Whom would you draft?

As the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde once said, "With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone".

The three images above capture 3 different people: a young boy, a college aged female, and an adult aged male who are all ready to or are in the act of throwing a ball. Each person demonstrates excellent form in their preparation phase of the skill.

Once we figure it out, we just...figure it out! - Motor Learning

When you look at the first few moments of life, there are some incredible differences when it comes to a newborn’s abilities. Whether it’s a newborn giraffe calf up on their feet and walking around within hours of dropping several feet to the ground, or baby sea turtles hatching on the sand and then somehow finding their way to the ocean, some animals come into this world more self-sufficient than others. Humans on the other hand, are one of the few animals that are born unable to care for themselves.

Take one of the most fundamental movement skills we learn: walking. According to research it takes most babies about 1,000 hours of practice from the time they pull themselves upright to the time they can walk alone.

Watch this timelapse video to see just how much practice time and trial and error it takes to learn to walk.

Yet, barring injury, walking becomes a skill that we get so proficient at, that we stop thinking about it and just do it. This is a classic demonstration of motor learning. Motor learning has been defined as a “set of internal processes associated with practice or experience leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled behavior" (from Rachael Seidler, 2010). In other words, motor learning is when complex processes in the brain occur in response to practice or experience of a certain skill, resulting in changes in the central nervous system that allow for production of a new motor skill.

So how do we learn?

Paul Fitts and Michael Posner presented their three stage learning model in 1967 and to this day it is considered applicable in the motor-learning world. Watch the following explanation of their 3 stage model of motor learning. As you watch the video, consider each of the statements provided under the appropriate stage.

Use the multiple choice quiz below to confirm your understanding related to the 3 stage model of learning.

Long Description

Sum it up!

So how do we learn a new skill quickly? We continually flow through the stages set out by Fitts and Posner and train our bodies and brains to read, recall and adapt motor patterns to the environment around us. This video is a great way to demonstrate that the same approach can be used to learn to ride a skateboard or design a web page.

Taking learning to the next level

In order for individuals to excel at anything, they must practice. As fundamental skills become almost “automatic” as seen in the autonomous stage, the complexity of when and how the skill is performed needs to be adjusted. Here is an example of how a professional soccer team is using technology to help their players improve the basic skill of passing.

What makes someone great?

When learning a new skill, practice time is one of the largest influencers on skill development. However, the amount of time spent practicing is only valuable if the skill is being practiced correctly. In order to do this, the role of feedback is vital for the progression from a beginner (novice) to an expert (proficient) in level of skill. Feedback can take on many shapes and or forms. From a coach’s instruction to video analysis, feedback needs to be timely and relative.

Feedback itself falls into 2 categories based on what the feedback is based on:

• the performance of the skill
• the outcome of the performance

In order to give instruction and/or feedback to help with the progression of a skill, it is important to be able to distinguish the characteristics that define whether someone falls under the novice or expert categories or somewhere in between. In order to do this, it is crucial to be able to understand what level of motor learning the "learner" is at.

This, along with the knowledge of the phases of movement from Unit 5, helps coaches/teachers/instructors establish criteria of mastery for the development of the skill. Establishing the criteria for mastering a skill can be considered the first step as a "coach" to be able to help an individual develop any skill.