Random practice results in more effective motor learning than either constant or blocked practice. Recent studies have investigated the effects of practice schedules at the neurophysiological level. This study aims to conduct a literature review of the following issues: (a) the differential involvement of premotor areas, the primary motor cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the posterior parietal cortex in different types of practice; (b) changes in the participation of these areas throughout practice; and (c) the degree of support that current neurophysiological findings offer to strengthen the behavioral proposition that distinct cognitive processes are generated by different practice schedules. Data from 10 studies that investigated associations between practice structures and neurobiological substrates were analyzed. The participation of the indicated areas was found to depend on practice structure and varied during the learning process. Greater cognitive engagement was associated with random practice. In conclusion, distinct neural processes are engendered by different practice conditions. The integration of behavioral and neurophysiological findings promotes a more comprehensive view of the phenomenon.

This study examined 142 volleyball games of the Men's Super League 2014/2015 seasons in Brazil from which we analyzed 24-26 games of each participating team, identifying 5,267 Zone 4 attacks for further analysis. Within these Zone 4 attacks, we analyzed the association between the effect of the attack carried out and the separate effects of serve reception, tempo and type of attack. We found that the reception, tempo of attack, second tempo of attack, and power of diagonal attack were predictors of the attack effect in Zone 4. Moreover, placed attacks showed a tendency to not yield a score. In conclusion, winning points in high-level men's volleyball requires excellent receptions, a fast attack tempo and powerfully executed of attacks.

This study had as objective to investigate the effects of practice schedule on the adaptive process of motor learning. The experimental design consisted of four practice groups (constant, random, constant-random and random-constant), and two learning phases (stabilization and adaptation). In three experiments, children performed a complex task of coincident timing, in which the varied practice was manipulated in terms of visual stimulus (Experiment 1), movement pattern (Experiment 2), and a combination of both (Experiment 3). In Experiment 1, the constant, constant-random, and random-constant groups showed better performance in the adaptation phase than did the random group. In Experiment 2, the constant and constantrandom groups performed better than did the others. And, in Experiment 3, the constant-random group demonstrated better performance than the others. Overall results indicated that, during the adaptive process of motor skill acquisition, constant and constant-random practice, were superior to random and random-constant practice.

No abstract

No abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate the persistence of the effect of "bandwidth knowledge of results (KR)" manipulated during the learning phase of performing a manual force-control task. The experiment consisted of two phases, an acquisition phase with the goal of maintaining 60% maximum force in 30 trials, and a second phase with the objective of maintaining 40% of maximum force in 20 further trials. There were four bandwidths of KR: when performance error exceeded 5, 10, or 15% of the target, and a control group (0% bandwidth). Analysis showed that 5, 10, and 15% bandwidth led to better performance than 0% bandwidth KR at the beginning of the second phase and persisted during the extended trials.

RESUMO ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to analyse the game practiced in the side-out Men's Volleyball Superliga 2014/2015. The sample was composed by 12 teams and it was analyzed 142 games, totaling 19,545 reception, setting and attack actions. The results showed the association between the effect of reception and attack location; effect of reception and attack time; effect of reception and attack effect; effect of attack location and attack time; effect of attack location and effect attack and effect of attack time and attack effect. Summarazing, in the high level Brazilian Men's Volleyball, the reception quality influences the attack organization, the determation of setting location and the game strategy. Besides that, the attack score was the most frequent on the game analisys, with higher indices of attack from position 3. Keywords: Game analysis. Volleyball. Side-out. IntroduçãoA análise do jogo assume um importante papel no desenvolvimento de diversas modalidades esportivas coletivas, apresentando-se como um fator determinante na escolha de indicadores pertinentes acerca da prestação dos jogadores em contextos específicos 1 . Além disso, tem como finalidade preparar a equipe para o confronto com o adversário, melhorar a qualidade de treinamento e analisar a estrutura do jogo 2 . No Voleibol, a análise de jogo, no que diz respeito aos efeitos dos procedimentos que o constituem (saque, recepção, levantamento, ataque, bloqueio e defesa), não é recente. O jogo é caracterizado por dois complexos: o complexo I (KI) ou side-out que consiste na sequência de ações formada pela recepção, levantamento e ataque e o Complexo II (KII) ou transição, que é determinado pela sequência de ações formada pelo saque, bloqueio, defesa e contra-ataque 3 . Ao comparar os complexos de jogo, observa-se que o side-out é o complexo de jogo que mais pontua 4 e permite o ataque efetivo logo após a recepção ao serviço do adversário 5 .

No abstract