https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap Made with no regrets, whatsoever en-us 2018-05-04 20:31:37 UTC 2025-10-15 17:47:43 UTC hello@padlet.com tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162280 The requirements of each sport are different.  Always being on the smaller end of the spectrum I found out early on that I was not destined to be a football star. As a freshman I was 5’4 and weighed 115 pounds. By my senior year I was 130 pounds and grew another two inches (5’6) (Good thing I didn’t stick with football) Naturally, I chose a sport that was not heavily reliant on body size. In my search I was introduced to wrestling. Wrestling was a way for me to explore my physical and mental capabilities without my height being a limiting factor. Wrestling is unique in its approach to determining success; it is not predicated on size alone but rather highlights other factors such as strength, agility, adaptability, proprioception and responsiveness. Certain attributes, abilities and physical characteristics of an individual allow them to excel in a specific sport. These are both physical and innate abilities that people are born with. Abilities do not change with practice and can not be improved. An example for me was that I had great explosive strength. I was able to perform short bursts of near-maximal activity with ease. Explosive strength movements in wrestling include taking a single leg shot, double leg shot, and returning the opponent back to the mat (being behind the opponent on our feet, I was tasked with lifting him up into the air breaking him down onto the mat). Another ability that is crucial for this sport is multi-limb coordination. Wrestling is unique in that each limb can be used to gain a significant advantage. This meaning that you can use either legs or arms to control your opponent. For arms an example is hand fighting. Handing fighting is performed when both wrestlers are on their feet. Both wrestlers try to control and manipulate the other person’s body through motion of their hands/arms. Legs can be used during this process as well as wrestlers often “circle” (shuffle their feet) to gain an edge an opponent. A combination of hand and foot motion will lead to a desirable opening in which you can score.       

]]> 2018-05-04 20:33:17 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162280 tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162439 2018-05-04 20:34:09 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162439 tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162547 I began pole vaulting when I was in 7th grade. As being one of the more dangerous track and field events, it is heavily managed. The skill of pole vaulting can be broken down into three simple phases. The first phase is the approach. The goal of this phase is to be as fast, and as accurate as possible when reaching the point of impact. This means being the correct distance away from the pit to have optimal bend of the pole and penetration of the pit. The next phase is the planting/take off phase. This phase includes planting the pole into the pit and jumping up into the air. This is the flashiest of the movements as the athlete is taking off and leaving the ground. The final phase is known as the swing and row phase; once in the air, the athlete is to perform a swinging motion with their one of their legs to position their legs above their torso (the goal is to get upside down) and perform a rowing motion with their hands “climb up” the pole to obtain the maximum height. All three of these phases have been greatly simplified and there is much detail and coordination needed in performing each part successfully. The approach is arguably the most important part of this event as the other two parts rely heavily on it. If you do not have the required speed or spatial position relative to the pole vault pit, the rest of the movements are heavily impacted. Because of the importance and danger of phase, my high school coach would have use perform many practices runs on and off the runway before we were able to jump into the real pit. A method he used to get us to think about the approach is he would remove the other two parts. He did this by having us practice on a wooden, moveable pit that when struck, would slide against the floor. This eliminated the thought of going airborne, and the motions that occurred after. It allowed us to isolate and focus on the approach and how and when we were striking the box. When correctly striking the box, we were rewarded with a loud “thud” followed by a glistening of the box against the floor. That was when you knew you were able to move to the real pit. Thankfully, this breakdown of a skill helped me acquire the motor patterns and intrinsic feedback associated with a successful attempt. ]]> 2018-05-04 20:34:42 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162547 tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162767 2018-05-04 20:35:54 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162767 tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162919 Pole vaulting is a difficult skill to acquire. As mentioned, there are three phases in pole vaulting. It took me many years of practice to finally begin learning the swing up and row phase. Other limiting factors included lacking the necessary strength and coordination needed for the movement. That, and its quick and rapid nature, made it hard for me to visualize the task and intermate the intrinsic information. The window for this motion often happened within two to three seconds with many different variables to account for. In addition, I was eight to nine feet in the air with nothing but a pole in hand (need a bit of time to get used to it). For me, to better learn this task, the addition of augmented feedback was necessary. This was provided to me by my coach in several ways. First, he provided verbal feedback. He would often use a combination of descriptive and prescriptive knowledge of performance (KP). An example of descriptive KP is “You swung too soon”. This indicated to me that I needed to wait a bit longer before swinging up. An example of prescriptive KP is “Point your swing leg to the runway”. This indicated to me that I needed to bring my swing leg back before swinging it up. I was always too quick on the swing and was not able to generate enough force to go upside down. Prescriptive KP was always more helpful as it allowed me to process and visualize what I needed to do to be successful at the task. Another form of augmented feedback that was used was video KP. My coach would take a video of us performing the entire task. He would then break down the video in to three sections, the planting of the pole, the positioning of the knee drive, and the swing. We were all given five or six takes towards the end of practice. If there was time, he would review the videos immediately to make adjustments or we would review at a later time.   

