principles and practices of agility training
DESCRIPTION
Part of a much longer presentation on agility training. Some of the theory and the application for it.TRANSCRIPT
PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF AGILITY TRAINING
What do we know about agility training? Not a lot. Young, et al. (2001). Journal of Strength
and Conditioning Research serves to represent state of knowledge.
Agility Research, cont.
Young, et al. (2001). Studied 36 men with
some sprinting /change of direction athletic experience.
Subjects divided into speed training group, agility training group, control group.
Young, et al. (2001).
2 sessions per week for 6 weeks
Young, et al. (2001)
Results:Sprinting group got
better at sprintingAgility group got better
at change of direction tests
Little cross over between speed and agility training
Improving Agility is Difficult Factors that influence:
StrengthAccelerationMobilityReaction timeFundamental Skills
FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS
Fundamental Skills
Starting Stopping Shuffling Backpedaling Running Curves “Cutting”
Starting
Explosive first step Emphasized every time a forward step is
taken Acceleration!
Learning to Start
First step need to be explosive
Progression:Falling Starts, standingStanding StartsCrouching StartsSport-Specific Starts
(2 or 3-point stances) Which foot goes
back?
Stopping
“Get low” Chop the steps Best emphasized through drills that
emphasize starts and stops
Shuffling
Staying low to the ground (I.e. “Ready” position)
Staying on the balls of the feet “Push and step” Avoid crossing feet
HOW TO USE THIS INFORMATION?
Argument: Practice Variability vs. Practice Specificity Variability: practicing a number of different
tasks results in greater retention or transfer of performance than practicing only one task.
Specificity: maximal retention performance of a task is facilitated by practice conditions that mimic retention conditions (Maslovat, et al., 2004).
No point in talking about practice specificity...
The Bad News: Transfer of Skills... Transfer specificity: the larger the
number of shared elements, the greater the transfer (Rosenbaum, et al., 2001).
Transfer asymmetry: failure to transfer despite having similar elements
Transfer and Motor Learning Motor transfer is small (Schmidt & Lee,
1999)Similar tasks correlate very weakly leading
to small transfers unless the tasks are virtually identical
The amount of transfer depends upon the “similarity” of the tasks
What’s a “similarity?”Motor transfer not well understood today...
Transfer Example: Agility May Be Weakly Related to Speed...
Little & Williams, 2005 106 professional soccer players Tested on:
10m sprint (acceleration)Flying 20m sprint after 30m run-up
(maximum speed)Zig-zag run (agility):
○ 4 5-meter sections○ 100 degree turn at end of each section
Little & Williams (2005), results
Relationship R-SquaredAcceleration and maximum speed .388Acceleration and agility .119Maximum speed and agility .209
Implications for training and for testing...
The Challenge
If this is true, there are two problems: Improving one skill won’t lead to
improvements in all.The drills that have been covered only teach
the drills. They may not apply to real life. We don’t know a lot about agility
training, so we have to turn to exercise science to help us out.
Agility training is about learning motor skills...
Motor Learning is Challenging…
Motor Skill Classifications Based upon beginning and
ending: Discrete motor skill:
arbitrary beginning & ending (shuffle 5 yards)
Serial motor skill: a series of discrete motor skills (drills covered)
Continuous motor skill: beginning and ending points determined by performer (swimming)
Environmental stability continuum: Closed motor skill: fixed,
unchanging environmental conditions. The object or environment in each of these situations waits to be acted upon…
Open motor skill: temporally or spatially changing environment. Performer must act according to the action of the object or the characteristics of the environment.From MaGill (1993).
How Researchers Assess Motor Learning Practice
observations:Performance curvesKinematic data
Retention tests Transfer tests
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Pre-Test
Week4
Performance
Fitts & Posner’s Stages of Skill Acquisition Declarative (cognitive) stage: basic rules
of task are learned Associative stage: procedures of task
become more fluent Autonomous stage: procedures more
rapid, greater immunity from disruption from outside events (from Rosenbaum, et al., 2001).
What Happens as we Learn a Motor Skill? Changes in knowledge structure of skill Changes in error detection/correction Changes in how goal of skill is achieved Changes in coordination Changes in movement efficiency Changes in muscles used Changes in visual attention
From Magill (1993)
Schmidt’s Schema Theory of Motor Learning/Control
How learning transfers to performance:Schema: rule or set of rules that provide the
basis for a decisionGeneralized Motor Program (GMP): General
memory representation of the action to be controlled, controls a class of actions (like throwing)
Motor Response Schema: Specific rules for an action in a given situation
Motor Response Schema, Cont.
Recall schema: adds specific response instructions to GMP and initiates the execution of the intended action
Recognition schema: enables athlete to evaluate and correct
TEACHING MOTOR/AGILITY SKILLS
Teaching Skills
Modeling the skill Providing feedback Organizing practice
Teaching Agility Skills: Modeling
Modeling works best when:It is someone similar to the athletes or of
higher-status (I.e. elite or pro athlete)The skill is modeled correctly
(imitation)unless athletes get to view feedback as well
Skill is demonstrated frequently:○ Before practice○ During practice
Internal vs. External Focus and Feedback? Example: focusing on the motion of the
golf club (external) vs. focusing on the motion of the arms (internal)
External believed to be more effective for learning motor skills (Wulf, et al., 2002).
Internal focus may interfere with automatic processes used in executing the skill.
More Thoughts on Feedback Athletes won’t be perfect initially Avoid overanalyzing beginners Avoid overcorrecting beginners:
generally focus on 1-2 things each session that the athlete can correct
Focus on the most important things initially
Provide feedback (good and bad) early and often
Teaching Agility Skills: Whole vs. Part Whole vs. part depends upon the
complexity of the skill:Low complexity skillsHigh complexity skills
Common sense here...
