Effect of puck mass as a task constraint on skilled and less-skilled ice hockey players performance

Manipulation of task constraints have previously been effective in task simplification enhancing skill development. This study examines how manipulation of puck masses affects movement behaviors in skilled and less skilled ice hockey players during a representative ice hockey task. Fifty participants were separated into a skilled (n = 25) or less-skilled (n = 25) group. Three trials per condition of an obstacle course and breakaway goal attempt were completed in a counter-balanced design using three puck masses, categorised as: light (133g), regulation (170g), and heavy (283g). Findings revealed that use of the light puck by less-skilled participants reduced obstacle-course completion time (p < .05, η2p = .781) and error occurrence (p < .05, η2p = .699) while improving shot accuracy (p < .05, η2p = .430) and goal success (p < .05, η2p = .092) compared to the regulation and heavy puck. However, skilled participants had a decrease in performance when deviating from the regulation puck for all the dependent measures excluding an increase in goal success when using the light puck (p < .05, η2p = .430). Findings demonstrated the functional coupling of puck mass and movement behaviors are dependent on the skill level of the performer.