Lesson video

Hello there and welcome to this lesson on massed, distributed, fixed and variable practise from the sports psychology: skill and ability unit.

My name is Mr. Broomes and as I said, welcome to the lesson.

This one's particularly good for those of you who are interested or maybe already involved in coaching sports.

By the end of today's lesson you should be able to identify how different practise structures can be used effectively in different situations.

And here are our keywords for today's session.

There are five keywords in the lesson: practise, massed practise, distributed practise, fixed practise, and variable practise.

These are all words you might already recognise from the lesson title and next to them are their definitions.

As you can see, the lesson itself is divided into two parts and our first section is called: Using massed and distributed practise effectively.

Now, I hope this isn't a surprise to you, but to improve how well we perform skills we must practise.

There are surely no skills that you can perform that you've managed to improve without practising them.

Now a coach who wants to improve somebody's skills should plan the practise session according to the needs of the learner and the requirements of the skill.

And this is something you're going to be able to talk about in a lot more detail at the end of today's lesson.

Now there are different structures a coach might use to ensure the practise session is as effective as it can be.

Let's take this example.

I want you to imagine that this is a 30 minute practise session focused on improving backhand technique.

We can see the coach using some manual guidance there to help the learner improve their backhand.

Here is a timeline of the session.

We have along the bottom of our timeline naught to 30 minutes 'cause it's a 30 minute practise session, remember? And here is the practise taking place during those 30 minutes.

As you can see, we have a big block of practise there and something you should notice is there were no breaks.

It was 30 minutes spent entirely practising without any break.

Here we have another picture, but it's the same skill.

We're learning backhand technique.

And let's compare the previous timeline to a different session.

There we have again, naught to 30 minutes along the bottom, it's the same duration for the practise session.

But hopefully what you'll notice here is that the practise is divided into three blocks and in between each block there is a break.

Very different practise session structure than on the previous slide.

So the 30 minutes of practise in this session have been interspersed with rest intervals or breaks.

Here are our two timelines again.

The top timeline, if we remember, didn't have any breaks.

It was 30 minutes of practise without stopping.

And practise without any rest or any breaks is called massed practise.

The second of our timelines, if we remember, showed two breaks, and practise with rest periods is called distributed practise.

Lots of our keywords coming through in that slide there.

Here's a quick check for understanding based on what we've learned so far.

So which of these shows a massed practise session? Is it A, B or C? Yes, well done if you said A.

what we have there is a 30 minute practise session.

There are no breaks at all and hopefully you remember that massed practise means no breaks.

Whereas timeline B shows quite a considerable break in the middle of two blocks of practise.

And timeline C, we have those two small breaks in between three blocks of practise.

But the fact that there is a break in B and C means it couldn't be massed practise, it must be distributed practise.

Alex has a question.

He's wondering why a coach might use a massed practise structure.

Now this is something you might like to pause the video here and have a think how you would reply to Alex's question.

However, here are some reasons why massed practise structure might be used by a coach.

They might use it because no breaks means more time to practise.

You might think that the time you have is so valuable that using it to have a break or a rest period would be a waste of time.

Massed practise is great when you want to practise a closed skill repetitively.

So here we have a golfer on the driving range practising their golf swing.

Now when golfers go to the driving range, generally they will hit a ball, after ball, after ball, over and over without needing any breaks.

It's also good when you want to practise a basic skill which doesn't require much concentration.

Why is that? Well, when skills require lots of concentration, they can get quite tiring and you might need a break to recover.

But with basic skills that don't require much concentration, perhaps you can manage to practise for the whole amount of time available.

And it's also great if the learner or the group of learners can cope and they don't get tired or lose motivation despite the fact that there aren't any breaks.

Now Jacob has a similar question to Alex but he's asking why a coach might use distributed practise structure.

Again, perhaps you want to pause the video here and think how you would reply to Jacob.

And as a quick hint, the previous slide will really help you even though that was about massed practise to perhaps consider why distributed practise might be suitable.

So here are some of the reasons why distributed practise is often used.

While the break allows for feedback from the coach or perhaps an opportunity for the the learner to perform some mental rehearsal.

Distributed practise is good for practising complex skills which can get tiring, so it might be that you need the break in between turns of trying to practise the complex skill.

Distributed practise, as we know, gives us breaks and breaks allow for recovery time.

So it might be that the athletes or the learners need some time to rest and recover and get a drink of water or some quick snack.

Distributed practise structure is also really good for beginners because beginners might get bored quite quickly.

If we think back to that backhand tennis practise that we talked about earlier, which was 30 minutes long as a massed practise structure, 30 minutes for a beginner is probably going to be a little bit too long before they get bored and perhaps even a little bit too long before they get too tired to practise effectively.

Here's a check for your understanding then.

Which of these is not, a note, it does say not, a factor that would persuade a coach to use distributed practise.

