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Learning to Optimize Movement: Harnessing the Power of the Athlete-Environment Relationship
How do we go from proficiency to mastery in sports? From average to elite. From having a “lot of moving parts” to being economical and efficient in our movements. From feeling rushed and pressured to slowing time down and acting like you knew what was going to happen all along. From deciding to take the best option available to moving to shape and change the options afforded to us. From building easily disrupted and broken skills to adaptable and even anti-fragile ones, getting stronger through being challenged. Explore the evidence-based principles for learning and coaching optimal movement in the follow-up to the best-selling book on skill acquisition, How We Learn to A Revolution in the Way We Coach & Practice Sports Skills.
- GenresSports
337 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 10, 2022
39 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 24, 2023
If you enjoyed Rob's first book (I certainly did), you will enjoy this as well. Great read and super insightful, informative for coaches. I do think the beginning parts of the book on Tau was not useful for me or my practice, but through the rest of the book, there are some amazing tidbits:
(101) “We must help our athletes stay the course and trust in the process during slumps. To achieve this, I use some practice activities designed to have a far, external focus. For example, I might place a piece of tape on a screen in front of the batter and ask them whether the ball went over or under the tape line. Or I might ask them to say how the fielders are positioned while they are waiting for the ball to be pitched.”
(149) Skill is “the ability to use information from the environment to find and execute a movement solution to realize an affordance that will achieve one’s intention”
(156) Aquabag training: “I am challenging them to meet the conditions of effective rotation, not trying to get them to develop their “swing technique”. I am trying to increase the number of affordances available to them when they attempt the skill of hitting”
(203) Affordances do not just tell us about opportunities for action. Here and now, in the present- they also have a past and a future. In any situation, the opportunities are shaped by our socio-cultural conventions-as a society at large, and within the context of the environment a particular coach creates. For example, an offensive-minded coach creates an environment where space affords a defensive player to jump into support an attack on another team’s goal, while another more defensive oriented coach may not.”
(204) Skilled intentionality is “deciding slow”, keeping multiple opportunities available. There is no rush to act so it feels like we have more time.”
Worth the time!
(101) “We must help our athletes stay the course and trust in the process during slumps. To achieve this, I use some practice activities designed to have a far, external focus. For example, I might place a piece of tape on a screen in front of the batter and ask them whether the ball went over or under the tape line. Or I might ask them to say how the fielders are positioned while they are waiting for the ball to be pitched.”
(149) Skill is “the ability to use information from the environment to find and execute a movement solution to realize an affordance that will achieve one’s intention”
(156) Aquabag training: “I am challenging them to meet the conditions of effective rotation, not trying to get them to develop their “swing technique”. I am trying to increase the number of affordances available to them when they attempt the skill of hitting”
(203) Affordances do not just tell us about opportunities for action. Here and now, in the present- they also have a past and a future. In any situation, the opportunities are shaped by our socio-cultural conventions-as a society at large, and within the context of the environment a particular coach creates. For example, an offensive-minded coach creates an environment where space affords a defensive player to jump into support an attack on another team’s goal, while another more defensive oriented coach may not.”
(204) Skilled intentionality is “deciding slow”, keeping multiple opportunities available. There is no rush to act so it feels like we have more time.”
Worth the time!
August 14, 2023
Brilliant book!
Really helpful and eye-opening book. It helps change our perspective on things we see in everyday athletes' life. Simple things that make a lot of sense and as a practitioner (WTA Tour tennis coach) I know we sometimes asked ourselves why something worked and other things didn't, and books are clarification for many of the cases. Structurizing nicely knowledge and helped to put attention in the right direction! Thank you!
Really helpful and eye-opening book. It helps change our perspective on things we see in everyday athletes' life. Simple things that make a lot of sense and as a practitioner (WTA Tour tennis coach) I know we sometimes asked ourselves why something worked and other things didn't, and books are clarification for many of the cases. Structurizing nicely knowledge and helped to put attention in the right direction! Thank you!
April 15, 2023
There is some really good stuff in here for folks interested in ecological dynamics. It is a bit too jargony in some chapters which will probably turn off a lot of coaches, however, there are some good practical implications for practice design throughout the book.
I will have to re-read when I can invest a bit more brain energy.
I will have to re-read when I can invest a bit more brain energy.
December 22, 2022
Rob sharing golden tidbits
Everyone interested in skill development should read this book and the previous book “How we Learn to Move” this book is an exceptional look at the ways we can optimize skill development learning for athletes, novice and expert alike.
Thanks Rob!
Everyone interested in skill development should read this book and the previous book “How we Learn to Move” this book is an exceptional look at the ways we can optimize skill development learning for athletes, novice and expert alike.
Thanks Rob!
April 17, 2024
Fantastic follow up to How We Learn to Move that delves deeper into the realm of motor learning and skill development.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews