Describe the types of practice, guidance and feedback and select the most appropriate for a given skill and learner

What this dot point is asking

SEAB wants you to describe the types of practice, guidance and feedback and choose the right ones for a given skill and learner. The central idea is that how you practise matters as much as how much: the method must suit the skill's classification and the learner's stage to develop skill efficiently and safely.

The answer

Types of practice

Practice methods come in pairs, each suited to particular skills and learners.

• Massed practice is continuous, with little rest. It grooves simple, closed skills quickly and suits fit, experienced, motivated performers.
• Distributed practice has rest or other activities between attempts. It suits beginners and complex or tiring skills, because the breaks aid recovery and learning.
• Fixed practice repeats a skill in the same way each time. It suits closed skills performed in a stable environment (a free throw).
• Variable practice rehearses a skill in different situations. It suits open skills that must adapt to a changing environment (passing in a game).
• Whole practice rehearses the skill in one piece. It suits simple skills, or skills that cannot be split (a cartwheel).
• Part practice breaks the skill into parts learned separately. It suits complex skills that can be divided (a swimming stroke).

Types of guidance

Guidance is how a coach conveys what to do.

• Visual guidance: showing the skill (a demonstration or video). Good for beginners forming a mental picture.
• Verbal guidance: telling or explaining. Better for more advanced performers who can interpret detail.
• Manual and mechanical guidance: physically supporting or using equipment (holding a gymnast, using a float). Builds confidence and safety for beginners or risky skills.

Types of feedback

Feedback is information about the result, used to improve.

• Intrinsic feedback comes from within, from how the movement felt (the kinaesthetic sense). Experts rely on it.
• Extrinsic feedback comes from outside, from a coach, teammate, video or the result. Beginners rely on it because they cannot yet feel what is right.
• Feedback can also be positive (what went well, motivating) or negative (what to correct), and knowledge of results (the outcome) or knowledge of performance (the quality of the movement).

Examples in context

Example 1. Teaching a beginner the front crawl. The coach uses part practice (legs, then arms, then breathing), distributed over short efforts with rest, with visual demonstrations and a float for manual support. Frequent positive extrinsic feedback guides the beginner, who cannot yet feel the correct stroke.

Example 2. Sharpening an expert sprinter's start. The coach uses massed, fixed practice of the start, verbal guidance on fine detail, and lets the athlete use intrinsic feedback to feel the drive. This suits a closed skill and an autonomous performer, the opposite end of every choice from the beginner above.

Try this

• Cue. State whether massed or distributed practice suits a beginner learning a complex skill, and why. (Distributed practice, because the rest between attempts aids recovery and learning and avoids fatigue.)

• Cue. Match each to a learner: visual guidance, verbal guidance. (Visual guidance suits beginners forming a mental picture; verbal guidance suits more advanced performers who can interpret detail.)

• Cue. Explain why an expert can use intrinsic feedback but a beginner cannot. (The expert has developed the kinaesthetic sense to feel whether a movement is correct; the beginner has not, so they rely on extrinsic feedback from the coach.)