Remember to celebrate your students’ victories: “Wow! You must have practiced a lot this week. That was an awesome run! How did it feel?”
In addition, new muscle memory does not necessarily replace what was already there. If you’re not careful (or you don’t help the student solidify their successes), you might see old movement patterns creep back in. Going back to the driving example, have you ever driven to one location when you meant to go somewhere else? Maybe you ended up at your child’s school when you actually meant to drive to the grocery store? You should still give feedback in the
autonomous stage, but remember to celebrate your students’ victories: “Wow! You must have practiced a lot this week. Tat was an awesome run! How did it feel?”
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fairly automatic. No longer must students consciously think about each move; they can now integrate and react quickly. Students seem to just flow down the slopes. Although this stage sounds ideal, it still has some potential pitfalls. Once muscle memory has been established, it is very difficult to “unlearn,” so be sure to teach the correct movement.
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Cognitive Stage: What do I do?
SEE AND TEACH TO THE STAGE OF MOTOR LEARNING Learning a new movement pattern can be hard and frustrating for both students and instructors. If you can identify where in the motor learning process your students are – cognitive, associative, or autonomous – you can modify your teaching approach accordingly to improve the ski or ride experience and help students get better faster and with less effort. If you don’t see the results you’d hoped
for in your students’ skiing or snowboarding, don’t get frustrated. Instead, take a breath and ask yourself these questions:
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Q Lots of questions Q Frequent errors Q 0RYHPHQWV DUH VORZ FDOFXODWHG DQG LQHɝFLHQW Q Muscle tension exists throughout the body
Associative Stage: How do I do it?
Q Less questioning, more experimenting Q Less error, but performance is still inconsistent Q 0RYHPHQWV DUH PRUH HɝFLHQW Q Less tension
Autonomous Stage: Can I do it every time?
Q Movements become smoother, more accurate Q More consistent performance Q Less conscious thought, more automatic
80 | 32 DEGREES • FALL 2016
Q“Do they really have a clear picture of what I want them to do?”
Q“Did I find the right motivation for making the change?”
Q“Did they have time to play around with it and gain ownership?”
Q“Do they trust me enough to believe the change will be worth the effort?”
With some good coaching from you, your students will be tipping and ripping in no time!
.ULVWHQ 4XLQQ teaches at Boston Mills/ Brandywine in Ohio, as well as at Keystone, Colorado. She is a Level III alpine instructor and has been teaching since 2009.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Huber. J. 2013. “Understanding Motor Learn Stages Improves Skill Instruction.” Retrieved from Human Kinetics:
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/under- standing-motor-learning-stages-improves-skill-instruction O’Sullivan. S., T. Schmitz, and G. Fulk. 2014. Physical Rehabili- tation. F.A. Davis Company.
Zfreelance. April 23, 2012. Fitts and Posner Stages of Motor Learning. Accessed at:
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=lfIyNUqiXQY
Watch this on-hill clinic discussion on motor learning from Interski 2011 in St. Anton, Austria:
tiny.cc/p0dtey
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Q Feedback should be more extrinsic, immediate Q Clear, concise explanations Q Accurate demos Q Single focus/task Q Plenty of practice time
Q Feedback should be more intrinsic, less immediate Q Motivation Q Encouragement Q Plenty of practice time
Q Continue to monitor Q Encourage growth and development of skill through steeper terrain, variable conditions Q 5HfiQHPHQW
KRISTEN QUINN
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