Knowledge and performance of the motor expertise

Abstract

The declarative knowledge base of the motor expert may be a result of years of sport training. This hypothesis was tested in a study with eleven regional elite handball players. Experience was operationally defined as the hours of training spent along the sport life and knowledge as the performance in tests of declarative knowledge, memory and set of motor responses. A Pearson correlation was not significant between hours of training and performance in the tests. This result may be due to either the inadequacy of the cognitive tests to real life game situations or to the existence of an optimal level of knowledge reached from the direct experience with the sport. The choice between these options needs further studies replicating the methods employed here and new theoretical developments that should take place outside the mainstream thinking on the issue.