The researchers hypothesized that motor learning could be enhanced by providing learners with choices – even if those choices are unrelated to task performance. Therefore they conducted two experiments. In the first experiment, one group (the choice group) was able to select the color of golf balls (white, yellow, or orange) to be used, participants in the second group (the yoked group) were provided with the same colored golf balls their choice-group counterparts had chosen. 

Experiment 2 went one step further by asking choice group participants for their preferences regarding two issues unrelated to the practice task (balancing on a stabilometer).

The choice groups showed greater putting accuracy (experiment 1) and balance learning (experiment 2) compared to the control groups. Thus, self-controlled practice conditions can influence motor learning without providing task-relevant information, content, or strategic learning advantages. Self-controlled effects in motor learning may be motivational in nature, attributable to satisfaction of fundamental autonomy needs.

Lewthwaite, R., Chiviacowsky, S., Drews, R., & Wulf, G. (2015). Choose to move: The motivational impact of autonomy support on motor learning. Psychon Bull Rev, 22(5), 1383–1388.