Is it A, that the learner is unfit and will benefit from breaks? Is it B, the coach needs opportunities to give feedback? Is it C, that the coach wants to fit in as much practise time as possible? Or is it D, that the skill is very complex and will be mentally tiring? Okay, so remember we were looking for something which is not a factor that would persuade a coach to use distributed practise and well done If you recognised that C, the coach wants to fit in as much practise time as possible is not a reason to use distributed practise.

This coach in our example here wants to fit in as much practise time as possible and so break times, which you get in distributed practise, are not going to help his goal.

They are actually going to take away some of that time instead.

Second, check for understanding.

Is this statement true or false? Distributed practise would suit a gymnast who is learning how to tumble.

Well done if you said that that is true.

A gymnast would benefit from having a distributed practise structure when they're learning how to tumble.

And why is that? Well tumbling is a complex skill and it's intense and tiring.

The gymnasts will benefit from breaks to recover and possibly receive feedback from one of their coaches or to be able to mentally rehearse before their next practise attempt.

Tumbling, as we said, is intense and tiring.

So using a massed practise structure and just tumbling and then getting up again and tumbling again immediately afterwards without any breaks would be exhausting for that gymnast and they will really benefit from the opportunity to have some breaks.

Here's a practise task on using massed and distributed practise effectively.

Here we have a scene from a cricket game and we're focused on the batter.

So the batter in this image is an experience batter but has only recently decided to learn to bowl for the team as well.

First question then, how do you think this will impact how the coach structures their training sessions based on the fact that they are experienced in one skill but a beginner in a different skill? I would like you to make one suggestion for how the coach would structure the batter's batting practise and one for how they would structure the bowling practise considering what you've learned already about massed and distributed practise and make sure that you justify your answer.

So pause the video here, write down your answers and I'll see you in a moment with some suggested answers.

Okay, so how would the coach structure this batter's batting practise? Well ideally they would use a massed practise structure.

And why is that? So the batter is experience, we know that, and so they'll probably just prefer to have plenty of time to practise, not to keep having to stop and start.

The batter will be able to give themselves feedback, that's a benefit of their experience.

They can tell themselves whether the shots that they're playing are good ones and whether they're using the correct technique because they've been experienced in batting for so long.

And because of their experience, they should also be fit enough to bat for a long time without any need for a break.

Finally, batting is a mostly closed skill for those of you who understand open and closed skills, and it suits repetitive practise.

How will it differ when it comes to bowling? Because we know that this person is an experienced batter but a beginner when it comes to bowling and so the coach would ideally use distributed practise here.

So we've got here haven't we, an example of one skill being coached in one way or practised in one way and a different skill being practised in a different way.

Why would that be? Well, because they're at the beginner stage, distributed practise will allow the coach to share lots of feedback.

They might have a few attempts at bowling and then have a short break while the coach tells 'em how well they've been performing.

Now bowling repeatedly can be very tiring, even for experienced players and breaks will be needed to recover.

And bowling is also a complex skill that can be mentally as well as physically demanding.

Breaks will help to keep motivation levels up and of course they'll give it an opportunity to recover from that physically demanding skill as well.

Well done if your answer recognised that this cricket player will benefit from different practise structures with different types of skill because of their experience in both.

That brings us onto the second part of today's lesson and this one is titled: Using fixed and variable practise effectively.

So massed and distributed are not the only practise structures a coach can choose between and we might choose the practise structure according to whether a skill is open or closed.

Now Andeep's got a question for you.

Can you recall the difference between open and closed skills? And if this is something you are not familiar with, you would probably benefit from going to watch a lesson on classification of skills on Continuer before continuing with this part of our lesson on fixed and variable practise, perhaps pause the video here if you are familiar with them and maybe jot down some of the differences between open and closed skills.

Okay, so with open skills and closed skills, we are concerned with environmental factors.

Now, environmental factors might include other people or the weather.

And generally, if a skill is open it means that they're performed differently every time and they're heavily influenced by those environmental factors.

Whereas closed skills are not influenced by environmental factors and indeed they're performed in the same way every time.

Let's just have a recap then with this check for understanding.

Which of the following skills are classified at the open end of the environmental continuum.

Which of these skills are open skills? Well done If you recognise that a lay-up in basketball and passing in water polo are indeed open skills.

Why is that? Well, a lay-up in basketball is affected by all sorts of people, in particular the opposition who are trying to stop you from scoring.

And in passing in water polo, it's very similar in that the opposition will probably be trying to take the ball from you or intercept your pass and your teammates will determine how far you have to throw the ball or where you have to throw the ball based on where they're positioned in the pool.

And so environmental factors having a heavy influence on those two skills.

Whereas javelin and tennis serves are closed skills because they are generally performed in exactly the same way every time.

Sam has a question for you and their question is: How might practise be different for open skills compared to closed skills? Again, with these questions, you might want to pause the video and think how you would answer Sam's question before I reveal some more information.

So the nature of closed skills, the fact that they are performed in the same way every time, means that they only need to be practised in one way and that way is to repeatedly practise it in the same environment.

