The OPTIMAL frequency of skill sessions to add to your athlete's schedule
By Emily R Neff (Pappas), Ph.D student
Over the past ten years working solely with female athletes, a common error we have seen is the number of skill sessions (like pitching or hitting lessons) added during sports seasons.
This article helps you understand the OPTIMAL number of skill sessions to include and WHY this needs to change over the course of her seasons.
The Purpose of Skill Training
When an athlete struggles with a specific sport skill, seeking a specialist coach can help develop your athlete.
Skills such as hitting, pitching, catching, or running are motor skills that require individualized coaching that follows a methodological approach to motor learning.
This approach will progress your athlete through three major stages of learning (1)
1) COGNITIVE STAGE
Think of this stage as the beginner stage
In this stage, your athlete will make A LOT of mistakes when trying to improve her hitting or running technique.
Coaching during this stage should include a lot of “cueing”, visual examples, and tactile reinforcement
The environment during this stage should remain consistent with limited amounts of external distraction (1)
2) ASSOCIATIVE STAGE
Think of this stage as the intermediate stage
Errors during this stage should decrease; however, the same error may be made over and over.
It is common for your athlete to be able to feel her making the error, but not really know how to correct it.
Coaching during this stage should rely heavily on FEEDBACK and providing EXTERNAL CUEING (2)
Internal Cue: “keep your elbow out.”
less effective cue over time; leading to LONGER time needed for skill acquisition (2)
External Cue: “ think about tracing a path with your elbow as your swing.”
more effective cue over time; leads to LESS time needed for improved skill acquisition (2)
3) AUTONOMOUS STAGE
Think of this stage as the advanced stage
Errors during this stage are very uncommon
Movement appears automatic or without thought
Movement is consistent regardless of the external environment (rain, high emotional pressure, extreme heat, etc.)
The skill is sustained over long periods of time, almost unaffected by fatigue.
Coaching should include limited feedback and instead heavily rely on athlete self-correcting tools.
Now, the number of skill sessions your athlete needs will depend on where she falls along these stages (1) AS WELL AS specific factors (known as constraints in the motor learning world) that influence how well your athlete can progress through these stages (3)
The Factors that Influence Skill Development
In the field of motor learning, researchers (3) have found specific factors or constraints that influence skill acquisition, especially within the sports environment and among adolescent athletes:
These factors include
1) Individual Factors
Physical Characteristics: your athlete’s height, weight, limb length
Strength Characteristics: how strong your athlete is; how aware of her body (kinesthetic awareness); how powerful she is; how adept she is at coordinating multiple muscle group
Cardiovascular Characteristics: how well is your athlete able to sustain high workloads & recover between them?
2) Psychological Factors
Motivational: does your athlete want to improve her skill, or does this motivation derive from her parent?
Fear: Is your athlete afraid of making a mistake? Is she afraid of letting down authority figures like parents and coaches?
Past Experience: does your athlete have previous experience performing this movement? Does she have previous experience with a skills coach?
3. Environmental Factors
Weather: is the weather consistent or different during training sessions? Is exposure to these different environments purposely planned based on her learning stage or random?
Surfaces: Is she practicing on consistent surfaces (think indoor rubber, grass, turf); is exposure to these different surfaces purposely planned or random?
Socio-cultural: Is she practicing within a male-dominated environment? Does this encourage or discourage her? Is her coach male or female? Is the age of her coach much older or relatively closer to her age? Is she performing with others? Is the environment for learning competitive?
4. Task-Related Factors
Equipment: is she practicing with the same or different bat each session? Are her shoes new?
Rules for instruction: is she provided with specific “rules” when learning or practicing a skill? Are these rules based on internal or external factors?
Internal Cue: Turn your knee in as you swing! You should rotate your hips in!
External Cue: Keep your body within a funnel. Have your hips point forwards in the direction you want the ball to go
These factors have been shown (3) to influence how well your athlete learns and develops her skill.
A quick note to parents: if you are spending >$100/ hour on a skill-specific coach and he or she is not considering these factors EACH SESSION and progressively building upon them to advance her development, you are wasting your money…..!
When determining your athlete’s needed skill sessions per week, you must consider your athlete’s stage of development (Cognitive, Associative, or Autonomous) and the factors that influence her learning (Individual, Psychological, Environment, and Task-specific).
