THE LEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF TWO RACQUETBAI,L SKILL TESTS By PRESCOTT PETERSON ALAN II Bachelor of Science in Education Miami University Oxford, Ohio 1976 Master of Arts in Education Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, Kentucky 1977 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma. State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION December, 1981 -Jhe.sl.s Jqt1D. f>L/8':5 d C-bp I;;< THE DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF TWO RACQUETBALL SKILL TESTS Thesis Approved: 1110807 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express sincere gratitude to the following persons who were instrumental in seeing this dissertation to its completion. Dr. Edgley's time and patience as my adviser is especially appreciated. Dr. Abercrombie, Dr. Zucker, and Dr. Lamport, my other committee members, were very supportive and offered much professional advice. Thank you Barbara Adams for the expert care in typing the manuscript. A special word of love is given for my family, Dee and Merryll. And finally my deepest thanks to my parents who were supportive personally and financially throughout my collegiate attendance and are outstanding educators in their own right. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 Discussion . 1 Statement of the Problem • • 5 Pilot Study 6 Hypothesis • 7 Limitations 7 Delimitations 8 Assumptions 9 Definition of Terms 9 II. A REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 11 Racquetball Studies 14 Racquetball Tournament Play 18 Related Sports Activities 20 Paddleball . • • • 21 Handball 21 Tennis 23 Squash • • • • 26 Badminton • . • • • • 27 Caloric Cost Studies . 29 Conclusions and Discussion • 32 III. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES . 34 Test Subjects 34 Subject Motivation • 35 Equipment . • • . • 35 Written Materials • • • . 36 Research Procedures . • . • • • • • 36 Description of Skill Tests and Tournaments . 37 The Sixty-Second Rally Test . 37 Round Robin Tournament . • 37 Double Elimination Tournament • • 38 The Peterson Partner Rally Test 38 Criterion • . • . • 39 Statistical Analyses • 39 IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 41 Statistical Results 41 iv Chapter Page Reliability 42 Objectivity 46 Validity . • 46 Norms 49 Round Robin Comparison With the Dotilile Elimination . 51 Summary 51 V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS • 53 Statement of the Problem • 53 Study Focus 54 Procedures . 54 Skill Test Selection • 54 Administration . • 55 Criterion • . •. 55 Treatment of Data 56 Results 56 Discussion • 56 Conclusions 57 Recommendations 58 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 60 APPENDIXES • . • • • • 64 APPENDIX A - DESCRIPTION OF SKILL TESTS 65 APPENDIX B - HANDOUTS AND LETTERS TO THE SUBJECTS 70 APPENDIX C - 60-SRT RAW DATA 76 APPENDIX D - PPRT RAW DATA 81 APPENDIX E - ROUND ROBIN AND DOUBLE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT COMPARISON . • . 85 APPENDIX F - EQUIPMENT DONATIONS 87 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Obtained Research Values ••• . 43 II. Reliability of Skill Test Data . 45 III. Validity of Skill Test Data 49 IV. PPRT Norms •••••. 50 V. Norms, 60-SRT Men . 50 VI. Norms, 60-SRT Women . 50 VII. 60-SRT Validity 77 VIII. 60-SRT Reliability 78 IX. Rank Order of Initial 60-SRT Scores 80 x. PPRT Validity . 82 XI. PPRT Reliability . .. 83 XII. Final Rank Order Comparison, Round Robin and Double Elimination Tournaments . 86 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Discussion In the past twenty years racquetball has become a popular recrea- tion and fitness sport being played outdoors and indoors primarily at Y.M.C.A. 's, private clubs, and educational facilities throughout the country. Kaplan1 reports that between 1968 and 1978 the number of active players increased from 10,000 to over 5.5 million. Lansberry 2 estimated that in 1978 there were 1900 racquetball facilities in the United States, 600 of which were private clubs. One prediction 3 sees the number of players and facilities more than doubling by 1982. Evidence of the popularity of racquetball at the college level is indicated by the thirty-four colleges and junior colleges which sent teams to the 1980 United States Racquetball Association collegiate national tournament. 4 Many more individual entries participated in the event. Memphis State University, whose team has won the event the last 1 Jim Kaplan, "Both the Best and Worst," Sports Illustrated (April 10, 1978), p. 68. 2 Reg Lansberry, "What's All This Noise About Racquetball," World Tennis (December, 1978), pp. 44-46. 3Jeffrey Tarter, "Racquetball Madness," Tennis USA (January, 1979), p. 21. 4Ed Sherman, "Memphis State--Still Number One," National Racquet­ ball (June, 1980), pp. 38-42. 