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Move Your Feet! - Gentile's Two-Stage Motor Learning Model

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Move Your Feet! - Gentile's Two-Stage Motor Learning Model

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I began playing tennis competitively when I entered into my freshman year of high school. I had some experience playing prior to that, but it was more for fun and I had never focused on the mechanics. Upon entering the tennis team at my high school, I began to learn the proper hitting techniques for forehands, backhands, volleying, and serving. When learning how to play tennis with the correct mechanics, I engaged in Gentile’s Two-Stage Model of Motor Learning. In the first stage, I spent time getting the idea of the movement. By this, I determined what movement coordination patterns were appropriate. So, for example, when learning how to hit a forehand, I spent time getting my feet set and timing the swinging. My coach repeatedly would tell us to move our feet, so that was instilled in my head. In addition to this, I would put attention to the grip I had on my racket, as a certain grip favors the forward spin on the ball. When first starting at practices, I did not have to worry about regulatory variables, as my hitting mechanics were of the most importance. However, as my skills became better and better, I had to focus on where my opponents were on the court. Not only this, but I competed in doubles; so I needed to be aware of where my partner was. Not every action is executed to perfection, and I found myself hitting my partner on a rare occasion. But through these imperfections, I was able to continue getting the idea of the movement through trial and error.
As I continued to improve my performance, I entered into the second stage of Gentile’s Model. Since most of my tennis experience was surrounded by environmental influences in an open system, I began learning diversification. In doing so, I was able to modify my movement patterns to compete at my best. For example, if my opponents were at the net, I would modify my forehand swing in order to lob the ball over them and closer to the back line. Through Gentile’s Model, I gained valuable experience that made me the best tennis player that I could be.

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Teamwork Makes the Dream Work - Individual Differences

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Teamwork Makes the Dream Work - Individual Differences

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As an athlete who competed in doubles tennis, my partner and I had many differences that made us work best together. For one, she is about 6 inches shorter than I am, so it was easier for me to cover more ground when it came to reaching for the ball. However, she was much faster than I was, and was able to run to get the ball if it was hit out of a reaching vicinity. These abilities that we had were unmodifiable by consistent practice; they were a general trait that was a determinate for our achievement potential. In our case, they took the form of body configuration. My partner was not able to grow taller to reach further, and I was not able to become smaller and swifter on the court. We also had different skills when it came to hitting the ball back to our opponent. These skills were consistently practiced over time so that we continued to improve our performance. I was better when it came to hitting groundstrokes from the baseline. Alternatively, she was a better player up at the net, and was especially good at placing the ball. When it came to serving, we were pretty comparable. Thus, my coach noticed these differences and had me be the first server so that my partner could begin at the net and I could begin at the baseline. Our differences in skills complemented each other, and made us a very successful duo, despite our differences in abilities. We took third in our conference, took first in multiple smaller tournaments, made it to sectionals (one game away from making it to state, and it still hurts), and ended our senior season with a 24-6 record.

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Watch Out For Tourists - Regulatory Variables

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Watch Out For Tourists - Regulatory Variables

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My family and I have visited many National Parks throughout my life. Most recently, we visited Acadia National Park in Maine in the summer of 2021. Here, we took many hikes to see the beautiful views and all that the park has to offer. With hiking, there are many regulatory variables that impact the path, both moving and non-moving. To start, these National Parks are often very busy, especially at the time of the year that we went. This meant that hiking paths were full of people, and I needed to pay attention to what other people were doing in order to avoid bumping into someone. These in motion regulatory variables played a large role in how I was able to move from one point of the trail to the next. Not to mention, many people do not look out for other people on the path, which can actually make hiking these popular paths quite frustrating. But I didn’t just need to pay attention to people, I needed to watch my feet so that I wouldn’t trip on a loose rock or an exposed root. These non-moving regulatory variables do not necessarily impact the movements that I have to make, but they do make getting from one point of the trail to the next a bit more challenging. And having to look down at my feet so that I don't trip takes away from looking at the beautiful view.

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Finding The Sweet Spot - The Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off

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Finding The Sweet Spot - The Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off

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In tennis, there was a fine line between wanting to hit the ball hard and wanting to hit the ball accurately. On occasion, I was able to do both. And when I did, I was always almost guaranteed the point. However, there were instances in which I would just try to hit the ball as hard as I could, and generally the ball would be hit out of the lines of the court, resulting in a point for my opponent. If I hit the ball softer, I was more accurate in where the ball would go, however my opponent was able to return the ball easily. This was especially true with serving. While I was pretty accurate when it came to serving the ball hard and fast, I was less accurate within the box. My coach would want us to aim the ball into certain areas of the serving box depending on how our opponents were prepared. In order to serve the ball closer to the alley or to the center line, for example, I would need to decrease my speed.

Throughout my years playing tennis, I learned that being accurate is better than speed because it forced my opponent to make an error rather than me being the one to lose the point. This experience taught me how important the speed-accuracy trade-off is when it comes to competition. Not to mention how important the timing of my swing is as well when it came to hitting the ball hard and accurately. This temporal speed-accuracy trade-off played a major role in my success on the court. No two teams were alike; some hit the ball harder than others. So, the timing of my swing would never be the same. I would try to anticipate the perfect time to swing, but it didn’t work 100% of the time. As I improved my skills and moved into a varsity position, the timing of my swing was constantly changing. When I began playing, it was easier to time my swing because my opponents would hit the ball softly. However, when facing difficult opponents at the varsity level, this was not the case. The timing of my swing and how hard and accurate I hit the ball really impacted how well I performed in competition.

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With hiking at many National Parks, I need to pay attention to the path in front of me. Well traveled paths that tend to be the most popular at the park are well maintained. This means that there are not many loose rocks, exposed roots, or erosion throughout the path. However, the less traveled paths are not so well maintained, and therefore, I need to pay attention to where I am stepping so that I don’t trip or roll an ankle. Not to mention, if there has been a fresh rainfall, I want to avoid the mud. Looking at the path and adjusting so that I can avoid these obstacles is a great example of feedforward control. I am sending a visual signal to the system prior to making my movement that readies the system for the upcoming motor command and/or readies the system for the receipt of the movement. If I see a fallen branch or exposed root head of me, I need to ready my stride so that I can step over or around what is in the way of the path. Some paths are a lot more difficult to navigate than others, and I am forced to watch the ground for the majority of the hike. If I were to not use feedforward control, I may not be able to avoid these obstacles and hiking would be a lot more difficult.