Learning new skills: Trusting the process...

Learning is a change in behaviour or knowledge that comes from experience. In sport we have lots of experiences throughout our journey. All of those experiences create opportunities to explore new ways of doing things, new skills and new perspectives. All of these thinks help us to build knowledge, take action and behave in ways that allow us to build towards our goals.

Learning is lifelong process that begins within openness and curiosity.

The learning environment:

The environment we create to help people learn can be most effective when we establish processes for these 3 areas:

• Practice and feedback - opportunities to try things, give it a go and then have feedback from others or reflect to navigate your own feedback loop.

• Motivation - ensuring that there is a drive from the individual to do the skill or learn that particular process.

• Errors and mistakes are ok - knowing that it's safe to make mistakes and that errors are a part of the process is so important to feel confident and curios as we navigate new things.

  
  

The learning process:

Acquisition

• This is the initial period of learning, during which information is obtained and a response is established.

• It’s when new information is presented, and we start to work on the basic skills we need to perform the task.

Retention

• This is where we transfer what we have learned to long term memory.

• Even if we do not use the knowledge regularly, our understanding of it is retained and not forgotten.

Recall

• This stage involves using the knowledge we have obtained when it is needed.

• E.g. performing a skill we have learned or remembering information from revision for a test.

The brain develops as we learn:

There are 2 key areas to bear in mind when we think about the brains role in the learning process:

• Neurons - every movement, thought and feeling we have is an electrical signal travelling through a chain of neurons. These create nerve circuits in the brain.

• Myelin - Think of it like the insulation on an electrical wire wrapping around bundles of neurons. It helps coordinate the different areas of the brain. But when it comes to developing skills, myelin helps nerve circuits fire more rapidly, strongly and efficiently, creating superhighways in the brain.

Deep purposeful practice:

It's easy to just go through the motions when learning new skills or training on a regular basis. The focus here is too ensure that all of our practice has a purpose. Purposeful practice relies on 4 steps...

1. Break learning down into small chunks.

2. Going slowly and appreciating that it will be a rocky road.

3. Backing up after mistakes and correcting yourself.

4. Practicing consistently.

Stop practicing for a length of time and the parts of your brain that help with skill development start to break down. That’s why we encourage gymnasts to:

• Do simpler versions of skills or drills if they are finding something difficult. This helps them to keep building confidence and maintain learning.

• Do the skill on a different level of apparatus e.g. utilise fast track or a low beam.

• Build skills back up from a lower level after time off to ensure the brain is comfortable with what we are doing.

This content has been developed as part of our #itsmyjourney project with Valleys Gymnastics Academy