skill development

• what are sociocultural influences?

  • the combination of social and cultural factors that impact on an individuals opportunities to participate in particular sports or recreational activites and, in turn, develop the relevant movement skills
  • sociocultural influences -> how can they allow for increased skill development
• what are the sociocultural factors?

  1. family
  2. peers
  3. community
  4. gender
  5. socio-economic status
  6. cultural norms
  7. role models
• what are the stages of learning?

  • process of learning a skill can be split into 3 phases:

  1. cognitive (beginning stage)
  2. associative (practice stage)
  3. autonomous (automatic stage)

  • view as a continuum
• what is the cognitive stage?

  • athlete mentally tries to understand the task and its requirements
  • require short, simple and specific feedback + demonstrations
  • reinforce correct movements with positive feedback - help athlete get feel of the task
  • unable to utilise intrinsic feedback - cannot identify or correct errors
  • littler error detection or correction intrinsically - attention will be on movement production
  • may lack confidence but experience rapid improvement
  • may look stiff, uncoordinated and inconsistent
  • blocked practice (repetitive practice) is preferable
• what is the associative stage?

  • the practice stage
  • athlete is refining their technique/movement pattern
  • can give themselves intrinsic feedback - they have a feel for what works
  • can detect and correct some errors
  • can devote more attention to external elements - open environment
  • focus on improving decision making and tactics
  • rate of improvement decreases (diminishing returns)
  • can cope with more practical coaching experiences
  • make progressively fewer errors + greater consistentcy
• what is the autonomous stage?

  • the automatic stage
  • athlete doesn't require conscious thought to complete skill - can focus on other variable externally e.g. defenders or running play
  • can detect and correct their own errors
  • very consistent, smooth and look effortless
  • still require some precise augmented feedback to improve
• what is the skill development at the cognitive stage?

  • closed environment
  • blocked practice
  • direct coaching (allows skill development)
  • simple feedback
• what is the skill development at the associative stage?

  • open environment
  • blocked and random practice
  • combination of coaching approaches
  • combination of feedback types
• what is the skill development at the autonomous stage?

  • open environment
  • random practice
  • constraints based coaching
  • some precise augmented feedback
• what are some factors that need to be considered when choosing practice methods?

  • amount
  • distribution (massed or distributed)
  • variability (blocked or random)
• how is the amount of practice factored into choosing practice methods?

  • during cognitive stage, significant gains can be seen in proportion to the amount of practice
  • coaches should maximise practice sessions - 'time on task' is an important consideration for any coach planning a practice session aimed at skill development
• what is practice distribution?

  • refers to the scheduling of practice sessions
  • consider the availability of the participants - then length and frequency can be determined
  • can be split into distributed and massed practice
• what is distributed practice?

  • shorter but more frequent training sessions
  • more time is allocted to rest between tasks during session
  • generally adopted by full-time professional teams
  • creates a better learning environment
• what is massed practice?

  • less frequent training sessions that last for longer
  • rest intervals between tasks is shorter than distributed practice
  • most nonprofessional teams use this - need to schedule training around work, school and family etc.
  • physical and psychological fatigue is more likely to result from massed practice
• what is practice variability?

  • what different skills are practiced in training
  • blocked practice vs random practice
• what is blocked practice?

  • practicing the same skill continuously without changing to a different task
  • each skill is practiced in a block, isolated from other skills
  • e.g. practicing chest pass for 15 mins before free throws
  • it is an appropriate strategy for beginners
  • environment should be kept stable(closed environment) - easier to quickly replicate basic foundations of the movement pattern
• what is random practice?

  • the varied sequencing of different motor skills in the same trainnig session (a variety)
  • e.g. dig, set, dig, spike, spike
  • suitable for performers in the associative and autonomous stage
• how does transfer of practice correlate to the game?

  • practice that closely resembles the game will result in a greater transfer of skills from training to game
  • beginners may benefit more from reducing some of the environmental factors that would usually be present in a game e.g. opposition
  • performers in the associative or autonomous stage will benefit from practice that resembles some component of the game
  • team orientated strategies and tactics can be introduced
• what is skill acquisition?

  identifies best practice and skills for improvement