Skills & Techniques

1. Skills & Techniques Key Concept 3 Key Feature 1 Stages of Learning Methods of Practice Principles of Effective Practice Influential factors affect performance are: Motivation, Concentration, Feedback.

2. Specific – make your practice programme specific to improving your identifies weakness Measureable – use targets to track success in practice Achievable / Attainable – choose practices that suit your stage of learning Realistic – practices need to match the identified need and be achievable as noted above Time phased – be aware of how long to practice in terms of avoiding fatigue Exciting – make practice relate to the activity or use competition / targets Regular – practicing frequently is important to develop reinforcement / consistency in skill This information shows a description of principles of training

3. Different language is needed to develop an explanation of principles – this language begins to explain why practice should be following this structure Consider the following list of words: Intensity Progression Model Weaknesses Boredom Objective Work to rest ratio A strategy to remember them is to use the following sentence IPracticed Mainly With Boys Or Women

4. A further layer of language is needed to develop a discussion about principles of effective practice because you now need to outline the benefits that following this process might have on your performance. Purposeful Energetic Realistic Feedback / Focus / fatigue avoidance Error Free Competitive / Confidence Thoughtful (Understanding) Look at the first letter of the words and what do they spell out? PERFECT

5. What do you understand about the principles of effective practice? Give examples of how these were used within your programme. (6) • Task in 2’s • Use the words provided to build paragraphs that will fit together to construct your answer

6. 1st Box • I reviewed how the skill should be performed by considering the way a model performer completes the action. This enabled me to visualise how the action should be performed as I was practicing which gave me the benefit of being able to make adjustments to my performance as I was practicing.

7. 2nd Box • Understanding what my weaknesses were from the movement analysis results helped me to make my practice specific to my needs. I selected practices from resources that would work on my weaknesses and this had the benefit of focusing my attention and making my practice relevant.

8. 3rd Box • Selecting relevant and realistic practices helped me understand their objective. Before I started to practice in each session I checked that I understood exactly what I needed to do and why I was doing it. This helped me to practice purposefully, be thoughtful about the effect of my practice and make changes when necessary to keep the work on track.

9. 4th Box • Effective practice of techniques with many linked subroutines relies on the action being completed with correct timing. I made sure that the intensity of effort I used in every repetition provided an energetic tempo to ensure that all subroutines linked in a fluent way. As my performance developed, I made sure the intensity increased to game pace tempo so that I started to become familiar with how the action would be applied.

10. 5th Box • To manage my sessions effectively, I considered the work – rest ratio (how long I should practice and how much rest to take). When initially learning to overcome weaknesses, I applied relatively short periods of practice with slightly longer rest periods. This was appropriate because I made quick progress with the easier practices and gave me time to take in the feedback. When practicing to refine my action, the work periods were made longer and rest periods shorter so that I would have time to over learn the action.

11. 6th Box • Repetitions of each practice drill and completing 4 sessions a week in school periods helped me to practice regularly, which had a significant help in developing my effectiveness. • It is necessary to progress the demand of practice to keep the development of the skill going towards the automatic stage. To do this I made sure my practices were achievable in relation to my SOL. I selected easier practices at the preparation stage (Unopposed practice) and progressed to opposed (1v1) and small sided games (4v4) at the practice stage. This provided challenge to keep improving further.

12. 7th Box • Finally, boredom and fatigue can negatively influence the effect of practice. To avoid this I varied my practices and selected a distributed structure to change the focus and provide rest breaks. I also set goals for achievement eg 7 out of 10 successful attempts at each practice that had a timed deadline (end of week 1). This provided a measurable source that I could use to monitor my progress. These factors made my practices more interesting and helped to keep me motivated throughout.