An Examination of the Deliberate Practice Framework in Quad Rugby
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 8-2009 An Examination of the Deliberate Practice Framework in Quad Rugby Rachel Lynn Boxell University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Sports Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Boxell, Rachel Lynn, "An Examination of the Deliberate Practice Framework in Quad Rugby. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2009. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/23 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Rachel Lynn Boxell entitled "An Examination of the Deliberate Practice Framework in Quad Rugby." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Sport Studies. Jeffrey T. Fairbrother, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Gene Hayes, Lars Dzikus Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Rachel Lynn Boxell entitled “An examination of the deliberate practice framework in quad rugby.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Sport Studies. Jeffrey T. Fairbrother, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Gene Hayes Lars Dzikus Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) AN EXAMINATION OF THE DELIBERATE PRACTICE FRAMEWORK IN QUAD RUGBY A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Rachel Lynn Boxell August 2009 Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Jeffrey Fairbrother, for his guidance, willingness, and consistent support to assist me in such an endeavor. Thank you for the knowledge and lessons that you have bestowed upon me during this experience. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Gene Hayes and Dr. Lars Dzikus, for the time, effort, and valuable contributions they made to my thesis. Their guidance not only influenced my thesis, but also molded me into a better person during my time at the University of Tennessee. I would like to thank all of the participants, coaches, and administrators at the Lakeshore Foundation. Without your assistance this would not have been possible. Thank you for your willingness to help with research in disability-sport. I would like to thank my friends and student mentors, Lauren Loberg and Josi Taylor, for their counsel, suggestions, personal input, and infinite cups of coffee. You always knew how to give the encouragement and answers that were needed. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family and fiancé for their never wavering support of my goals. Your patience and encouragement during this time has meant more than you will ever know. You are the reason that my life dreams are coming true. Mom and Dad, you continually inspire me to achieve all that I can. ii Abstract Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Römer (1993) forwarded a general framework to account for the characteristics and developmental experiences of individuals who have acquired exceptional performance in any domain. This framework proposed that experts undergo an extensive acquisition period involving the accumulation of thousands of hours of deliberate practice while overcoming various constraints that serve as functional barriers to the achievement of expertise. The purpose of this study was to examine expert disability-sport athletes to determine how well their experiences and characteristics were captured by Ericsson et al.’s (1993) framework. In Part I, quad rugby players recalled the amount of time spent in individual and team practice activities, quad rugby related activities, and daily life activities at the start of their career and every two years since. In Part II, these activities were rated with respect to relevance to improving performance, effort and concentration required, and enjoyment of participation. Findings revealed that quad rugby athletes engaged in similar amounts of practice throughout their career to those observed in superior performers across domains, including Ericsson et al.’s musicians and expert performers in the able-bodied sport domain (e.g., Helsen, Starkes, & Hodges, 1998). Contrary to the original deliberate practice framework as described by Ericsson et al. (1993), results indicated that disability-sport athletes did not rate the most relevant and effortful activities as low on enjoyment.. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Background of the Study ........................................................................................................ 1 Purpose .................................................................................................................................... 7 Research Questions ................................................................................................................. 7 Assumptions ............................................................................................................................ 8 Limitations .............................................................................................................................. 8 Delimitations ........................................................................................................................... 8 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Literature Review...................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 29 Methods..................................................................................................................................... 29 Participants ............................................................................................................................ 29 Instrument ............................................................................................................................. 29 Procedure .............................................................................................................................. 30 Data Treatment and Analysis ................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 34 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 34 Part I ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Part II .................................................................................................................................... 43 iv Chapter 5 ....................................................................................................................................... 50 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 50 Part I ...................................................................................................................................... 50 Part II .................................................................................................................................... 53 Recommendations for Future Studies ................................................................................... 55 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 56 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 58 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 63 Appendix A: Quad Rugby Description ................................................................................ 64 Appendix B: Survey Terms and Definitions