Methods of practice

• Whole practice is practice by doing the complete or entire movement.
• Whole practice is not breaking the skill into subroutines or parts. (Eg- whole tennis serve)
• Part practice is practice by splitting or breaking downa skill into subroutines or sections. (Eg - tennis serve by doing a toss up)
• Positives of Whole practice

  • Quickest
  • Good for simple skills due to low level of complexity
  • Good for discrete skills
  • Helps overall understanding and development of mental picture
• Negatives of whole practice

  • Difficult to refine or identify errors - high in organisation
  • Can be difficult to learn for beginners and cognitive performers
  • Not suited to learning complex skills - complex
• Positives of Part practice

  • Good for performers with limited attention
  • Good for serial skills or skills low in organisation as sub routines can be isolated.
  • Limits information to process so less demanding for beginners
• Negatives of part practice

  • Unsuitable for highly organised skills as sub routines cant be isolated
  • Can limit mental image creation for cognitive performers
  • Takes more time to learn each sub routine