Effects of cause-based and effect-based motor instruction on six-minute walk and cooper test performance in adolescent female volleyball athletes
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Abstract
Background: Instructional strategies influence motor learning during adolescence, but it remains unclear whether instruction focused on biomechanical causes of movement yields different functional outcomes from instruction focused on observable movement effects. Methods: A total of 184 adolescent female volleyball athletes (mean age 14.44 ± 1.71 years) were stratified by age category and randomly assigned to a cause-based instruction group or an effect-based instruction group. Participants completed the Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) and 12-minute Cooper test before and after a 7–10 day intervention period, during which training load remained unchanged. Results: The cause-based group showed a significant pre–post improvement in 6MWT distance. Change-score analysis revealed a greater improvement in the cause-based group than in the effect-based group for the 6MWT (p < .001, r = .223), whereas no between-group difference emerged for the Cooper test (p = .134, r = .112). Conclusions: Cause-based instruction was associated with a small-to-moderate short-term improvement in submaximal walking performance, with no clear transfer to endurance field performance. These findings suggest that directing attention to biomechanical causes of movement may support functional motor organisation in adolescent athletes.
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