Effect of sport education on the technical learning and motivational climate of junior high performance swimmers

Abstract

This study sought to examine the effect of a Sport Education season on the technical learning of four swimming strokes and the perceived motivational climate. Twenty-two young swimmers from a sport club participated in 16 training sessions organized around the key principles of Sport Education. Experts assessed technical learning from video analysis, and the swimmers and their coaches also completed self-assessments. Motivational climate was analysed through the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2). The results indicated that regardless of performance level (sampling or specializing) and gender, the swimmers significantly improved their technical learning from pre-test to post-test. In addition, all participants reported statistically significant improvements in the taskoriented motivational climate. It was concluded that the intervention program based on Sport Education had a positive impact on improvement of swimming skill, and a more optimal motivational climate.