The Constraints-Led Approach to Coaching Physical Education
by Scuffle Staff on Oct 25, 2021
The constraints-led approach (CLA) to coaching and physical education enables educators to guide athletes' learning by altering their environment. As opposed to direct instruction detailing how an athlete should complete the desired action, a CLA aims to replicate performance conditions or constraints during practice. These constraints allow the athlete to use their inherent traits, strengths and learning styles to execute their goal.
During the performance, an athlete must collect information about their environment – be it the positions of other players, the speed of an incoming ball or reading an opponent's next move – and convert their sensory perception into a precise motor outcome.
Information often takes the form of an 'affordance' – essentially an opportunity that presents itself during the performance. While training, replicating critical performance conditions is vital for perceiving affordances and improving an athlete's skills and fluency.
An individual athlete's technique develops from interactions between three key constraints – task, environment and performer. Task constraints include game rules and equipment; environment constraints including external conditions, both physical and sociocultural/psychological, and performer constraints describe physical and mental attributes of the athlete.
Performing a successful action requires a complex interplay of these three types of constraints. These factors may change and can be highly variable. Consequently, adaptability – or dexterity – is a crucial skill for any motor learner in skill acquisition.
Traditionally, coaching prescribes specific decomposed exercises and informs athletes of exact movements that the athlete must make to progress towards an overall action. Under a CLA, the coach takes more of a facilitator position, setting up the athlete's constraints to navigate this progression themselves.
That is not to say that the coach's role is redundant in a CLA, though it can often reduce coach-athlete interactions and make the athlete feel isolated – a potential flaw in the CLA paradigm. Instead, the coach sculpts the athlete through more indirect methods, encouraging self-learning and problem solving tailored to the athlete's needs and preferences.
Coaching constraints may take two forms: systematic and unsystematic approaches. The former involves regularly varying a given aspect to allow the athlete to explore how incremental variation changes their performance. Accordingly, the athlete will need to adapt their movement, body position, power etc., to adjust to the different situations.
An unsystematic approach introduces random variations that replicate the myriad changes that can occur under performance conditions. These unsystematic constraints improve adaptability – an essential skill for any motor learner. In this way, a combination of systematic and unsystematic approaches to a CLA will enhance the flexibility and stability of the athlete.
Athletes will perform better by enabling them to discover their preferred style for a desired outcome and repeat said style for improved fluency while maintaining their ability to respond to unexpected circumstances.
Empirical research has found improvements in university students' motor skills after a single constraints-led session.
It is clear that affording individuals the opportunity to use their unique skills, experiences and physical differences can improve their outcomes. The prevailing misconception of a universal optimal technique appears outdated compared with the more nuanced understanding of individual differences that a constraints-led approach affords.
The CLA constitutes a significant development in motor learning and will continue to make waves within Martial Arts coaching circles.
During the performance, an athlete must collect information about their environment – be it the positions of other players, the speed of an incoming ball or reading an opponent's next move – and convert their sensory perception into a precise motor outcome.
Information often takes the form of an 'affordance' – essentially an opportunity that presents itself during the performance. While training, replicating critical performance conditions is vital for perceiving affordances and improving an athlete's skills and fluency.
An individual athlete's technique develops from interactions between three key constraints – task, environment and performer. Task constraints include game rules and equipment; environment constraints including external conditions, both physical and sociocultural/psychological, and performer constraints describe physical and mental attributes of the athlete.
Performing a successful action requires a complex interplay of these three types of constraints. These factors may change and can be highly variable. Consequently, adaptability – or dexterity – is a crucial skill for any motor learner in skill acquisition.
Traditionally, coaching prescribes specific decomposed exercises and informs athletes of exact movements that the athlete must make to progress towards an overall action. Under a CLA, the coach takes more of a facilitator position, setting up the athlete's constraints to navigate this progression themselves.
That is not to say that the coach's role is redundant in a CLA, though it can often reduce coach-athlete interactions and make the athlete feel isolated – a potential flaw in the CLA paradigm. Instead, the coach sculpts the athlete through more indirect methods, encouraging self-learning and problem solving tailored to the athlete's needs and preferences.
Coaching constraints may take two forms: systematic and unsystematic approaches. The former involves regularly varying a given aspect to allow the athlete to explore how incremental variation changes their performance. Accordingly, the athlete will need to adapt their movement, body position, power etc., to adjust to the different situations.
An unsystematic approach introduces random variations that replicate the myriad changes that can occur under performance conditions. These unsystematic constraints improve adaptability – an essential skill for any motor learner. In this way, a combination of systematic and unsystematic approaches to a CLA will enhance the flexibility and stability of the athlete.
Athletes will perform better by enabling them to discover their preferred style for a desired outcome and repeat said style for improved fluency while maintaining their ability to respond to unexpected circumstances.
Empirical research has found improvements in university students' motor skills after a single constraints-led session.
It is clear that affording individuals the opportunity to use their unique skills, experiences and physical differences can improve their outcomes. The prevailing misconception of a universal optimal technique appears outdated compared with the more nuanced understanding of individual differences that a constraints-led approach affords.
The CLA constitutes a significant development in motor learning and will continue to make waves within Martial Arts coaching circles.
