It seems that repeating the same drill many times in succession may not be the most effective skill-practice strategy. During competition, athletes have to execute a skill in different ways and in different contexts, so it seems sensible to practice the skills in situations that are similar to those encountered in the game itself. The study supported that idea. In the study, collegiate baseball players got more out of extra batting practice when different pitches were presented in a random order. These data are compelling, because improvements in performance are usually small for experienced performers.
More research is needed to see if the skill level of the performer is important.
For example, beginners may benefit more from lots of repetitions of the same skill than from a mixture of skills. Contextual interference effects with skilled baseball players. Contributed by Trish Shewokis .