Influence of auditory modeling on learning a swimming skill

Auditory modeling has been an effective method of learning a new skill in laboratory settings; however, research examining the effectiveness of auditory modeling in a real world task is limited. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of auditory modeling on the learning of a swimming skill, specifically the butterfly stroke. Participants were 37 male college students enrolled in two swimming classes. The classes were randomly assigned as the control group, i.e., the standard swimming curriculum for the butterfly stroke including demonstration, verbal instructions, and practice, and the auditory modeling group, i.e., standard swimming curriculum for the butterfly stroke plus auditory modeling. Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate that auditory modeling is an effective method for enhancing the learning of this real world motor skill.