Sports Science: Improving the Medley
Ben Cochrane: Sports Science- Task Four, Part 1:
My two skill-learning principals were Part Learning and Whole Learning.
Part Learning definition: A skill that is broken to small parts and taught so that perfection is reached for each part of a movement. E.g. For freestyle focusing on the arm movement only until an improvement is made.
Whole Learning Definition: A skill that is taught to its entirety. E.g. freestyle stroke being learnt as one movement. * I used these two skill-learning principals because I found that by combining both part and whole learning I was able to focus on the small movements and also the movement as a whole. Because I swim train 4 or 5 times a week, I was already at the autonomous stage for freestyle, backstroke, and breastroke so for these strokes I had very little to improve on. However I found that by breaking the movement down I was able to identify weaknesses in my technique and improve on them. An example of this is I focused on my breastroke kick. I found that by increasing the speed of my kick I would increase my stroke rate and also create greater forward thrust. By using part learning I was able to focus clearly on this. The aim of combining part and whole learning for the likes of the backstroke start was so I could work on small movements to perfect the whole skill so that when I used it in the time trial I would successfully perform a start that was both fast and efficient. By using whole learning I could ensure I was familiar with performing the movement and was able to work on things like force summation and being explosive. Also in terms of the medley involving many different movements, I could work on each movement individually and then combine it into a medley. * How and when I used these key learning principals: In the beginning of my training programme, I mostly focused on part learning to ensure that for each movement I was able to perform each part of it to a high level. Then as I improved to the
My two skill-learning principals were Part Learning and Whole Learning.
Part Learning definition: A skill that is broken to small parts and taught so that perfection is reached for each part of a movement. E.g. For freestyle focusing on the arm movement only until an improvement is made.
Whole Learning Definition: A skill that is taught to its entirety. E.g. freestyle stroke being learnt as one movement. * I used these two skill-learning principals because I found that by combining both part and whole learning I was able to focus on the small movements and also the movement as a whole. Because I swim train 4 or 5 times a week, I was already at the autonomous stage for freestyle, backstroke, and breastroke so for these strokes I had very little to improve on. However I found that by breaking the movement down I was able to identify weaknesses in my technique and improve on them. An example of this is I focused on my breastroke kick. I found that by increasing the speed of my kick I would increase my stroke rate and also create greater forward thrust. By using part learning I was able to focus clearly on this. The aim of combining part and whole learning for the likes of the backstroke start was so I could work on small movements to perfect the whole skill so that when I used it in the time trial I would successfully perform a start that was both fast and efficient. By using whole learning I could ensure I was familiar with performing the movement and was able to work on things like force summation and being explosive. Also in terms of the medley involving many different movements, I could work on each movement individually and then combine it into a medley. * How and when I used these key learning principals: In the beginning of my training programme, I mostly focused on part learning to ensure that for each movement I was able to perform each part of it to a high level. Then as I improved to the