No variation is required and this is called fixed practise.

Here's an example of fixed practise.

We have a closed skill of archery and an archer will practise with the same target, the same distance, and the same equipment over and over again.

There is no need for them to vary what they're doing because the skill is the same every time.

Is this true or false? Practising a routine from a diving board should use a fixed structure of practise.

The answer was true.

So well done if you recognise that a diving board routine should use a fixed practise of structure, but why is that? Well, diving routines are closed skills.

This is really important.

Closed skills and fixed practise go hand in hand.

The skill of diving doesn't vary.

They are the same every time.

This means there is no need to vary how it is practised and using a fixed structure to repeat it over and over is best.

There's no need to go to a higher diving board to practise it or to jump into something other than the swimming pool.

It's the same every time and it should just be practised as such, fixed practise.

Let's go back to Sam and they asked the question, how might practise be different for open skills compared to closed skills? So how about open skills? Well, they're performed in a variety of different ways, aren't they? If you pass in football, it might be a long pass, a short pass, it might be in windy conditions.

All sorts of different environmental factors influence the way you pass the ball in football and the practise of open skills should reflect this.

The skill should be practised in different situations and different positions, just like when they are performed in competition, and this is called variable practise.

Here's an example of variable practise.

So if you are learning to dribble in football, well then the practise should include varied speeds, varied space, varied opposition, varied situations, varied positions on the pitch and varied tasks.

Every time you dribble in football in the game itself, it will be very different from the last time you dribbled and so your training or your practise should reflect that and you can see that lots of things can be varied to ensure that's achieved.

Okay, so a quick check for your understanding so far.

Which of these three skills would suit variable practise? Is it A, kayaking? Is it B, playing a shot during a badminton rally? And I just want to be clear that that's not the serve, it's a badminton rally.

Or C, a rugby tackle? Well done if you recognise that actually two of those skills would be suitable for variable practise.

First of all, the badminton rally because if you've ever played badminton or watched racket sports, you'll know that during a rally you might take your next shot at a completely different part of the court than the previous one.

You might take it from the back and then need to move to the front to take your next shot.

You might play on the forehand side, the backhand side, you might play overhead.

And so certainly when we're practising our badminton shots, variable practise will be required.

The same goes for rugby tackling.

Rugby tackling happens in lots of different ways.

Here we can see that two of the players in the blue jerseys are tackling the player at the same time.

Occasionally that might happen in a game, but at other times, there might be just one person available to tackle.

You're tackling people of different sizes and different shapes, at different speeds and different parts of the pitch.

And so again, variable practise will be needed for practising rugby tackling.

Well done if you spotted those.

And of course A, the kayaking, much more closed skill, much more suitable to fixed practise.

Okay, here's a practise task on using fixed and variable practise, and I'd like you to complete this table.

So I've made a list there for you of skills and I'd like you to tell me whether the skill is open or closed, and secondly, whether fixed or variable practise would be best for teaching that skill.

Pause a video here and complete the table and I'll be back with you in a second with some answers.

Right, here's our table again and here are the answers.

So is it badminton serve open or closed? Well, it's a closed skill and would benefit from fixed practise because badminton serves take place in the same part of the court and in the same way.

There are different types of serve and so you may have thought variable, but generally you would use a fixed type of practise for the badminton serve.

Whereas the badminton smash, this is a shot that can be played in all parts of the court.

It might be that the shuttle comes at you at a certain height that's different from the previous time you had to smash it, and so variable practise will be required here.

Dance routines are closed in nature and therefore fixed practise will suit a dance routine.

They will practise the same thing over and over.

A table tennis top spin drive, that's an open skill.

It all depends on the return from your opponent as to how you play that top spin drive.

And so it's an open skill and therefore requires variable practise.

Volleyball setting is similar in that it could happen in lots of different ways with the ball coming at you at different speeds and at different heights and at different parts of the court, and so variable practise will be needed.

Handstands in gymnastics, that's a closed skill.

There's one way to perform it and therefore you can use fixed practise.

Finally, netball shooting, netball shooting happens in lots of different parts of the circle in netball.

Could be up against all sorts of different types of opposition and so variable practise will be needed to practise that skill.

Well done if you recognised the relationship there between closed skills and fixed practise and open skills with variable practise.

That brings us onto our summary for today's lesson.

Let's remember that skills must be practised if they are to be acquired and maintained and improved.

That a coach may choose to use massed or distributed practise structures depending on numerous factors including the experience and the motivation of the athletes.

That massed practise does not include breaks whereas distributed practise does.

And that coaches may also use fixed practise in which the skill is practised in a stable and unchanging environment or variable practise in which the skill is practised in a variety of settings and conditions.

Well done.

Hope you enjoyed that lesson.

Hope you learned a lot about how practise might be structured.

And if you are involved in coaching, this is something that you maybe consider next time and really pay attention to who you are teaching, what their experience level is, how motivated they are, and what the skill would suit.

Good luck if that applies to you.