Chapter

1
Chapter 2 Motor Learning for Effective Coaching
and Performance

• From Jean M. Williams book Applied Sport
  Psychology

2
Motor Learning Defined

• Motor Skill learning a set of internal
  processes, associated with practice or
  experience, leading to relatively permanent
  changes in the capability for skilled movement
  behavior.
• Capabilities once a skill has been learned the
  potential, or likelihood, for exhibiting skilled
  performance is quite high.

3
Phases of Motor Skill Learning (Cognitive,
Associative, and Autonomous)

• Cognitive Phase
• Focuses on gaining a understanding of how the
  skill is to be performed.
• Characterized by verbal activity by the athlete
  (talk themselves through the movement)
• Athlete develop a motor program for the skill
• Motor Program internal program that contains a
  set of instructions to guide the movement.

4
Cognitive Phase

• Athletes in this phase are unable to focus on the
  aspects of environment. (i.e. external events
  like teammates positioning)
• Phase is characterized by inconsistency, numerous
  errors that are gross in nature.
• The dominant sensory system is Vision
• Phase is complete when the athlete can reasonably
  execute the skill the way it was demonstrated.

5
Cognitive Phase

• Role of the Coach
• Is to facilitate the athletes development of a
  basic movement pattern by clearly communicating
  the critical aspects of the skill.
• Cues should be short and precise.
• Use a lot of Demos
• Numerous repetitions (blocked practice)

6
Associative Phase

• Focus is skill refinement to eliminate extraneous
  movements and make fewer, less gross errors.
• Some attention can de directed to external
  environment
• Visual learning is replaced by proprioceptive
  control.
• Visual search strategies to monitor external
  environment are developed
• The phase lasts longer than the cognitive phase,
  and not all learners will transition to the final
  stage of learning.

7
Associative Phase

• The role of coach
• Design practice to optimize skill refinement.
• Closed skill performed in a stable environment
  and requires athlete be able to consistently and
  accurately replicate the movement pattern
  (fixation).
• Open Skills is when the environment is changing
  and unpredictable (diversity).
• Anticipatory skills can be acquired and enhanced
  through specific training in visual strategies.
• Effective feedback should focus not only on the
  movement pattern but the proprioceptive feel of
  performing the skill.

8
Autonomous Phase

• Emerges when the learner can perform the skill at
  a maximal level of proficiency.
• Requires little conscience thought.
• Role of Coach
• Help athlete maintain their level of skill and
  motivate athlete to continue to improve.
• Be careful when wanting to change a highly
  skilled athletes well learned technique. Small
  changes can be made, but major changes in
  technique puts the athlete back into cognitive
  phase

9
Practicing Considerations

• Athletes must be motivated to learn
• Athletes must practice with the intent to
  improve.

10
Practicing Considerations

• Blocked Practice
• All the trails of a given task must be completed
  before moving on to the next task.
• Produces better acquisition performance, but
  poorer long term learning.

11
Practicing Considerations

• Random Practice
• Practice in random order
• Leads to better learning (two possible
  mechanisms)
• Athletes have to use more elaborate processing
  strategies to keep the task distinct.
• There may be some forgetting of the solution to
  the task. Thus athlete must go through more
  solution generations with random practice.

12
Practicing Considerations

• Repeated Block Practice
• Combines Random and Blocked (block practice in
  random order)
• Constant Conditions vs Variable Conditions
• Variable practice allows the learner to discover
  relationships among environmental conditions.

13
Practicing Considerations

• Whole vs. Part Practice
• The transfer of learning principle defines which
  one to use.
• Whole requires that the athlete practice the
  skill in its entirety. Good for less complex
  skills, skill is not to dangerous, athletes are
  capable and motivated, and their attention span
  is long enough to deal with the whole.
• Part breaks the skill down into segments and
  practiced separately then done together. Good for
  complicated skills.
• Progressive part Practices first two parts
  separately then practiced together, then a third
  part is practiced and then combined with the
  first two and so on until the whole skill is
  performed.

14
Feedback

• the information athletes receive about their
  performance.

15
Feedback

• Intrinsic Feedback is info athletes receive as
  a natural consequence of moving provide by the
  athletes own sensory systems.
• Augmented Feedback info provided by an external
  source (coach, stop watch, teammate, ect.)
• Kiss Principle Keep It Short and Simple
• Verify athletes understanding of the feedback by
  asking them to repeat it and explain how they
  will correct it.

16
Feedback

• Feed back serves three functions
• Motivation
• Reinforcement and punishment
• Error correction
•  
• Law of Effect actions followed by reward tend
  to be repeated.
• Faded Feedback the constant reduction of
  augmented feedback due to the increase in skill
  level of athlete
• Bandwidth Feedback coach defines an acceptable
  bandwidth of error before giving augmented
  feedback
• Learner Regulated Feedback augmented feedback
  provided only when athlete requests it.

17
Analyzing the Skill

• First, compare athletes technique w/ correct
  technique.
• Second, select which error to correct. (Only one
  at a time)
• Third, determine the cause of the error and what
  the athlete must do to correct it.

18
Questions/Comments