Abstract

In this position paper we examine whether performance and learning of basic motor skills in football can be enhanced by adding noise in the form of random components to target movements during training. To support our argument we examine longitudinal data on the performance of fundamental target skills such as passing and shooting. Evidence emerged from these studies that the addition of random variability during the practice of football skills benefited participants of different skill levels, compared to players engaged in traditional practice programmes emphasizing continuous repetition of target movements. The ubiquitous phenomenon of stochastic resonance is proposed as a potential mechanism for the counterintuitive benefits of adding noise to learning and performance environments. Further research is needed to verify our interpretation of these data from football suggesting that stochastic resonance may form an umbrella explanatory framework on the role of variability in extant theories of motor learning. Verf.-Referat