In the last article
that I wrote for the Wetfoot I mentioned that we frontload intellectual skill
acquisition but rarely frontload physical skill acquisition. This might end up as a series about
frontloading methods and skill evaluation.
It’s important to know these things when working with participants
because our participants want to learn skills, they want to know how to go
about learning, and they also want to track their improvement. Anyone could relate to the frustration of not
knowing how to go about improving a skill or to tell whether one is getting
better at it.
This article
is going to focus on one method of frontloading a skill, namely goals. For an activity there is a set of goals that
the learner should acknowledge and internalize to help guide them. There are multiple criteria for choosing
goals that make use of mnemonic devices to help us memorize them, here I will
use SMART.
·
S stands for
specific
·
M for
measurable
·
A for
attainable
·
R for
relevant
·
T for timely
or time-bound
When picking goals make sure that they are
accountable to these criteria, otherwise one might not get motivated for
achievement. For instance, if a goal is
not time bound then it won’t matter whether one achieves it next week or
seventy years from now even if all practical scenarios for its use are long
gone. Achievements can happen by chance
but planned action will make the achievement come faster.
In the field
of motor learning there are trio of goals that apply to skill acquisition, each
of which can be made SMART.
There are
outcome goals, which are goals built around the results of a given performance
like winning a bulls eye contest.
Performance goals, that measure success against past achievements like
increasing one’s percentage of bull’s eyes from 80% to 90%. The final type of goal is a process goal
which is where a particular aspect of a skill is emphasized to make the whole
skill better, like exhaling slowly when taking a shot. In general one should encourage participants
to deemphasize outcome goals because they are often the most out of our
control; someone might just be a better shot at competition even if the
participant has done everything right.
Think of the
three types of goals as Russian dolls; the biggest doll might be victory or
some other outcome goal (dependant on the skill). That outcome wouldn’t be possible without
achieving the process goal, which in turn wouldn’t be possible without achieving
process goals (unless someone is just lucky).
The goals help the learner conceptualize how minute details will
contribute to performance and then realize what must be accomplished during
performance. Think of our archer, upon
learning that she must breathe correctly when shooting she can now practice
that part of the skill. Using the SMART
criteria she can see how breathe control is specific, measurable (length of
breathe or number of breaths), attainable, relevant, and time bound (time spent
practicing daily).
Frontloading
skill acquisition with goals is an excellent way to help someone learn. Practices don’t have to be haphazard,
progress can be measured, and the participant can be motivated using those
goals. So remember, the goals relevant to
skill acquisition are outcome goals, performance goals, and process goals. These in turn are determined using SMART
criteria. Now you, the reader, have a
new tool and hopefully it’ll be used soon.
Arthur D'Amato is a fitness instructor at Valley Medical Center and staff member of Camp Manito-wish YMCA. If you are interested in writing for The Wetfoot, please email thewetfoot@gmail.com
Photo-Credit: Daniel Peters

