Ellesmere College PE Touch Rugby AS 3.3 and 3.4

1. Ellesmere College PETouch RugbyAS 3.3 and 3.4 3.3 Evaluate the effectiveness of a Performance Improvement Programme. 4 credits 3.4 Perform in a physical activity to a national standard 4 credits

2. What it’s all about • Participate in a Performance Improvement Programme over 6-8 weeks and critically evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. Keep an up to date log of your training. • Throughout the PIP keep track of your performance and also your partners performances. • The focus is on the Biophysical and the Sociocultural aspects of your PIP. • Must keep logs on all training activities to use and evidence and also assist in the final assessment. • Combined total of 8 credits for 3.3 and 3.4 if all components completed.

3. Lots to cover….. • Biophysical • Motor Skill Learning • Massed and Distributed Practice, open and closed skills, whole and part learning, types of feedback • Sports psychology • Goal setting, motivation, confidence • Biomechanics and functional anatomy

4. Lots to cover…. • Sociocultural • The SPEECH factors • Gender stereotypes • Technocentricity • Commodification • Scientism • Healthism • Body as a project

5. Performance Improvement Programmes • First need to consider your thoughts on PIP. Write down some answers to these questions. • What are your thoughts and ideas about performance improvement programmes? • Who/what do you think performance improvement programmes are for? • Are performance improvement programmes relevant to you? Why/why not? • Have you ever completed a performance improvement programme before? If yes, what? When? Why? How? • Who/what has influenced your ideas/thoughts on performance improvement programmes? In what ways? (For example, coaches, media, fitness industry.) • What do you think the potential consequences/implications of these influences are on self, others, and society? (Consider stereotypes.)

6. Monitoring Performance • Important to keep track of our performance in touch rugby. Using the performance rubric from AS 3.4 you are required to take part in several games of touch rugby as checkpoints of your performance. • The first step for this is to complete a pretest, looking at where you currently sit on the spectrum. • At the pretest and checkpoints you will need to assess your self and also your partner. Your teacher will then give an indication of the level (NAME) that you are working at.

7. Our Training Plan • Will focus on specific touch rugby trainings for the majority of our PIP. Will incorporate some anaerobic training into this. • Assuming that most of you have a sound base aerobic fitness level already.

8. Sports Psychology • It is important that athlete’s are properly motivated when taking part in PIP’s, especially if they are required to complete training in their own time. • If an athlete is under or over aroused they will not perform at their best. • One aspect of sports psychology is Arousal Control – this works onthe athlete managingtheir emotions and is based on the ‘invertedu’ model.

9. Sports Psychology Sticking to a training programme can be difficult. Top athletes use sports psychology to assist them in their training and assist in arousal control. • Goal Setting – SMART goals for checkpoints in week 2, 4 and 6 and an outcome goal. • Mental Rehearsal – going over scenario’s mentally in preparation. • Confidence – more experience in one event over another can help with the level of confidence an athlete has. • Self Talk – designed to assist in motivation. • Visualisation – to assist with accomplishing a goal. Helps to block out the pain or desire to stop. • Routines– (usually to help with arousal control – pressure situations) Making a training part of your routine can help to overcome a lack of motivation.

10. Goal setting • Having completed the original tests it is now time to set some performance goals for your PIP. • Remember SMART goals • Specific • Measureable • Accurate • Realistic • Timed

11. The Biophysical • Components of fitness • MOTS • Motor Skill Learning • Biomechanics

12. Fitness components • Muscular endurance, flexibility, speed, power, muscular strength, cardiovascular fitness, reaction time, agility, balance, coordination. • Our focus for touch rugby will be on Speed, Agility and Co-ordination. We will also focus mainly on training our anaerobic lactic energy system. (This will give us some assumptions to discuss later).

13. Methods of training • Continuous • Interval • Fartlek • Resistance • Circuit • We will focus on continuous, interval and fartlek for the purposes of our training.

14. Continuous Training • This involves training the aerobic energy system by performing repeated actions. • Effective continuous training should be over 20 minutes in duration to target both cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance components of fitness. • Training should be measured in intensity with a target heart rate of 60-80% of MRH. • Examples are running, swimming, cycling, rowing.

