Abstract
Recent work examining performance in a sport context has reported a positive relationship between error rankings in simulated (low-stakes) and actual (high-stakes) gameplay (Sanli, Slauenwhite & Carnahan, 2017). Of interest in the present study was whether the relationship between high and low-stakes performance changed as players gained experience over a five-month competitive volleyball season. Three types of errors (attack, serve, and serve receive) were recorded during actual and simulated (in practice) gameplay for fourteen varsity volleyball players. Early in the season there was a significant, positive relationship between high-stakes error rankings and low-stakes error rankings when player position as well as the percentage of time on the court for practice and game segments were controlled for (partial correlation r= .89, p< .001). The strength of this relationship was not maintained mid (partial correlation r= .11, p= .74) and late (partial correlation r= .19, p=.58) season. These results suggest that the role of errors in simulation in relation to high-stakes performance may change with extended experience in both high and low-stakes contexts.
