Motor Skill Learning For Effective Coaching and Performance Chapter 2 Motor Skill Learning For Effective Coaching and Performance Cheryl Coker “Most people get excited about games, but I've got to be excited about practice, because that's my classroom.” Pat Summitt, Basketball Coach Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Definitions Motor Learning: A set of internal processes, associated with practice or experience, leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled movement behavior. Capability: Once a skill is learned, the athlete shows a high likelihood of exhibiting the same skill performance in a consistent manner (although errors will still sometimes occur). Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

How do we monitor motor learning? Through performance, an observable behavior, and draw useful inferences about learning Changes in performance are relatively permanent, the athlete should be able to demonstrate the skill repeatedly Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Phases of Motor Skill Learning Phases are continuous with no clear transition between them Think of it like a continuum Athletes can be in different phases for different skills First proposed in Fitts & Posner’s model (1967) The Cognitive Phase The Associative Phase The Autonomous Phase Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Cognitive Phase Focuses on getting an understanding of how to perform the skill Develop a motor program: an abstract, internal representation of the skill – like a computer program with instructions to guide movement Unable to attend to external events like teammates or movements of defensive players LOTS of inconsistency and error Dominant sensory system is vision Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Cognitive Phase (cont.) Role of the Coach: Clearly communicate critical aspects of the skill through verbal instructions, visual demonstrations, and feedback Duration of the Cognitive Phase: A few minutes or longer – depends on the athletes age and the complexity of the skill Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Associative Phase Refining the skill: Goal is to perform the skill both accurately and consistently Movement becomes more automated and proprioceptive – athlete relies on visual control less and less Athlete uses sensory feedback to evaluate movement correctness, also develops the capability to generate strategies for skill correction Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Associative Phase (cont.) Role of the Coach: Design effective practices to optimize skill refinement so athlete can quickly adapt to performance setting demands Provide a variety of practice experiences and more feedback Duration of the Associative Phase: Longer than the cognitive phase, ranges from a few hours to several years Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Closed vs. Open Skills Closed skills: Open skills: Performed in a stable environment. tennis serve free throw shooting putting in golf Open skills: Performed in a dynamic, changing environment. football punt return basketball fast break volleyball set or hit Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Autonomous Phase Skill performance is at a maximal level of proficiency Requires little conscious thought or attention to movement – it’s established in memory Excellent understanding of the skill Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Autonomous Phase (cont.) Role of the Coach: Help the athletes maintain their level of skill Motivate the athletes to continue improving Error correction and learning process: Major changes in technique should be handled during the off-season because it can take awhile to again reach the autonomous phase. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Considerations Deliberate practice: Combines tasks of appropriate difficulty, information feedback, and sufficient opportunities for repetition and correction of errors Not enough on its own… Athlete must be motivated to learn Practice ≠ perfect Must practice with the intent to improve Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Methods: Whole vs. Part Whole Method: Athletes practice activity or skill in its entirety, as a single unit Part Method: The athlete practices each component of the activity or skill separately and then combines the parts into a whole skill Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Methods: Whole vs. Part (cont.) Progressive-part method: The first two parts of a skill are practiced separately and then combined and practiced as a unit . The third part is practiced separately next and then combined with the first two, and so on until the skill is performed in its entirety. Repetitive-Part method: First part of the skill is practiced independently. Once a level of proficiency is obtained, the second is immediately added to it and the two parts are practiced together. The pattern continues until all parts have been integrated. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Methods: Whole vs. Part (cont.) Which method you use depends on the nature of the skill and the nature of the learner. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Methods: Blocked vs. Random Blocked Practice All trials of a given task are completed before moving on to the next task Random Practice Trials for a given task are mixed with other tasks in a random order Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Methods: Blocked vs. Random (cont.) EXAMPLE: Swimmers need to learn the four strokes in 2 weeks, or 8 practices. BLOCKED Practice each stroke for 2 sessions. Swimmers can concentrate on one stroke at a time without worrying about interference from the other strokes. RANDOM Practice all 4 strokes within each practice period but to do so in a random order so that the swimmers never practice the same stroke on two consecutive trials. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Methods: Blocked vs. Random (cont.) Blocked practice better acquisition, but poorer long-term learning Measured by transfer: The application of practiced skill in a new situation Contextual interference effect: Making practice environment more difficult (AKA random practice) leads to better learning, though performance is depressed Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Methods: Blocked vs. Random (cont.) During the initial stage of skill acquisition, blocked practice conditions may be more beneficial However, once the basics are acquired, contextual interference must be increased Solution = Repeated blocked practice: Combines the advantages of blocked and random Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Methods: Constant vs. Variable Practice Constant Conditions: Maintaining constant environmental conditions so the player may put all of their focus on the task at hand Variable Conditions: Changing environmental variables in order to force the athletes to adapt to new demands Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Practice Methods: Constant vs. Variable Practice (cont.) EXAMPLE: Practice fielding a ground ball and throwing to first base CONSTANT 100 ground balls thrown by a pitching machine…constant velocity, same spot on the field, same bounce and roll characteristics; can master the fundamentals of fielding. VARIABLE 100 ground balls hit by a batter…different bounce and roll characteristics, different spots on the field; forces player to move and adapt to the ever-changing demands. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Improving Performance Error Identification and Diagnosis Analyzing the skill: Compare athlete technique to correct technique Determine the cause of the error(s) Technique, physiological deficiencies, inaccurate/delayed decision making, drill design, psychological factors Select which error to correct – only one at a time! Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Feedback as an Intervention Strategy Shapes a learner’s efforts to achieve the task goal Can reinforce a behavior Provide information about the correctness of a performance attempt Explain why an error occurred Prescribe how to fix an error and motivate athletes to continue working towards their goals Must consider the frequency, timing, amount, precision, and the learner’s task related experiences Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Feedback (cont.) Feedback frequency Faded feedback: feedback is gradually reduced as the athletes’ skills increase Bandwidth feedback: feedback only provided when athlete’s performance falls outside a range of acceptable error tolerance Learner-regulated feedback: feedback only provided when the athlete requests it Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Feedback (cont.) Choose words carefully One correction at a time Positive Short and Simple Matches the learner’s developmental level Use specifics Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

More Intervention Strategies Manipulating Task and/or Practice Variables Creates action possibilities that allow for the emergence of improved techniques and/or tactics by capitalizing on the process of guided discovery Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.