71 Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 2012, 31, 71-85 © 2012 Human Kinetics, Inc. Zhang is with the Department of Physical Education, Teacher Education, East Stroudsburg University East Stroudsburg, PA. Ward, Li, Sutherland, and Goodway are with the School of Physical Activity and Educational Services, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH. Effects of Play Practice on Teaching Table Tennis Skills Peng Zhang East Stroudsburg University Phillip Ward, Weidong Li, Sue Sutherland, Jackie Goodway The Ohio State University The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Play Practice (PP) instruc- tion on the performance of table tennis skills. Fifty-six college students in four intact classes were taught by two instructors using PP and Skill-focused Instruction (SI). A nonequivalent control/comparison group experimental design with pre and post measures was used. Three separate ANOVAs with a repeated measure (time effect) were conducted to examine the effects of PP and SI for each of the three dependent variables: (a) forehand drive accuracy, (b) forehand attack, and (c) serve. Results demonstrated that both PP and SI conditions were effective in improving participants’ skills in forehand drive, forehand attack, and serving from pre- to posttest. However, PP was more effective in improving participants’ skills in forehand attack and serving from pre to post as compared with SI. Keywords: physical education, instructional methods, table tennis In 1985, Locke and Dodds described a relationship between research on teaching (ROT) and research on teacher education (ROTE) noting that, “When it is demonstrated that a particular teaching method produces learning in pupils (ROT), that evidence may serve to validate the content of a teacher education program [i.e., ROTE]” (p. 114). Though the term had not yet been coined in educational settings, Locke and Dodds were making a case for what has become known as evidenced- based practice (Biesta, 2007). Providing evidence of effective instructional practice is an important obligation that researchers owe teachers. When new instructional strategies are promoted they should be subject to empirical verifcation. For more than three decades researchers have argued that skill-focused approaches to teaching sport are responsible for a lack of profciency in students’ ability to play games (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982; Mitchell, Oslin & Griffn, 2003; Rink, French, & Tjeerdsma, 1996). As a result, there have been alternative approaches proposed