As promised in last month’s article, I’ll present some principals which I consider relevant for the structuring of exercises meant for technical development.
Although one may have to work on many different variables in order to attain an effective technique (from its form to its accuracy), I consider that each variable goes through two main training stages: its correction and its consolidation.
During phase one an individual is making a certain mistake which needs to be corrected, while during phase two one has been able to understand and develop the motor coordination to perform the execution with the intended correction but lacks consistency.
Studies which have focused on this subject compared the effects of continuous unvaried practice (performing several times the same “A” execution: AAAA) with varied practice (randomly or not randomly altering between several different executions: ABC ABC … or ABC BCA …).
The main results showed that, although constant unvaried practice produced better results at the end of the session, varied practice subjects performed better in the following session (better retention).
Two theories were put forward to explain these results, both of which focused on the fact that people who go through varied practice are forced to be more mentally involved and focused on the practice.
The main downside that I consider that these studies have is the fact that to be very scientific in the eyes of the western scientific community they try to totally isolate the variable intended to be studied. By this I mean that these studies focus on very simple tasks, so that previous motor experiences from the different subjects don’t influence the results.
Consequently, in order to develop a more practical and functional teaching method, I find that one has to take into consideration the fact that most new tasks we present students with have a higher degree of complexity.
Therefore, I consider that when students are presented with new and challenging tasks they need to go through a first adaptation period of trial and error, during which they:
develop their body awareness, in terms of developing the ability of realizing how they are performing the new task;
detect the mistakes and corrections needed;
understand how they must adjust their body control in order to attain the intended correction.
Hence, during this first period of technical development things are very complex for the person being introduced to the new skill and, even if one practices the same skill using a constant and unvaried drill, the practice of that one skill will have so many mistakes associated with it that it will be all but unvaried. Additionally, if one mixes several new skills, all requiring the development of body awareness, mistake detection and correction strategies development, it will overload the practitioner.
So, to blend the best of all the training options available, I consider that:
when being introduced to a new skill, practitioners benefit from practicing it in isolation (using constant unvaried drills), in order to develop body awareness, mistake and corrections required and corrective motor strategies;
when a person has gone through the previous stage and is able to perform the new skill correctly but is lacking consistency and thus needing to improve its memorization, varied practice (either random or not random) is the best policy. Nevertheless, keep in mind that, although this will feel confusing and possibly showing worse results at the end of the session, it will show better results during the following sessions.
Hope this topic has been of interest and useful in helping you organize your training in a more productive manner.
