The Learning Stages for “Mastery” in Swimming
Jim DeLapp BA, MA, MBs, DDS
Coaches are constantly challenged every day with new skill acquisition for their athletes. At times however, it seems more like a broken record (CD) repeating itself time and again. How many times have we advised our swimmer to streamline off the wall for example, and not more than 10 seconds later there is a repeat of the same mistake. Conceptually, it does not require a PhD to understand the concept of streamlining. Coaches and educators continually preach that each swimmer needs to hear the message repeatedly before any change can occur. It seems, at times, most of the responsibility keeps being deferred back to the coach to change some type of technique or behavior. In the past several years I have made a conscientious effort to place responsibility for new skill acquisition (streamlining e.g.) back to where it belongs … to the swimmer. I have had “better success” by having my swimmers “first” understand and repeat the four (4) stages of learning. These four stages apply in any aspect of our lives, not just swimming. The more you and your athletes understand and apply them, the faster the skill progression will be. (more…)
