at the end of, 18 lessons. 2 (group) x 2 (time) repeated measure MANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of teaching, time, and their interaction on gameplay components. Non-clinical magnitude-based inference method was used to interpret the main effects of these models. Results Between-group analysis revealed significant changes for the index of support (p = 0.02, very likely) in the game-based group, while within-group results revealed significant improvements in decision-making (p < 0.001, most likely) and support indexes (p = 0.02, very likely). Finally, the significant interaction term was related to an overall improvement of decision-making (p = 0.001, most likely), skill execution (p = 0.01, very likely), and support (p = 0.005, most likely) for the game-based group in post-test. Conclusion Findings support the use of the TGM throughout physical education in high school in extent to which the students improved in learning outcomes that are closely related to the real volleyball context, in a better understanding of the tactical awareness and, as a consequence, in better sport performances.