15. Interval Training • Involves targeting the anaerobic energy system (Anaerobic lactate system) by alternating between high, moderate and low intensity activities. • Eg. Sprint 50m x 4, jog 100 x 2, sprint 50m x 4, walk 100m. • Structured and defined. • It is fair to assume that this will be an important aspect of our training.

16. Fartlek training • Training at random intensities which stimulates both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. Different to interval training as intensities are varied randomly. • Need coaches to push and encourage as it is hard to perform high intensity exercise without external motivation.

17. Motor Skill Learning • 5 main area’s of focus for us. • Stages of Learning • Whole or part learning • Open and closed skills • Types of practice • Muscle memory • Feedback

18. Stages of Learning • Cognitive • New to the skill. Performing the skill requires all of the athletes attention and so they rely on the coach for cues. This is a process of trial and error with a success rate of 2 or 3 out of 10 attempts. Correct performances must be reinforced through external feedback. • Associate • Performances are becoming more consistent as motor programmes are being formed. While the simpler parts of the skill now look fluent and are well learned, the more complex elements requires most of the spare attention. The athlete is starting to get a sense of internal 'kinaesthetic' feedback when they perform the skill well. They are starting to detect and correct their own errors and success rate has risen to 5-7 out of 10. • Autonomous • In the final stage of learning, performances have become consistent, fluid and aesthetically pleasing. The motor programmes involved are well learned and stored in the long-term memory. There is now spare attention which can be focused on opponents and tactics. To retain the new skill at this level, it must be constantly practiced to reinforce the motor programmes. Success is now 9 out of 10.

19. Skill Definition • Open v closed – refers to the situation they are performed in – in touch rugby the most closed skill is the penalty tap. On the continuum the skills are performed in a very open environment. This means that most skills will be first learnt in a closed environment then practiced in an open environment so that our training is specific to the conditions it will be performed in. • Discrete v serial v continuous – Skills can be continuous, such cycling, where the movement repeats over and over, serial, where there are distinct parts within a movement, or discrete, where there is a definite beginning and end. • For touch rugby there are examples of all 3 skills, however the ones most practiced are discrete (passing and catching), and serial (dumping, scooping).

20. Whole or Part Learning • Whole method • The skill is first demonstrated and then practised as a whole, from start to finish. It helps the learner to get a feel for the skill, timings and end product. It is best used for fast skills which cannot easily be separated into sub-parts, such as a javelin throw. It is unsuitable for people with low attention spans, complex or dangerous skills. • Part method • The parts of the skill are practised in isolation which is useful for complicated and serial skills and is good for maintaining motivation and focusing on specific elements of the skill. It is possible, however, that the transfer of the skills from parts, to a whole may not be effective and it may also reduce the kinaesthetic awareness (feel) for the full skill.

21. Whole or Part Learning • Whole-part-whole method • The whole skill is first demonstrated and practised, before being broken down into the constituent parts to practice the individual elements and improve on these, before putting the whole skill back together. This can be very effective in skills which have easily distinguished parts, where the whole skill together is complex. • With touch rugby most skills are serial or discrete due to the high intensity nature of the sport. Depending on the learners existing skill level and the type of skill being executed, usually part or whole part learning will occur. (Eg. Wide pass drill in a grid situation – no defenders usually to allow player to focus on passing technique).

22. Types of Practice • Massed practice - This is a continuous form of practice which is best for simple skills. An example would be a rally in badminton where the learner must repeatedly perform drop shots. This causes fatigue and therefore simulates the late stages of a game. • Variable practice - This is used best for open skills and involves repeating a skill in varying situations. For example shooting practice in football, where the coach may set up drills and alter the starting position and involvement of defenders. This also helps with decision making during through experiencing game situations that an athlete can draw. • Distributed practice - Attempts at the skill are divided up with intervals inbetween to allow for rest and mental rehearsal. This is best used in difficult, dangerous or fatiguing skills and with young or lowly motivated individuals. • In touch rugby we generally use variable practice due to the open nature of the touch game. Due to individuals levels of skill already it is assumed that the very basic skills which would be taught in a massed practice situation have been pre learned. (think passing and catching drills for primary aged kids at rugby.)

23. Muscle Memory • Specific movements required to perform skills are stored in the brain and referred to as muscle memory. • If a skill is practiced over and over it is committed to Long Term Memory and is able to be accessed quickly. This is useful in complex situations like open environments that occur in team sports.

