Skill classification's impact on the structure of practice

Question 1

What are the 3 methods of practice ?

Answer 1

• Whole
• Whole-part-whole
• progressive

Question 2

What is whole practice ?

Answer 2

‘practising the skill in its entirety’
- Not braking the skill into subroutines
- the skill is simple
- Not much thought required

Question 3

What are advantages of whole practice ?

Answer 3

• get a feel for the whole skill
• Realistic to performance (positive transfer)
• Makes the skill consistent

Question 4

What are disadvantages for whole practice ?

Answer 4

• Difficult for cognitive thinkers
• too much information

Question 5

What is a whole-part-whole practice ?

Answer 5

‘accessing the skill, identifying a weakness to practice, then putting a skill back together’
- The breakdown of a complex skill into stages
- Allows focus on one part

Question 6

What are advantages of whole-part-whole practice ?

Answer 6

• Immediate feedback by correcting errors
• fluency and integration of sub-routines maintained

Question 7

What is a disadvantage of whole-part-whole ?

Answer 7

• time consuming
• negative transfer

Question 8

What is progressive part practice ?

Answer 8

‘practising the first part of the skill the adding parts gradually’
- Also can be called chaining

Question 9

What is an advantage of progressive part practice ?

Answer 9

• Can focus on one part and correct specific errors
• builds initial understanding which improves confidence

Question 10

What is a disadvantage to progressive part practice ?

Answer 10

• time consuming

Question 11

What is mass practice ?

Answer 11

• no rest intervals
• continuous, no changes to the skill
• discrete skills, simple, closed environment

Question 12

What are the advantages of mass practice ?

Answer 12

• promotes fitness
• helps the skill become automatic
• efficient use of time (quick)
• Motor programmes are stored easily

Question 13

What are the disadvantages of massed practice ?

Answer 13

• Can produce fatigue
• Danger for negative transfer if it isn’t very similar to a game
• Can get repetitive

Question 14

What is distributed practice ?

Answer 14

• rest intervals
• resting between session
• when the skill is continuous

Question 15

What are the advantages of distributed practise ?

Answer 15

• Allows for recuperation
• Allows controlled progress (good for beginners)
• Coaching advice can be given between sessions

Question 16

What are the disadvantages of distributed practice ?

Answer 16

• Time consuming
• Not as useful for expert athletes

Question 17

What is varied practice ?

Answer 17

• changing practice type and practice drill
• good for team sports where adapting is needed

Question 18

What are the advantages of varied practise ?

Answer 18

• players learn to adapt to different situations
• used when a skill is open

Question 19

What are the disadvantages of varied practise ?

Answer 19

• time consuming
• might be too much for an athelete too think about

Question 20

What is mental practise ?

Answer 20

• going over the skill in the mind without movement
• helps elite athletes with confidence issues

Question 21

What are the advantages of mental practise ?

Answer 21

• improves confidence and lowers anxiety
• improves decision making

Question 22

What are the disadvantages of mental practise ?

Answer 22

• must be done correctly to ensure negative doesn’t happen
• environment must be calm