Month: July 2020

312 – Adding Variability, Execution Redundancy & “Essential Noise” to Practice with Equipment Modifications

312A look at how modifying sports equipment (e.g., changing size, altering mass distribution or making more flexible) can enhance motor learning by adding variability, noise and increasing movement execution redundancy.Download link Articles: Equipment modification can enhance skill learning in young field hockey players“Essential noise” – Enhancing variability of informational constraints benefits movement control: A comment…

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Do Athletes See Better, Repetitive VR Practice, Brain Stimulation Training

-Do rugby players have better vision than normal people? In a recent study published in Sport Sciences for Health, Millard and colleagues tested 40 male premier league rugby players from and 40 non-athletes on battery of visual spatial skills tests. It was found that the rugby players had better accommodation to keep their eyes focused…

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Microsaccades, pitching machine transfer and making practice gains sticky

The latest in skill acquisition and performance research from perceptonaction.com -When we are trying to keep our eyes un-moving and fixated on something are they really still? Not always. In the Journal of Eye Movement Research a recently published special issue addresses this interesting question. In research studies, a fixation has long been defined as…

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Exercise & Motor Learning, Does Dirt Matter in Training?

The latest in skill acquisition and performance research from perceptonaction.com -We all know that exercise is good for us for a multitude of reasons. But one of lesser known ones is that it seems to help us learn new motor skills more effectively. Adding to this growing body of literature is a recent study by…

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Launch of the Skill Acquisition News Briefing

Something new and exciting! Daily news briefings delivered to your Amazon Echo! (Notes and a player to listen will also be posted here on the website). To enable the news briefing on your echo:Go here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CZ8Y2T2OR-From the Alexa app on your phone go to settings by pressing the three little lines in the top left-Go…

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311– Individual Differences & Intrinsic Dynamics: Why Do Some Performers Self-Organize Better Than Others?

311A look at individual differences in motor learning and coordination. What are intrinsic dynamics and how do they influence learning? How do patterns of coordination change with learning? Why do some athletes seem to be better able to self-organize than others? How should we take this into account in coaching?Download link Articles:Multi-stability and meta-stability: understanding…

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310 – Developing Adaptable Performers: Training in Regions of Metastability

310 A look at the concepts of multi and meta-stability in coordination. How can a performer have multiple movement solutions that are both stable and flexible at the same time? How might we develop this by training within meta-stable regions?Download link Articles: Multi-stability and meta-stability: understanding dynamic coordination in the brainHow boxers decide to punch…

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309 – Journal Club #20: Sport Practitioners as Sport Ecology Designers

309I am joined by Damian Farrow, Alex Lascu, Derek Panchuk and Carl Woods to discuss the article: Sport Practitioners as Sport Ecology Designers: How Ecological Dynamics Has Progressively Changed Perceptions of Skill “Acquisition” in the Sporting Habitat. We discuss: the shift from coach as instructor to coach designer, the challenges of “hands-off” coaching, do coaches…

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How to make CLA gains “sticky”

If I add a constraint to practice to take away (i.e., de-stabilize) a movement solution won’t the performer just return to using their old, familiar solution once the constraint is removed? This is a question I get asked a lot and indeed it is important issue both for the Constraints Led Approach (CLA) and most…

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