24. Feedback • The main roles of feedback are: • As motivation • To change performance immediately • To reinforce what has been learnt

25. Feedback • Feedback for touch rugby will come from a range of sources (KOP, Positive, Negative, Extrinsic). At the associative and autonomous stages this can be used to improve performance in a touch rugby context. By practising some skills in a closed environment we are looking to improve specific skills and feedback play an important part in this.

26. Biomechanics • Touch Rugby • There are some aspects of biomechanics that could be considered for touch rugby. These can be included in your evaluation, and may relate to aspect of Motor Skill Learning. You will need to relate these to your final grade. • E.g. In a training session on 14/2 I focused on improving my scoop from dummy half, as this was an area my partner and I had identified as needing improvement. • I used massed practice initially for this as I considered myself in the early associative stage of learning for this skill. This means that in order to perform it consistently and effective I needed to first teach myself the correct technique so that I developed the muscle memory for this skill. Scooping a ball from dummy half would be considered an open skill, however I first practiced it in a closed environment to ensure I was performing it correctly. • I initially received extrinsic feedback from my coach about this and the advice I was given was to plant my right foot closer to the ball and lower my centre of gravity further. This allowed me to increase my stability and ‘scoop’ my right hand under the ball more effectively, giving me greater control of the ball while lifting it up.

27. Socio-cultural factors • SPEECH – did the SPEECH factors have an impact on your PIP?? • Gender • Technocentricity • Commodification • Scientism • Healthism

28. Commodification of Sport • Relatively recent – last 30 years in most sports. • View sport as a business – trying to turn it into something that can be sold and purchased. • Is closely linked to Economics in SPEECH. • Using emotional ties with sport and recreation to persuade them to spend money. • Examples: Global: IPL player auctions, Tiger Woods, EPL Football jerseys NZ: Sky Sport, rugby industry, Super Rugby jerseys, endorsements, boots, RWC 2011

29. Commodification of Sport • How did commodification of sport have an effect on your training programme? • Flash touch boots, ‘labelled’ training clothing, music to listen too while training, tools to measure training with etc. • Uses media to create an ‘ideal’ type athlete (often unattainable) and companies use this ideal to create a desire to buy their product. E.g. You will look like SBW if you wear the same sunglasses as him. (think DC, Richie, vsBrodieRetallick or the FRC). • Would your training have been more effective if you had purchased a new set of running shoes or had used a heart rate monitor?

30. Gender Stereotypes • Considers the characteristics of males and females and whether these differences benefit one gender over another in specific sports. • This is closely related to Social and Cultural SPEECH. • These differences are usually instilled in people in early infanthood/childhood. Called gender construction. • How would this affect you for touch rugby. What gender stereotypes exist for touch (chicks on the wing???...). Guys are playmakers, faster, better skills. What happens if a girl demonstrates these characteristics??

31. Masculinity vsFeminity • Was your participation in this PIP affected by gender stereotypes and societal expectations? • Was your training affected positively or negatively? • Touch rugby - generally those who are the most aggressive at this sportshave more success.

32. Scientism • Is concerned with inputs and outputs. • If I do this for training, the result will be this. Individuals believe that the results from training are consistent and guaranteed. • This involves using science to measure how effective your training is. Success is defined by meeting goal times and comparing performances to baseline data. “If it moves measure it”.

33. Scientism • No other criteria are considered – egM/E, Social or Sp aspects of Hauora. • This could affect perceived success of training program if someone was solely focused on improving fitness. It ignores how people are feeling, enjoyment, social connections made etc etc. • When evaluating the effectiveness of your training programme would this have made your training more effective if you had used this concept?

34. Body as a project • If it moves, measure it. Focuses on measuring progress during training. This is in contrast to the Hauora approach to physical activity that considers the social, spiritual and mental/emotional benefits. People who view the body as a project are less likely to appreciate the joy of movement. • Also sees the body as something that should conform to societies expectations about the ideal body type and shape.

35. Technocentricity • Using technology to measure and improve performance. This allows individuals to track any gains that are made in a PIP and gives them feedback on outputs of training. Think heartrate monitors, Map my run, Nike+ fitness, bike odometers, erg measurements at the gym, etc etc. • Again it fails to recognise the Social, M/E and Spiritual effects of training.