Skill acquisition

• Practice methods


  Organizing a session, structuring time to work on a particular skill or tactic
• Advantages of massed practice: Improving fitness, but risk of injury or fatigue-related injury is high
• Fixed practice: Repeating the same drill over and over again
• Factors influencing the decision to use a massed practice session: Developing high fitness levels
• Distributed practice: Drills are distributed with breaks in between
• Distributed practice

  Session with breaks, drills are distributed with breaks in between
• Massed practice session: No breaks, continuous work for 60 or 90 minutes
• Varied practice: Session with lots of different drills, based on variety and different layouts
• Factors influencing the decision to use a massed practice session: Analyzing the question and breaking it down in the exam
• Factors influencing the decision to use a massed practice session: Autonomous learners, high fitness levels
• Massed practice sessions are best used when skills are relatively simple to minimize mistakes
• Distributed practice sessions are suitable for beginners and individuals with lower fitness levels
• Massed practice should be used with low danger or low risk tasks to avoid mistakes due to fatigue
• Disadvantages of massed practice include use with cognitive learners and complex skills
• Distributed practice is good for controlling potential danger or risk in a session
• Advantages of massed practice include use with autonomous learners and simple skills
• Massed practice is time-efficient and suitable when there is not much time available
• Massed practice session

  1. Develops high fitness levels

  2. Best used for simple skills

  3. Time-efficient

  4. Best used with low danger or risk tasks
• Distributed practice session

  1. Great for cognitive learners

  2. Best for beginners

  3. Best for less fit individuals

  4. Best for complex skills

  5. Time-consuming

  6. Good for controlling danger in a session
• Distributed practice is time-consuming but allows for feedback and discussion during drills
• Varied practice

  1. Includes doing different drills

  2. Working on the same skill but with variations
• Fixed practice promotes overlearning and is beneficial for beginners or for closed skills with low complexity
• Fixed practice

  Promotes overlearning
• Fixed practice

  Not ideal for developing decision-making skills or sports specificity in many sports
• Varied practice allows for training to be very competition specific and helps in adapting to open skills
• Controlling danger within a session

  1. Varied practice: doing different drills to introduce variability and improve competition specificity

  2. Varying drills to include different elements like defenders to enhance competition element and adaptability to open skills

  3. Mimicking real-life scenarios by applying skills to various situations and opponents

  4. Linking to schema theory for adapting skills to different situations
• Varied practice mimics real-life scenarios and helps in applying skills to various situations and opponents
• Fixed practice

  Beneficial for beginners or closed skills with low complexity
• Fixed practice is not ideal for developing decision-making skills or sports specificity in many sports
• Factors influencing the choice of practice methods and delivery in coaching
• Time availability


  Less time may lead to whole practice, more time may allow for part practices
• High ability performers


  May use whole practice as they can handle lots of information without needing it to be broken down
• High ability performers


  May benefit from massed practice as they can handle longer sessions without needing frequent breaks
• Teaching an individual skill

  Whole part whole or progressive part
• Youth performers


  May benefit from part whole part whole practice to break down skills for better understanding
• Complex skills


  May require breaking down into part practices for better comprehension
• Group size


  Large groups may benefit from whole practice, smaller groups may benefit from part practices
• Beginners


  May require part whole part whole or progressive part practice to break skills down and provide information in bite-sized chunks
• Low ability performers


  May benefit from distributed practice sessions to provide more breaks and feedback
• Simple skills


  May be practiced as a whole without breaking down into parts