The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of self-talk on motor learning in beginners. The learning task was the forehand stroke in tennis. Eighty-four students were assigned into five self-talk groups and one control group. One of the self-talk groups used four cues for directing attention to key elements of the forehand stroke. The other self-talk groups made use of only one of the four cues (ball, bounce, hit, and ready), and the control group received only general instructions. In the acquisition phase, all groups performed 180 trials over three days. Then they performed a transfer test of 10 trials involving a change in the target direction. After five days they performed a retention test in the same conditions of the acquisition phase. The performance was analysed in terms of rates of success and consistency of the forehand hit to the target located on the opponent’s court. Results showed that all groups improved their performances in the acquisition phase, and that they maintained the improvement in the retention and transfer tests. However, no differences were found between the groups. It was concluded that self-talk did not affect the learning of forehand stroke in tennis. In addition, learning with self-talk with four cues was similar to that with selftalk with only one cue.

Este trabalho investigou os efeitos da prática constante, anteriormente à prática variada, no processo adaptativo de aprendizagem motora em razão da validade ecológica e da especificidade da tarefa. Os participantes foram 108 crianças de ambos os sexos, com idade média de 11,3 (±0,4 anos), que foram divididas entre dois experimentos envolvendo cada um a aprendizagem de uma habilidade específica: (1) rebatida do tênis de mesa e (2) tacada do golfe. Ambos os estudos contaram com três grupos de diferentes quantidades de prática constante anteriormente à prática variada (aleatória ou por blocos) e, também, duas fases (estabilização e adaptação). As variáveis dependentes foram pontos (rebatida do tênis de mesa) e acertos no buraco (tacada do golfe). Os resultados evidenciaram efeitos da especificidade da tarefa, pois permitiram inferir a existência de uma quantidade ótima de prática constante (anteriormente à variada) apenas para a aprendizagem da rebatida do tênis de mesa.

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