1 2 three years in a row, has a varsity team composed of twenty-six men and women, a coach, and athletic scholarships. The racquetball boom may be attributed to several factors, many of which relate to the nature of the game itself. Bq.sic characteristics include appropriateness for people of all abilities; most beginners can play successfully in a relatively short time; there is low cost for equipment; and the sport is adaptable for recreational, social, and competitive purposes. A second major factor concerns societal trends toward increased physical fitness and leisure time. Caloric cost studies by Adamson 5 and McKie6 show that vigorous one-hour workouts in racket sports can contribute significantly to aerobic capacity and weight control. Adamson's study concluded that racquetball is categorized as heavy exercise, and McKie showed that exertion was greatest in singles play. Like most sports, racquetball is more enjoyable when played between players of similar ability. In competitive tournaments sponsored by the American Amateur Racquetball Association and the United States Racquetball Association, it is common for there to be four or five different singles levels and three or four doubles levels for players to enter. For competitive players, tournaments offer an excellent opportunity to discover relative ability. In the educational setting the.determination of racquetball ability is complex and necessary. Racquetball instructors must fairly 5Catherine L. Adamson, "The Energy Cost of Playing Racquetball" (unpub. Ed. Specialist dissertation, Eastern Kentucky University, 1977). 6 Thomas D. McKie, "Energy Cost of Racquetball" (unpub. Master's thesis, Michigan State University, 1972). 3 evaluate each student's ability in order to determine a skill grade, which is a major component of the course grade. Until recently in- structors have had to rely on self-developed methods for assigning a skill grade; either through various methods of subjective evaluation, self-constructed skill tests, or class tournaments that may restrict instructional time. The importance of the skill test as an evaluative tool cannot be overemphasized. Sheehan7 believed that reporting the overall results of the environment experience is one of the three overall general responsibilities of the physical educator. Weber and Lamb 8 stressed the importance of objectivity in evaluating student performance, while Sheehan 9 stressed the necessity of scientifically reliable measurement of student learning. Oberteuffer10 said that the. class which develops skills appropri- ate to the individual's interests, needs, and capacities is "the heart of modern physical education." Johnson and Nelson11 said that skill tests are especially applicable to the instructional phase of teaching because sports activities represent such a major part of the physical 7Thomas J. Sheehan, An Introduction to the Evaluation of Measure­ ment Data in Physical Education (Reading, Mass., 1971), p. 9. 8 Jerome C. Weber and David R. Lamb, Statistics and Research ·in Physical Education (St. Louis, 1970), p. 181. 9 Sheehan, p. 11. 10Delbert Oberteuffer, Physical Education (New York, 1951), p. 185. 11Barry L. Johnson and Jack K. Nelson, Practical Measurements for Evaluation in Physical Education (2nd ed., Minneapolis, 1974), pp. 230- 231. 4 education progran1. Johnson and Nelson12 listed seven specific uses of skill tests, which are as follows: 1. The tests may be used to measure achievement in the particular sports activity. a. This information may be used to help evaluate the instructional program in terms of the effective­ ness of the teaching methods and the strengths and weaknesses of the course's content. b. Achievement measures may also be utilized in con­ junction with other information, for grading purposes. 2. Skill tests can, and should, play an important role as a teaching aid to supplement instruction and to be used for practice. This would apply to the coach as well as to the teacher. 3. Skill tests enable each student to objectively plot his individual progress throughout the course and conceivably, from one year to the next. 4. Skill tests can be used for diagnostic purposes by point­ ing out needs for special emphasis at each particular grade level in which a sport is taught. This is one way to avoid the needless repetition and lack of progression that characterize many physical education programs. 5. In some cases skill test items can, in themselves, be used for competition in intramural programs and for rainy day activities. 6. Skill tests have been used effectively as one of the means of interpreting the program to the administration, the parents, and the public. 7. Skill tests can and should serve as excellent motivational devices. Johnson and Nelson13 cautioned that skill tests can only measure certain aspects of performance in a particular sport. Factors such as environmental conditions, emotional pressure, and daily variations in performance can greatly influence one's score. They suggested that the teacher use skill tests more as an instructional aid and motivator rather than as a valid measure of the student's ability to play a sport. 12Ibid. 13Ibid., p. 231. 5 It seems clear that the instructor of formalized racquetball classes in the educational setting must seek the best skill ability measurement tools available. He must be able to justify philosophically his formulation of a student's skill grade. The skill test which has been proven to be reliable, valid, and is objectively measured appears to be the best method to assign an ability grade. There is a real need to investigat·e racquetball skill testing.