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This GIF is a coach yelling at his players during a basketball game. Coaching is a form of augmented feedback.

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Ever since I began playing organized sports in 5th grade, I have had coaches whose coaching styles differed. Coaching is a form of augmented feedback: "information provided about the task that is supplemental to, or augments inherent feedback". One of my first coaches was one of my best friend's moms who taught me the basics of travel (club) basketball. Since it was at such a low level of basketball, there wasn't super intense coaching, just a bunch of 5th graders having fun playing basketball together. In this case, augmented feedback was essential for skill acquisition to make sure we learned the skills necessary to play basketball.

It wasn't until 8th grade basketball when things started getting more serious with coaching. I got moved up to JV in 8th grade and had a new coach who was pretty intimidating since he yelled all the time. Looking back at my JV experience, I feel that the augmented feedback could've hindered my skill learning because of the repeated yelling after my performance in each drill. In class, we learned about how augmented feedback can hinder learning in a few ways: presented concurrently with performance, presented after every practice trial, and erroneous feedback. This was similar when I played on varsity; my junior year we got a new coach who would wait until the drill was over to provide feedback, and would be more encouraging. In this case, I think augmented feedback enhanced my skill learning. My AAU coach was probably the best coach I had until playing in college because he was such a positive mentor who provided meaningful feedback and made sure I was doing the skill correctly before allowing me to get in more reps.

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This GIF illustrates the prediction of performance later on. It ties in with my post because of the "potential" I was told I had as a teen.

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Growing up, my parents knew that I had the potential to be tall because of my genetics. I wasn't really one of the better players in middle school and didn't have lots of skills either. I had played basketball throughout middle school, but it wasn't until my freshman year of high school that college coaches actually contacted me and were beginning to recruit me. I remember being told, "You have so much potential..." and I would wonder how they would be able to tell that I could be good at basketball in my future. Even though I wasn't super skilled at basketball in middle school, it didn't mean that I would never be good. After learning about predicting performance in class, I know that performance early in practice is a poor predictor of performance later in practice. Additionally, the number of abilities needed to perform a skill change as practice goes on and as learning occurs.

Ackerman's Integrated Model integrates the concept of Fitt's stages of learning with Posner's view of abilities. The first stage is: general intellectual abilities are more important during the first stage of learning (cognitive). For me, this was watching other players compete in basketball so that I could understand the basic goals of playing the sport. The second stage is: perceptual speed abilities are more useful during the second stage (associative). This was relevant for me when I was practicing specific skills without a defender to make sure I knew how to perform them on my own. The third stage is: perceptual and motor abilities play the most prominent role during the third stage (autonomous). This was relevant for me when I began playing against other players and have to make moves while reading what the defender will do to stop me. In this third stage, I don't have to think about basic skills that I learned at first because they have become automatic.

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This GIF is a taller man blocking the shot of a short kid. It demonstrates how individual differences could play into playing basketball.

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Being the daughter of a 6'5 dad and 6'3 mom, everyone figured that I would also be somewhat tall when I grew up. Turns out they were correct as I now stand at 6'4 and also play college basketball. Before this course, I wondered if my height was a key factor that allowed me to play sports in college. I have learned that height is a measurable trait that can be correlated with performance. With individual differences, the question is "Why is one person better at <insert skill here> than another, even given the same amount of practice?" In Kines 361, we learned about "abilities" and the saying of "You either have it... or you don't".

Body configuration is a type of ability that can contribute to performance. Even though I have height, it isn't the only ability that has allowed me to become a collegiate athlete. Henry's "Specificity of Motor Abilities Hypothesis" stated that abilities are independent and each skill (basketball in my case) that we perform depends on a large number of these [motor] abilities.

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This GIF is a young kid dribbling a basketball in a figure 8 to show off his skills. It connects to my post since I mention how I became better at dribbling.

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Thinking back to my first time playing basketball, it was rough and frustrating. I kept losing the ball when I dribbled and even struggled to get the ball up to the hoop. I had never really thought about the stages that were involved in learning, I figured you just kept repeating a skill until you got it right. However, I learned about the stages of motor learning in this class, and I'll focus specifically on Fitts & Posner's Three-Stage Model.

The first stage is the cognitive stage where performances are heavily based on cognitive or verbal processes. It is essentially figuring out what works and what doesn't through trial and error. For me, this was determining that when I dribble the ball with the palm of my hand, it doesn't bounce as well as when I use my fingers. Also, when I shoot the ball, it doesn't go in as much when I use two hands instead of one. The second stage is the associate stage where you establish motor patterns. With this, I was able to be more consistent with my dribbling and also realizing that when I don't hold my follow through on my shot, the ball is less likely to go in the basket. The third stage is the autonomous stage where there are reduced attention demands. For me, this is when I catch and shoot the ball without thinking about how I caught the ball and instead I focus on if I simply made the shot. This is similar with dribbling, even after a period of not practicing my handles, I realize that it has become a largely automatic skill that I don't really have to think about.