Does Expecting to Teach Help or Hinder? The Role of Analogy Instruction in Performance Anxiety and Open-Skill Performance under Pressure

Abstract

This study tested whether practicing with an expectation to teach, combined with explicit versus analogy-based instruction, influences performance in an open skill (volleyball serve–reception) under low- and high-pressure conditions, extending prior work from a closed skill in experienced adults to an open sport skill in novice adolescents. Eighty novice female adolescents (11–15 years) were randomly assigned to a 2 × 2 design: Expectation (teach vs. test) × Instruction (analogy vs. explicit). Participants completed a pretest, a 4-week practice phase, a low-pressure posttest immediately after acquisition, and a high-pressure posttest 72 h later, with pressure induced via video recording, a specialist coach, and performance-contingent prizes. Across all tests, serve–reception accuracy was assessed with the same standardized task, and competitive anxiety was measured with the CSAI-2R at both posttests. Groups did not differ at pretest. After controlling for pretest performance, expecting to teach led to higher low-pressure accuracy than expecting to be tested, with no clear difference between analogy and explicit instruction. After controlling for low-pressure performance, analogy instruction was associated with better high-pressure performance than explicit instruction overall; however, this effect was not moderated by learning expectation. Manipulation checks confirmed higher anxiety under high versus low pressure, without systematic between-group differences. Overall, the findings indicate that expecting to teach can benefit learning of an open skill in adolescent novices, whereas analogy-based instruction may be particularly useful for supporting performance when pressure is elevated, regardless of whether learners expect to teach or to be tested.