Impact of Skill Classification on Structure of Practice

Impact of Skill Classification on Practice Structure

The type of skill a performer needs to learn should determine how a coach structures practice. Classifying a skill against criteria such as how simple/complex, open/closed, or discrete/continuous it is helps a coach decide the most suitable method and type of practice to use.

Using classification to guide practice design helps ensure that training matches the real demands of the skill, supporting more effective learning and better transfer to performance.

Methods of Presenting Practice

Whole practice involves practising the skill in its entirety, without breaking it into sub-routines. It suits skills that are fast, ballistic, discrete, simple and highly organised, where sub-routines are too closely linked to separate (e.g. a tennis serve).

• Advantages: gives a feel for the whole action and the links between sub-routines; develops kinaesthesis (the feel of the movement); more realistic, so is more likely to transfer positively to performance; helps build the consistency needed for skilled performance
• Disadvantages: can place unnecessary demands on the performer, especially a beginner, if all parts of the skill are attempted at once; risks fatigue and errors from processing too much information at the same time

Whole-part-whole practice involves the performer first attempting the whole skill; the coach then identifies a specific weakness, that part is isolated and practised on its own, and then it is put back into the context of the whole skill.

• Advantages: can provide motivation since success is achieved on the whole skill first; allows immediate, specific feedback on the isolated weakness; corrects the weak part before it is returned to the whole action, maintaining the feel of the complete skill
• Disadvantages: transfer back into the whole skill is not guaranteed unless the corrected part is reintegrated at the same speed and rhythm at which it is actually performed

Progressive part practice (also called chaining) involves teaching and building up a skill in parts, with each new part added on to those already learned, one at a time, until the whole sequence is complete.

• Advantages: allows the performer to focus on and correct one specific weakness within a longer sequence; reduces the amount of information the performer must process at once; motivation can build gradually as each stage is achieved successfully
• Disadvantages: time-consuming; can neglect the overall flow and the links between sub-routines; risks negative transfer if an early part of the sequence is learned incorrectly, since later parts build upon it

Types of Practice

Massed practice involves practice with no rest intervals between attempts. It suits skills that are discrete, simple and closed, performed by a performer with good levels of fitness.

• Advantages: promotes fitness through continuous effort; helps build strong, automatic motor programmes through repeated, fixed responses; efficient use of time, since sessions are not broken up
• Disadvantages: can cause fatigue, particularly if the performer lacks fitness, increasing the risk of poor technique and negative transfer; constant repetition of drills can reduce motivation

Distributed practice involves practice sessions with rest intervals between attempts. It suits skills that are dangerous, complex or continuous, or performers who are beginners or lack fitness.

• Advantages: allows recovery between attempts, reducing fatigue and the risk of technique breaking down; rest intervals allow time for feedback and mental rehearsal, which can maintain or increase motivation
• Disadvantages: more time-consuming overall than massed practice; if rest intervals between sessions are too long, this can lead to forgetting and reduce transfer of the skill

Varied practice involves changing the type of practice and drills used within a training session. It suits skills that are open, complex and externally paced, since the performer needs to adapt to changing, unpredictable environments (e.g. a football team practising with different sized small-sided games).

• Advantages: helps the performer adapt existing skills and sub-routines to changing environments; supports development of a schema – a stored, generalised motor programme that can be adapted to new situations; keeps training motivating by avoiding repetitive drills
• Disadvantages: can be time-consuming to plan and set up multiple variations; increases the risk of negative transfer if drills are too dissimilar from the real performance environment; can be demanding and increase fatigue

Mental practice involves going through the performance of a skill in the mind, without physical movement. It is often used alongside physical practice, either before a training programme or between periods of physical practice. It can be external (imagining watching yourself perform the skill, e.g. on video) or internal (imagining performing and feeling the skill from within).

• Benefits: increases confidence and lowers anxiety; activates the muscle receptors relevant to the skill, keeping a mental blueprint of the action prepared and ready to recall; improves decision-making and thinking about the skill; helps maintain the 'memory' of a skill during periods when a performer cannot physically practise, such as during injury; for advanced performers, can also improve reaction time by activating relevant muscles in advance and helping the performer focus, since well-prepared responses become more automatic

Coaching use of mental practice varies with experience: beginners benefit from short, simple mental practice that builds confidence and reduces errors by picturing the basic requirements of the skill; more experienced performers can use longer, more detailed mental practice, often focused on specific tactics, strategies, or the weaknesses of an opponent, ahead of a major competition.