Presented at the 2017 Rugby Innovation Summit in Twickenham Stadium. The presentation discussed core tenets of motor learning and skill acquisition.

1. Nick Winkelman, PhD | Head of Athletic Performance & Science, IRFU
Skill AcquisitionPractical Considerations for Coaches

2. Performance

3. Performance
temporary changes in motor behavior or
knowledge that can be observed & measured
during or immediately after Practice
SoderstroM & Bjork, 2015
= Practice

4. Learning

5. Learning
relatively permanent changes in Motor
behavior or knowledge that supports long-
term retention and transfer to competition
SoderstroM & Bjork, 2015
= Competition

6. Pay
Attention

7. “The mechanism by which our brain registers information is what
we call attention” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“You dispose of a limited budget of attention that you can
allocate to activities, and if you try to go beyond your budget,
you will fail” ~ Daniel Kahneman

8. Attention Applied to coaching
Adapted from Magill, R. (2011) Motor Learning and Control –
Concepts and Applications 9th edition

9. Making our Message memorable
Personal Novel Less = More

10. Coach As an
Instructor

11. Attentional Focus
The conscious effort of an individual to focus
their attention through explicit thoughts and
feelings in an effort to execute a task with
superior performance
= Cueing

12. Internal Focus
Primary focus on the body (e.g., muscle) and
associated movement process (e.g., hip extension)
= Body Focus

13. External Focus
Primary focus on movement outcome (e.g., jump
high) and associated affect on the environment
(e.g., push the ground away)
= Outcome Focus

14. External Focus
Explode Off The Ground
Internal Focus
Explode Through Your Hips
External Focus
Catch Ball at Highest
Point
Internal Focus
Extend your arms as high
as you can
Wulf, 2013

15. Internal cues constrain the
motor system by asking the
person to focus on a Simple
part at the expense of the
complex whole. .
External cues Direct attention
towards relevant movement
features, allowing the body
to self-organize a preferred
movement solution.
Wulf, 2013

16. DLPFC
PMC
SMC
M1
Novice Expert
01: Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC)
02: Premotor Cortex (PMC)
03: Supplementary Motor Cortex (SMC)
04: Primary Motor Cortex (M1)
“Focus On The Movement”Song, 2009 | Beilock, 2010

17. The Learning Brain of a Novice looks very
similar to the Choking Brain of an Expert –
the key – minimizing conscious focus on
“movement steps” during skill execution
Consider how shifting your players
focus outward as opposed to inward
could support learning & mental
Robustness under pressure

18. External Focus cues have been shown to
Protect Against choking & encourage
an expert-like physiological state.

19. Coach As A
Facilitator

20. 20© 2014 Athletes’ Performance, Inc.
Facilitating | Session Level | Units

21. Skill1Skill2Skill3
S 1
S 1
S 1
S 1
S 2
S 2
S 2
S 2
S 3
S 3
S 3
S 3
BLOCKED Serial Random

22. A progressive increase in
contextual interference from
blocked to random has been
shown to be superior to
blocked or random only.
Porter et al., 2010

23. Porter et al., 2010
The Performance your players
are prepared to deliver lives
in the Context of the
practice they experience

24. 24
DLPFC
PMC
SMC
M1
Blocked Random
01: Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
02: Premotor Cortex
03: Medial Temporal Lobe
04: Primary Motor Cortex (M1)
05: Supplementary Motor Cortex
06: Basal Ganglia
07: Cerebellum
Session Design and Skill Learning
MTL
Basal
Ganglia
Cerebellum
Explicit
(Knowing)
Implicit
(Doing)
Lage et al., 2015

25. Skill Retrieval Drives learning. To strengthen
retrieval we must first forget. Skill spacing &
variability creates Desirable difficulty.

26. spacing out short & frequent bursts of
practice is key When trying to learn or
improve upon a given motor skill.

27. 27© 2014 Athletes’ Performance, Inc.
Facilitating | Drill Level | Units

28. Self-Organization (Constraint-Based) Model
Player
Task/SkillEnvironment
Perception
Action
Coordination
Movement

29. 29
PLAYER (BODY) CONSTRAINTS
Position
Power
Pattern
Athletes ability to attain proper
stability and mobility relative to
the movements being performed
Athletes ability to express the
appropriate strength qualities
relative to the movements being
performed
Athletes ability to coordinate the
limbs of the body relative to task
and environment constraints

30. 30
TASK (SKILL) CONSTRAINTS
Spatial
Temporal
Rules/
Equipment
Manipulate the amount of space the
movement can be performed in (e.g.
small sided games)
Manipulate the amount of time the
movement can be performed in (e.g.
number of players or racing)
Change the rules to constrain
choices and/or introduce equipment
to constrain the movement options

31. Take Home

32. 01 Say the most with the least
01 Use Language that is memorable and Interesting
01 Use external cues to optimize coordination & learning
02 The right level of session variability encourages deeper learning
02 Drills can be designed to constrain errors so a new pattern can emerge

33. THANK YOU
Nick.winkelman@IRFU.ie | @NickWinkelman