If there were three words or a simple phrase which could summarize the approach taken within the learning environments we design at Emergence, repetition without repetition would likely be as good as any we could utter (though ‘representative learning design’ or ‘information-movement coupling’ may tally votes as close runner-ups). Of course, they are not our words, but that doesn’t mean that they have any less meaning to us.
Back in 1967, the late and great motor behavior scientist, Nikolai A. Bernstein, stated that, “practice is a particular type of repetition without repetition,” when he tried to inform the movement science world of the inherent variability present in all human movement while also elaborating upon what proper practice for the enhancement of movement skill may look like.
“The process of practice towards the achievement of new motor habits essentially consists in the gradual success of a search for optimal motor solutions to the appropriate problems.”
Furthermore,
“Practice, when properly undertaken, does not consist in repeating the means of solution of a motor problem time after time, but in the process of solving this problem again and again by techniques which we changed and perfected from repetition to repetition.”
Bernstein’s insights are as true today as they were then. We should be aiming to create more functional movement problem solvers for their sport. If this is our main objective (i.e. it should be!), then Bernstein’s ideas regarding ‘dexterity’ also begin to resonate. Dexterity essentially being characterized by the ability to solve any emergent movement problem, in any situation and in any condition (Bernstein, 1996). Thus, our practice environments must provide opportunities for our athletes to solve problems that they will face across a wide breadth of dispositions.
No matter where someone stands on the theoretical fence (the more traditional, information-processing/generalized motor programming side or the more contemporary, ecological dynamics side) most would not even dare argue with those words above from Bernstein. Yet, when we look at the training settings that many coaches offer for athletes, we will often find highly sterile, highly predictable, and highly unrepresentative problems.
How do we ever expect our athletes to become more equipped to interact with dynamic problems, if we do not offer them ample opportunity to use practice as this search process for solving problems that may look, feel and act like their sporting environments will present to them?
Obviously, this idea is front and center when we investigate or discuss sport movement skill out on the field, rink, court, or track. But, at Emergence, we would like to extend this conversation further for our collective community to ask, why doesn’t repetition without repetition live and breathe within more weight rooms, as well?
This is the very reason why we tasked ourselves with developing our latest course, ‘Approaching the Weight Room from an Ecological Dynamics Perspective,’ (disclosure: we are affiliated with Emergence) to begin to drive Bernstein’s ideas to places where many performance coaches are more comfortable operating. We wanted to get this discussion started and get people more accustomed to looking at all movement and preparation for performance through this lens. We ask that you deeply contemplate what repetition without repetition means to you and if your training environment design truly reflects those feelings.
For more reading:
- Bernstein, N. The Co-ordination and Regulation of Movements, 1967
- Bernstein N. On dexterity and Its development, 1996. In: M. Latash and M. Turvey (Eds.), Dexterity and Its development
About Shawn Myszka
Shawn Myszka is the co-director of education at Emergence and currently serves as a personal performance advisor and movement coach for more than a dozen NFL players each year, where he guides the performance of players to the limits of their potential. Through his frequent presentations at strength coach and sport conferences nationwide, Shawn has become a sought-after clinician and leader in the field of sport-specific power development, and on the transfer of training to sport performance and the development of mastery in the movement of athletes at all levels of qualification.
Additionally, Shawn is the founder of the Sport Movement Skill Conference, operates “Football Beyond the Stats” blog, and has presented over 25 times at major strength and sport performance conferences since 2006.
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