Motor learning and Kinesiology

[CSEMARTIN]

this thing should be pinned or in faq or something...

Hugh should write a chapter in a "learn how to shoot book".

(No offense Brian. I think your book is brilliant.)

[MichiganShootist]

Years ago when I was a pretty decent golfer... I ran into some training and practice information that ties to the Blocked Practice---vs. Random Practice discussion.

Many golfers will go to the practice range and hit shots one right after the other with their driver. Then they will pick another club and hit a whole bucket of balls with the second club... and so on.

I was taught that unless you were working on a very specific problem with a specific club (or shot)... that your benefit from practice would be dramatic if you never hit more than two shots in a row with the same club.

So the drill might be - - - - one shot with a driver...one with a long iron....one with a short iron... and then start over. MUCH LIKE YOU USE YOUR CLUBS WHEN ACTUALLY PAYING A ROUND OF GOLF. In this manner it is more difficult to be consistant... but this mode in the long run produces better over all results. Hitting the same shot or club over and over also builds a false sense of confidence... which will not be there on the course.

I have tried to follow this methodology when on the practice range. I never shoot more than 2 mags or 2 cylinders of ammo at the same exact set up or targets.

[Jake Di Vita]

I'm actually doing some research on my own right now and plan on putting it into my book once it's completed.

It's really a interested and deep subject.

[BigDave]

Although it is on a completely different subject, Total Immersion by Terry Laughlin is a very interesting read on this topic. From the reading I've done in his book, his big point is learning and training efficiency and leveraging that. As I read, I see a lot of parallels with the shooting sports, specifically regarding developing feel and using drills to build skill and motor memory.

[kfd147]

Okay,here goes,

First let me state what I was trying to learn:what is the best way to practice a motor skill(shooting,specifically)?As it turns out,when you start looking into it,most motor skill research is directed at two groups:children with developmental problems like Autism or Down's,and adults being rehabilitated after severe CNS injury.

Sports related research is heavily skewed towards fitness goals and team stuff.

Finally I found the work of Dr. Richard Schmidt.He did research on learning and retaining various simple motor skills.Typically He would take three groups and have them practice a simple task.Group one is the control group,group two would practice one way,and group three another.Each group was tested and brought back some time later(a couple of weeks)and retested.

What he discovered was not what he expected.

The way each group trained produced very different results.So different,that when it was checked and retested and other scientists repeated it,it needed a new theory to explain it.It has since been tested on a variety of skills,and from novice to experts.

Suppose you are going to practice three skills today,A,B and C.The commonsense method is to practice all your repetitions of A,then all of B,then all of C.This is called Blocked practice.

On the other hand,suppose that you interleaved the three tasks so that a given task was never repeated twice in a row.For example,the practice order might look thus:A,C,B,C,B,A,B,C,A....this is called Random practice.

What was found was that Blocked practice improved skill execution markedly better during practice than did Random practice.The surprise came when the retention tests were given.Random practice subjects show far better retention of the skill.

The theory is that Random practice forces you to retrieve the skill,IOW,to re-solve the problem.By not not drilling the same task repeatedly,your nervous system "forgets" the solution,and has to generate it anew.For example,if you are learning the multiplication tables,once you have solved 8X4,repeating it is not going to force you to learn.

Blocked practice improves performance during practice.Random practice improves the ability to execute on demand.Of course,in a match we only get one chance to do it right,hence the value of random practice.

There's more ...comments,questions?

Hugh

Thanks

Jason

[kp110477]

This is a great topic and I've been looking for this information for a while.

I think I naturally started with the random/variable practice due to my musical background. I was a concert brass player in HS and College and I noticed that the guys that could play one song EXTREMELY well couldn't play any other song well at all. Guys that could run their scales faster than anyone else fumbled notes in songs. So, I started each practice by choosing a random piece of music (one that I had never seen or heard before) and playing through it at the beginning of my practice session (aka sight reading, at the direction of my instructor). I never went back and practiced any part of it, never stopped in the middle of the song, never rehearsed anything. In the beginning I butchered most parts pretty bad. By the end I could look at nearly any piece of music I put my hands on and just play. I was rewarded by my accomplishments at the local, state, and national levels, and have had the opportunity to play across the entire country. Therefore, I can confirm the results of random/variable and will be even more diligent about applying it to my shooting ability. This type of practice will wear on one's patience and frustrate them to no end. However, the results (which is what we're after in the first place) will undoubtedly be monumental compared to Blocked/Concentrated practice.

Thank you very much for this post!

Steve

[kevinj308]

Thanks to you guys who brought this thread back up. After reading this for the first time it seems to me that practice should resemble a match. And just like in a match if you find that there's one area that needs work then pause and work on it.

Now if I could just shoot a match every day that'd be great

Thanks again to all the contributors, especially you Hugh.

Kevin

[hugh]

Thanks for the kind words.

Here are some terms to Google:

Contextual Interference

Variability of Practice

Knowledge of Results

Structure of Variable Practice

Serial Practice

Blocked Practice

Random practice

Dr. Richard Schmidt

Schema Theory

[Mr Unnatural]

Hi Hugh

interesting stuff, I have known the concept for some years, thanks for refreshing my mind on this subject. For those who are interested in reading more look on www.avaxhome.ws for ebooks on motor learning, there are lots of them. You can get an idea of the book and then buy them offcourse.

regards

Rick