Welcome back to my blog. This time we will be looking into Contextual Interference and how it has been used throughout my time as a player and how I have translated that into my coaching.
Contextual Interference is seen in a lot of ways. We can see a high level on CI when we have an open environment for coaching . For example, when we do random practice that include small sided games. We can see a low level of CI when we have a closed environement. For example, when we do blocked practice focusing on specific drills (skill).
Blocked practice (low C.I.) = better short term performance
Random practice (high C.I) – better long term learning
Taking back to our first year, we looked at this model by Williams & Hodges (2005). This gives a good insight to how CI works.
CI can look like ”adding some fog” and by that it could mean that adding something into a drill or practice of a skill, that makes it difficult for the athlete to do, so that they can improve the way that they are performing that skill.
For example, if I was doing a passing drill with my under 18s and I simply got them to pass with both hands to there partner, then that would be seen as having no fog at all. If I began to get them to pass whilst having a defender on them, then that would be little fog. But if I got them to pass to each other with a defender on each man, then that makes a lot of fog as it is game related.
C.I is about cognitive effort which is the mental work involved in selecting and executing decisions and actions (Lee, Swinnem and learial, 1997). So athletes are made to learn a skill under pressure to make the right decisions.
From the previous blog that I posted I looked into implicit coaching. Now I believe that doing CI through random practice will introduce this. A study suggests that random practice causes an implicit mode of learning due an increased load in working memory (Rendell, Masters, Farrow, & Morris, 2011). For example, in a situation of passing into the post man (Picture above). Both the reciever and passer are going to have to find out how they can get that ball where they want it to be. Therefore, without guidance they will be able to improve implicitly.
This is good use for my team as they have a high level of skill, so linking back to the ‘fog’ examples. If we refer to the skill level of our athletes when using CI then it will get the most out of them. However, if i was coaching young children who are fairly new to the sport then I would have to start of with blocked practice to help develop the skill that they are learning (Shea, Kohl & Indermill, 1990). This cant be too dependable though because it can lead to ”inflexible learning patterns” where they will start to rely on a lot of guidance. Then if they have improved that skill they can move onto adding some CI, but that needs to refer highly on there skill level (Porter & Magill, 2010). Then this leads to the players learning how to deliver the certain skills that they are learning in different situations that they tend to end up in.
To conclude this blog, I think that as a coach through the past lessons we have had on skill acquisituion it has opened my eyes on loads of different ways that I can coach. This has been really helpful for me. From reflecting on my own experience of CI I can see that caches used it a lot with me when helping me develop as a player. That is why I used the passing into the post example as I have realized that, that is exactly what was used with me. Without even knowing I have used it already when coaching. As for many of my sessions I have been on my own coaching without my assistant I have had to trust my players to go off and do some skill based drills on there own whilst I deal with other groups. I do believe that this is a great way to enhance performance with any athlete or team.
Reference List:
Lee, T. D., Swinnen , S. P., & Serrien, D. J. (2012). Cognitive Effort and Motor Learning. Quest, 328-344.
Porter, J. M., & Magill, R. A. (2010). Systematically Increasing Contextual Interference is Beneficial for LEarning Sport Skills. Journal of Sports Sciences, 1277-1285
Rendell, M. A., Masters , R., Farrow, D., & Morris, T. (2011). An Implicit Basis for the Retention Benefits of Random Practice. Journal of Motor Behavior, 1-13.
Shea, C. H., Kohl, R., & Indermill, C. (1990). Contextual Interference: Contributions of Practice, 145-157
Williams, M. & Hodges, N. (2005) Practice, instruction and skill acquisition in soccer: Challenging tradition. Journal of sports sciences, 637-650.
The Reflective Coach 