Types Of Practice Methods

Question 1

What does part practice involve?

Answer 1

Skill broken into subroutines, then subroutines practised separately, then subroutines put back together

Question 2

What are some benefits of part practice?

Answer 2

Good for closed/low organisation skills
Good at the cognitive stage of learning 
Helps understanding 
Gives early success 
Raises confidence/motivation 
Limits info. to process 
Safer for learning dangerous skills

Question 3

What are some drawbacks of part practice?

Answer 3

Not suitable for high organisation skills
Limits awareness of whole skill
Limits kinaesthetic development
Transfer to whole skill may be difficult
Can be demotivating for high ability learners
Takes time

Question 4

What does whole practice involve?

Answer 4

Skill not being broken into subroutines, skill is learned in its complete form-movement attempted holistically

Question 5

What are some benefits of whole practice?

Answer 5

Good for high organisation/continuous/simple skills
Gives holistic view of the skill
Saves time 
Good for high ability learners 
Creates mental picture 
Encourages fluency

Question 6

What are some drawbacks of whole practice?

Answer 6

Unsuitable for complex skills
Difficult for low abilities and those at the cognitive stage of learning
Too fast for some learners
Can be demotivating if failure is experienced

Question 7

What does progressive part practice involve?

Answer 7

Subroutines of a skill practised separately then combined gradually into larger parts until whole skill is achieved

Question 8

What are some benefits of progressive part practice?

Answer 8

Good for low organisation/serial/complex skills
Quicker than part practice and with similar uses
Kinaesthetic feel developed more effectively than with part practice
Transfer of subroutines more likely than with part practice
Gives a chance for recap

Question 9

What are some drawbacks of progressive part practice?

Answer 9

Unsuitable for high organisation skills
Similar drawbacks to part practice 
Limited awareness of whole skill
Limited kinaesthetic development 
Transfer to the whole skill may remain difficult 
Can be demotivating for high abilities 
Takes time

Question 10

What does whole part practice involve?

Answer 10

Skill practised in its entirety, then subroutines practised separately, then complete skill practised again

Question 11

What are some benefits of whole part practice?

Answer 11

Good for low organisation/serial/complex/open/closed skills
Combines the uses of whole and part methods
Flexible method for all abilities/stages of learning
Entire skill can be practised early
Allows focus on weak subroutines

Question 12

What are some drawbacks of whole part practice?

Answer 12

Unsuitable for high organisation skills
Can be difficult for low ability learners
Lots of info. to process
Potential for overload
Can be demotivating to return to subroutines

Question 13

What does massed practice involve?

Answer 13

Repetitive/continuous practice with no rest intervals

Question 14

What are some benefits of massed practice?

Answer 14

Good for discrete/short and simple skills
Good for autonomous learners
Good for experienced performers
Helps to groove/overlearn the skill
Helps to form S-R bonds/develop kinaesthesis and schema

Question 15

What are some drawbacks of massed practice?

Answer 15

Can be too exhausting
Could cause drive reduction/mental fatigue
Errors could increase due to repetitive nature
Can lead to chronic/overuse injuries

Question 16

What does distributed practice involve?

Answer 16

Practice in short bursts with regular rest intervals

Question 17

What are some benefits of distributed practice?

Answer 17

Good for high energy/continuous/complex/dangerous skills
Good for cognitive learners
Helps understanding at the associative and autonomous stage
Has time for rest/mental rehearsal/reinforcement/feedback
Helps to form S-R bonds/develop kinaesthesis and schema

Question 18

What are some drawbacks of distributed practice?

Answer 18

Rest intervals may disjoint practice-hindering learning
Can be hard to regain intensity of practice
Long/frequent breaks can be demotivating

Question 19

What does varied practice involve?

Answer 19

Changes made regularly to the environment/situation so different activities are performed in different ways

Question 20

What are some benefits of varied practice?

Answer 20

Good for open skills in games
Good at the autonomous stage
Good when the skill has already been learned via fixed practice
Motivates performer
Helps transfer of skills
Helps to form S-R bonds/develop kinaesthesis and schema

Question 21

What are some drawbacks of varied practice?

Answer 21

Basic skills must be learned to start with
Too many stimuli may cause overload
Can be confusing for cognitive learners
Not effective in over learning the skills
May not develop an effective motor programme

Question 22

What does fixed practice involve?

Answer 22

Environment/situation doesn’t change

Question 23

What are some benefits of fixed practice?

Answer 23

Good for closed skills
Good for cognitive learners
Develops motor programmes and competition is replicated
Can perfect and overlearn the skill
Helps to form S-R bonds/develop kinaesthesis and schema

Question 24

What are some drawbacks of fixed practice?

Answer 24

Unsuitable for open skills 
May become boring 
Doesn’t prepare for a game situation 
Can cause drive reduction 
Can lead to chronic/overuse injuries