Part Practice
Fractionization: practicing separate components of the whole skill (sprint drills)
Segmentation: practice parts, after first part has been mastered practice first part and second part together, etc.
Simplification: reducing the difficulty of the different parts of the skill
Types of Practice
Variable practice Blocked practice Random practice Serial practice
Variable Practice
Practice that provides a variety of experiences for performing a skill
In theory, should result in better retention and better novel performance - increases generalizability.
Variable Practice and Closed Skills Relevant stimuli (I.e. the skill) should be
held constant Non-relevant stimuli should be varied For agility, examples include use of a
ball, use of auditory stimuli, etc.
The Next Step
Fundamental skills eventually become great warm-up drills.
After they have been mastered, combine skills, for example:Backpedal + turn + sprintShuffle + turn + sprintDrills which combine skills
COMBINING SKILLS
Agility Pattern: Drill 1Starting/Stopping
1
23
Agility Pattern : Drill 2Starting/Stopping/Backpedaling
5 10 15 20BaselineStart
25
Forward Run Direction
Back Pedal Direction
Finish
Agility Pattern: Drill 3Starting/Stopping/Backpedaling
Start Finish
7-10 yards
5 yards
Agility Pattern: Drill 4Running Curves
Finish
Start
1
2
3
4
5
6
10 y
ards
5 yards
ADVANCED AGILITY DRILLS
Advanced Agility Drills
React to the coach, ball React to another athlete Sport-specific drills
Agility Pattern: Drill 8Start/Stop/Backpedal/React
Start
Shuffle/ Backpedal
Agility Pattern: Drill 9React
Defense: Shuffle Only
5 yards
Offense: Change Directions, Break Way
Blocked Practice
Variable practice not appropriate for beginners.
One skill is practiced repeatedly before moving on to practice another skill.
Random Practice
No specified order of occurrence for practicing several skills.
Serial Practice
Several skills are practiced in a specified and repeating order during each practice period.
Sample Practice Schedules
Type ofPractice
Time Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4
Blocked 5555
All starts All shuffles Allbackpedals
All zig zags
Serial 5555
StartShuffleBackpedalZig zag
StartShuffleBackpedalZig zag
StartShuffleBackpedalZig zag
StartShuffleBackpedalZig zag
Random 5555
StartShuffleBackpedalZig zag
ShuffleZig zagShuffleStart
Zig zagBackpedalStartShuffle
StartStartBackpedalShuffle
Types of Practice, Conclusions
Blocked practice most effective for short-term gains
Random practice most effective for long-term retention (Lee & Wishart, 2005)
Problem: Random practice may produce the impression among athletes that learning is not proceeding well and may produce the opposite impression with blocked practices.
Contextual Interference
A more difficult training/learning environment, although initially detrimental to acquisition, results in more retention and transfer (Maslovat, et al, 2004).
Contextual Interference, cont. Research on CI is good on lab situations
but mixed on real-world sport skills. Theory is that CI may be more beneficial
for individuals in higher levels of skill acquisition (Brady, F., 1998).
After extensive practice, individuals may be bored at which point high CI may be beneficial to learning
Implications for CI
There may be a progression to follow in the learning of motor skills...
Types of Practice, Conclusions cont. Beginners: Alternating blocked practice
with observation improves both performance and retention (Lee & Wishart, 2005).
Massed vs. Distributed Practice
Massed: rest:practice intervals of <1 Distributed: rest:practice intervals of >1
(I.e. more time spent resting) Distributed seems to result in better
retention (Shea, Shebilske, & Worchel, 1993).
Common sense for agility and speed training...
After All That: Agility Guidelines
From Twist and Benicky (1996)Need a fitness baseEnsure players
understand techniquesPerform drills in ready
positionKeep drills to 2-15
seconds initiallySimple to complex
Gradually add distance, # foot contacts, etc.
Add stimuli while keeping drills constant
Reactive drills Drills under fatigued
conditions (real life) Encourage failure to
challenge athletes
Applying the Guidelines Focus on fundamentals (start, stop, shuffle, etc.). Combine skills (I.e. patterned drills, blocked
practice with little CI) Transition into sport-specific movements Combine skills, sport-specific movements, and ball
handling (I.e. make them process more information) (I.e. variable practice with CI)
Can be done daily! When speed and technique suffers, end the drill!
ReferencesBrady, F. (1998). A theoretical and empirical review of the contextual interferenceeffect and the learning of motor skills. Quest, 50, 266-293.
Lee, T.D. & L.R. Wishart. (2005). Motor learning conundrums (and possible solutions).Quest, 57, 67-78.
Little, T. & A.G. Williams. (2005). Specificity of acceleration, maximum speed, andagility in professional soccer players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research,19(1), 76-78.
Magill, R.A. (1993). Motor Learning Concepts and Applications 4th Edition. Madison,WI: WCB Brown & Benchmark.
Maslovat, D., R. Chua, T.D. Lee, & I.M. Franks. (2004). Contextual interference: Singletask versus multi-task learning. Motor Control, 8, 213-233.
Rosenbaum, D.A., R.A. Carlson, & R.O. Gilmore. (2001). Acquisition of intellectualand perceptual-motor skills. Annual Reviews of Psychology, 52, 453-470.
Schmidt, R.A. & T.D. Lee. (1999). Motor Control and Learning A Behavioral Emphasis3rd Edition. Champaign, Il: Human Kinetics.
Shea, C.H., W.L. Shebilske, & S. Worchel. (1993). Motor Learning and Control.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Wulf, G., N. McConnel, M. Gartner, & A. Schwarz. (2002). Enhancing the learning ofsport skills through external-focus feedback. Journal of Motor Behavior, 34(2), 171-182.