Coaching tips to accelerate sport skill learning - Knoxville Sports Performance Examiner

Coaching tips to accelerate sport skill learning

·         August 16th, 2009 12:15 am ET

·         By Denise Wood, Knoxville Sports Performance Examiner

Athletes can learn and retain sport skills more quickly when coaches use effective instructional techniques.  These psychologically-based coaching tips can help athletes accelerate sport skill learning and performance:

1.  Help athletes learn skills correctly the first time. Initial learning is most impressionable. Coaches should monitor and guide athletes to learn proper technique when they are in the early stages of learning.

2.  Teach skill rhythms first, then refine the movements.  Athletes can learn and recall rhythmic movements more quickly than isolated movements, just as rhymes are more readily remembered than disconnected words in verbal learning.

3.  Chunk movements.  Movements can be learned more quickly if they are "chunked", or grouped, into larger movements.  Break skills down only as much as necessary.  Overanalysis causes paralysis.

 4.  Make new skills meaningful.  Explain and demonstrate a new skill so that the athlete understands what is required and why it is executed that way.  Clarify how a skill, movement, or strategy will help the athlete improve sport performance.

5.  Associate new skills and concepts with well learned skills.  Capitalize on an athlete's previous experience and maturity level by suggesting mental images that associate new skill concepts and features with familiar ones.

6.  Point out specific cues that require the athlete's attention.  Intention to remember alerts an athlete to important aspects of a skill or game situation.  The ability to focus and remember key cues distinguishes beginners from skilled performers.

7.  Overlearn skills to correct errors.  Practice skills beyond what is necessary to perform them properly in order to correct technique flaws and reinforce skilled movements.

Sport skill memory techniques such as these are only a few of the many coaching tools that can streamline sports training time while boosting sport performance. 

References:

Magill, R.A. (2001). Motor learning: Concepts and applications (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Schmidt, R.A. & Wrisberg, C.A. (2000). Motor learning and performance: A problem-based 
learning approach (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Wrisberg, C.A. (2007). Sport skill instruction for coaches. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.