A Comparison of Two Self-Management Packages to Standard Coaching for Improving Practice Performance of Gymnasts

This study investigated the effects of standard coaching versus standard coaching plus public self-regulation versus standard coaching plus private self-regulation on the frequency of young gymnasts' beam skills in practice. Subjects were 5 young female competitive gymnasts. A single-subject multielement design was employed to evaluate the experimental conditions. Results showed an increase in the gymnasts' skill frequency in all conditions, with private self-regulation being the most effective overall. Social validation results indicated that subjects preferred both self-regulation packages over the standard coaching alone condition. Gymnastics coaches who were surveyed perceived the gymnasts' skill development as significantly improved with the private self-regulation package.