Maintenance of Skilled Performance With Age: A Descriptive Examination of Professional Golfers

Authors

Joseph Baker
Janice Deakin
Sean Horton, University of WindsorFollow
G. W. Pearce

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2007

Publication Title

Journal of Aging & Physical Activity

Volume

15

Issue

3

First Page

300

Last Page

317

Abstract

Demographic studies indicate a remarkable aging trend in North America. An accurate profile of the decline in physical and cognitive capabilities over time is essential to our understanding of the aging process. This study examined the maintenance of skilled performance across the careers of 96 professional golfers. Data were collected on scoring average, driving distance, driving accuracy, greens in regulation, putts per round, and number of competitive rounds played using online data archives. Analyses indicate that performance in this activity can be maintained to a greater extent than in activities relying on biologically constrained abilities. Although the generalizability of these results to "normal" aging populations is not known, they suggest that acquired skills can be maintained to a large extent in the face of advancing age.

Comments

This article was first published here: http://journals.humankinetics.com/japa

Recommended Citation

Baker, Joseph; Deakin, Janice; Horton, Sean; and Pearce, G. W.. (2007). Maintenance of Skilled Performance With Age: A Descriptive Examination of Professional Golfers. Journal of Aging & Physical Activity, 15 (3), 300-317.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/humankineticspub/2