One of the skills that separates experts from their less skilled counterparts is the ability to anticipate key events. Research has established that experts display greater sensitivity to advance postural cues, and also make greater use of situational probabilities and contextual game-related information than novices (Williams & Grant, 1999, International Journal of Sport Psychology, 30, 194-220). Currently, there is a debate over how such skills are learned and hence how they should be coached. Specifically, it has been suggested that anticipation may largely be learned implicitly, that is, experts may become sensitive to subtle postural cues or situational probabilities without necessarily intending to do so and in such a way that the resulting knowledge is difficult to express (Berry & Dienes, Implicit learning : Theoretical and empirical issues, 1993, Hove : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates). Thus far, there is no clear evidence of implicit learning in the anticipation literature, therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine whether implicit learning of a serve location sequence would occur in tennis players. Eleven male tennis players (n = 5 coaches, n = 6 club players) each returned 108 serves using a modified alternating serial reaction time task. This paradigm requires the participant to react as quickly as possible to a stimulus, such as the position of a light or in this case the direction of the serve. Unbeknownst to the participant, trials alternate between those following a pre-determined sequence and those in which location is randomly determined. A difference between reaction times in the random and sequence trials in the absence of explicit knowledge of the existence of a sequence constitutes evidence for implicit learning. Nine blocks of 12 serves were directed towards one of three locations in the left service box (down the middle, into the body, out wide) alternating between `first` and `second` serves. Each trial was recorded using a 50Hz video camera located behind the receiver, for whom reaction time was subsequently determined by counting the number of frames from when the server struck the ball to the moment the receiver initiated movement to facilitate a return. Explicit knowledge of the sequence was determined both by an open-ended question and forced-choice prediction task. Results revealed a significant interaction between serve sequence and player ability. Specifically, a significant difference in reaction time between random and sequenced serves was apparent in the club players but not the coaches. Evidence for sequence learning in the club players being implicit was apparent in the tests of explicit knowledge which revealed that none of the participants were aware of the presence of a repeating sequence. This was backed up by the prediction test, in which they correctly reported a mean of 1.5 of the 6 locations, below chance level. These results suggest that a sequence can be learned implicitly, resulting in faster reaction times and a potential advantage to the receiver in tennis. Additional research is required to determine the reasons for the lack of implicit sequence learning in the coaches. Anticipation involves both explicit and implicit processes and determining the way in which these interact represents a significant challenge for those conducting research in this area.
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