Transforming Theoretical Knowledge into Practical Coaching Expertise in University-Level Artistic Gymnastics

Study aim(s): The study aims to assess the transfer ratio of theoretical knowledge to practical application among sports science students during artistic gymnastic lessons. The study sample included 47 second-grade students (37 girls and 10 boys) from the coaching, exercise, management, recreation, and enabled people’s department within the Faculty of Sport Sciences at Istanbul Gelisim University. Methods: The analyses of the student's practical scores consist of Practical Routine (PR: 25%), Assistance in Gymnastics (AG: 15%), and Learning Steeps (LS: 15%). The student's theoretical scores were evaluated based on General Performance (GP: 10%), Physical Preparation (PP: 15%), Theoretical preparation (THP: 10%), and Technique evaluation (TE: 10%). To ensure result validity, overall scores from online education were also tested. SPSS 26 programs were used for the data analysis, applying descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and canonical correlation analyses. Results: The study revealed a significant correlation between students’ overall scores and both theoretical (p<0.05, r=0.497) and practical (p<0.05, r=0.920) knowledge. The correlation coefficient of the GS to the practical and theoretical variables was determined as follows: PR (r=0.686), AG (r=0.799), LS (r=0.799), GP (r=0.720), PP (r=0.685), (r=0.scores), and TE (r=0.511). Conclusion: It can be concluded that, while practice shows a limited ability to explain theoretical knowledge, theory tends to explain practical knowledge more effectively in the first canonical variable.