3. Performance
temporary changes in motor behavior or
knowledge that can be observed & measured
during or immediately after Practice
SoderstroM & Bjork, 2015
= Practice
5. Learning
relatively permanent changes in Motor
behavior or knowledge that supports long-
term retention and transfer to competition
SoderstroM & Bjork, 2015
= Competition
7. “The mechanism by which our brain registers information is what
we call attention” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“You dispose of a limited budget of attention that you can
allocate to activities, and if you try to go beyond your budget,
you will fail” ~ Daniel Kahneman
8. Attention Applied to coaching
Adapted from Magill, R. (2011) Motor Learning and Control –
Concepts and Applications 9th edition
11. Attentional Focus
The conscious effort of an individual to focus
their attention through explicit thoughts and
feelings in an effort to execute a task with
superior performance
= Cueing
12. Internal Focus
Primary focus on the body (e.g., muscle) and
associated movement process (e.g., hip extension)
= Body Focus
13. External Focus
Primary focus on movement outcome (e.g., jump
high) and associated affect on the environment
(e.g., push the ground away)
= Outcome Focus
14. External Focus
Explode Off The Ground
Internal Focus
Explode Through Your Hips
External Focus
Catch Ball at Highest
Point
Internal Focus
Extend your arms as high
as you can
Wulf, 2013
15. Internal cues constrain the
motor system by asking the
person to focus on a Simple
part at the expense of the
complex whole. .
External cues Direct attention
towards relevant movement
features, allowing the body
to self-organize a preferred
movement solution.
Wulf, 2013
16. DLPFC
PMC
SMC
M1
Novice Expert
01: Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC)
02: Premotor Cortex (PMC)
03: Supplementary Motor Cortex (SMC)
04: Primary Motor Cortex (M1)
“Focus On The Movement”Song, 2009 | Beilock, 2010
17. The Learning Brain of a Novice looks very
similar to the Choking Brain of an Expert –
the key – minimizing conscious focus on
“movement steps” during skill execution
Consider how shifting your players
focus outward as opposed to inward
could support learning & mental
Robustness under pressure
18. External Focus cues have been shown to
Protect Against choking & encourage
an expert-like physiological state.
22. A progressive increase in
contextual interference from
blocked to random has been
shown to be superior to
blocked or random only.
Porter et al., 2010
23. Porter et al., 2010
The Performance your players
are prepared to deliver lives
in the Context of the
practice they experience
24. 24
DLPFC
PMC
SMC
M1
Blocked Random
01: Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
02: Premotor Cortex
03: Medial Temporal Lobe
04: Primary Motor Cortex (M1)
05: Supplementary Motor Cortex
06: Basal Ganglia
07: Cerebellum
Session Design and Skill Learning
MTL
Basal
Ganglia
Cerebellum
Explicit
(Knowing)
Implicit
(Doing)
Lage et al., 2015
25. Skill Retrieval Drives learning. To strengthen
retrieval we must first forget. Skill spacing &
variability creates Desirable difficulty.
26. spacing out short & frequent bursts of
practice is key When trying to learn or
improve upon a given motor skill.
29. 29
PLAYER (BODY) CONSTRAINTS
Position
Power
Pattern
Athletes ability to attain proper
stability and mobility relative to
the movements being performed
Athletes ability to express the
appropriate strength qualities
relative to the movements being
performed
Athletes ability to coordinate the
limbs of the body relative to task
and environment constraints
30. 30
TASK (SKILL) CONSTRAINTS
Spatial
Temporal
Rules/
Equipment
Manipulate the amount of space the
movement can be performed in (e.g.
small sided games)
Manipulate the amount of time the
movement can be performed in (e.g.
number of players or racing)
Change the rules to constrain
choices and/or introduce equipment
to constrain the movement options
32. 01 Say the most with the least
01 Use Language that is memorable and Interesting
01 Use external cues to optimize coordination & learning
02 The right level of session variability encourages deeper learning
02 Drills can be designed to constrain errors so a new pattern can emerge