Dependence of Learning a Real Sport Skill on Training Place, Examining the Specificity of Practice Hypothesis

The aim of the present study was to examine the hypothesis of the specificity of practice regarding training place (to determine whether learning a sport skill was specific to the training place). Participants were 30 adolescent female students (mean age 11.50±1.50 years) who performed 10 sessions of learning perceptive-motor skill of Kata in Karate. After they finished Kata sessions, retention test was performed in the training place and transfer test in a different place and Kata scores were measured. To analyze the data, independent t test was used. Results showed that the subjects achieved their peak performance in the training place while their performance deteriorated significantly in the different place. It seems that the performance of the task was related to the place of training. The findings of this study provided evidence to support the specificity of practice hypothesis.