]]> 2018-05-04 20:36:42 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162919 tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162974 2018-05-04 20:37:08 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258162974 tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258163061 In wrestling creating motion helps to open the opponent to attacks. As a beginning wrestler I was often stiff and rigid in my upper body; my shoulders were tense, and arms rigid. I didn’t know how to move or how to create motion. I would grab hands and try to control them that way but was at a loss when they tied up with me. I was able to move easily with my feet because of years of doing agility drills and speed workouts but was unfamiliar with was creating movement with the upper body. When in situations like this I would try to use brute force to will my opponent into an unfavorable position. This worked- if I was stronger than them. My coach saw how brutish I was and encouraged me to create motion with motion rather than with strength. He put it this way- “Rock the boat” He told me to imagine that I was on a boat. How do you rock a boat-? Move side to side, shoulders hands and arms. After thinking about motion in this way, it made tie ups easier. I could associate this position with something else that I was familiar with. It had more meaning and was actually pretty funny to me. I took it to extremes as I would visualize “rocking the boat” and causing it to tip over. Within a week of practice this was my go-to technique. It also solved another problem. I became less stiff and more fluid in my movements. Even to this day I can remember my conversation with my coach and the many boats that I have tipped over.

]]> 2018-05-04 20:37:37 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258163061 tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258163117 2018-05-04 20:37:57 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258163117 tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258172655 In the brunt of the wrestling season we would train hard. Our wrestling practices had a routine to them; we would warm up for half an hour, do some skill work for about an hour then condition for another half an hour followed by live wrestling for the remainder of practice. The first three sections of practice were performed in a mundane fashion, with little variation day to day. The only differences were the skills and techniques that were showcased. In lecture we discussed two drastically different forms of contextual interference. The first extreme was practicing in a blocked format. This consisted of practicing one task before moving on to the next. This form of learning results in the least amount of retention. An example of this for me, was when we would practice our drill techniques; my wrestling coach would show a skill, and we would practice it for five or so minutes and move on to the next one and so on. For the most part, it was only effective for the first few minutes with my teammates often losing interest. My memory of this is blurry as we did many repetitions of the same motion. I went into auto-pilot and did not think about what I was doing. I eventually learned those skills but not with great acuity. The other form extreme form of contextual interference was practicing skills in a completely random order. This never happened in my practices. Instead we used a small block of situational wrestling positions. Towards the end of practice, we would have live goes in different situations. Some examples of this would be one person is in on a shot, while the other person has a wizard (defensive arm position), one person is on their back while the other has a half nelson, and finally one person is on their knees while the other has one hand cupped under the first person’s chin and the other hand placed behind an elbow. These bouts were 30 seconds or shorter to see who could out maneuver the other. To add to the randomness, we would often do two to three rounds with one person then change partners. Not only did you have to figure out a new offensive/defensive strategy, but also adjusting to the new person’s wrestling style. 

]]> 2018-05-04 21:54:52 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258172655 tvang24 https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258172714 2018-05-04 21:55:36 UTC https://padlet.com/tvang24/2mlfqgnkjjap/wish/258172714