Periodizing or Planning Your Athlete’s Skill Training
Sport today is played year-round. However, this does NOT mean her skill training should be maintained at the same frequency year-round.
Instead, researchers (4) have shown the need to periodize or plan your athlete’s skill-based training around her competitive seasons, while factoring in her developmental stage and outside factors.
Quick Note: If you are looking for a SIMPLE plan, skip this section and see below!!
For most of your athletes, you will want to increase her SKILLS training as you get ready for her COMPETITIVE PLAY periods.
As competition or high volume of play hits, she should NOT need much additional devoted to this skill as her SPORT will take over this stimulus!
Consider the Novice Softball Athlete looking to add hitting lessons to her schedule.
She is in the Cognitive Stage of learning.
She is 13 and just went through puberty. This means her growth has probably plateaued.
Her strength levels are fairly limited: she has only been lifting on a consistent program 2x/wk for about 3 months
Her conditioning could use improvement
She really wants to improve and has asked her parents for help
She has limited to no hitting experience outside of sport practice
With these characteristics, additional hitting lessons should be prioritized as follows:
During her PREPARATORY PERIODS leading up to HIGH VOLUME PLAY (think fall & winter)
Keep Strength & Conditioning HIGH (2-3x/wk)
Ramp UP hitting as you get closer to season (2-3x)
During her COMPETITIVE PERIODS often known as HIGH VOLUME periods (Spring Season)
Keep Strength & Conditioning at maintenance (1-2x)
Decrease hitting as her sport practices and play should take up most of her skills development (1-2x)
Because this athlete is NEW, she needs a lot of SPECIFIC FOCUS in developing her skill.
However, this skill development will NOT IMPROVE if she is too fatigued! This is why she needs to DECREASE extra practice when her sport volume ramps up!
Now how should this change if your athlete is more advanced?
Consider the Advanced Softball Athlete looking to add hitting lessons to her schedule.
She is in the Associative Stage of learning.
She is 17 and has been playing softball for years.
Her strength levels are fairly developed: she has been lifting consistently 2x per week for 2-3 years
Her conditioning is consistent throughout the year
She really wants to improve and wants to shine in college
She has YEARS of hitting experience
With these characteristics, additional hitting lessons should be prioritized as follows:
During her PREPARATORY PERIODS leading up to HIGH VOLUME PLAY (think Fall & Winter)
Keep Strength & Conditioning HIGH (2-3x/wk)
Ramp UP hitting as you get closer to season (2-3x)
During her COMPETITIVE PERIODS, often known as HIGH VOLUME periods (Spring & Summer Season)
Keep Strength & Conditioning at maintenance (1-2x)
Decrease hitting as her sport practices and play should take up the most of her skills development (0-2x)
Because this athlete is ADVANCED, she needs a variety of practice, often realized BEST during the competitive environment.
Remember, skill development NOT IMPROVE if she is too fatigued! This is why she needs to DECREASE extra practice when her sports volume ramps up!
Notice, these recommendations stay fairly similar, with the more advanced athlete requiring a bit LESS of additional skill practice, especially during periods of HIGH VOLUME PLAY.
This is because the advanced athlete is most likely experiencing greater PLAYING TIME and thus greater levels of FATIGUE.
Your athlete’s sports practice should take care of all of the additional needed SKILLS DEVELOPMENT!
As your athlete becomes more advanced, fatigue plays a GREATER ROLE in her acquisition or fine-tuning of her movements and her ability to express these improvements during play (3).
Further, the advanced athlete's training during this period should be VARIABLE with the conditions she seems to present the most errors.
Quick Note: If your athlete seems to hit inconsistently during periods of HIGH PRESSURE situation, her practice MUST re-create these situations, or else her improvements will be limited.
Keeping It Simple
For female athletes, improving the characteristics from which sports skills develop (like STRENGTH & POWER) will relay a greater effect on skill performance than adding additional skill practices (3).
This is due to females’ limited amount of strength and power, which affects their ability to execute and advance their skills (5).
When considering your female athlete and how much additional time should be spent on the skill, consider this:
Keep strength & conditioning consistent 2-3x/wk
Increase skill training 1-3x during lower periods of play (<10 hours of sport per week)
Decrease skill training (0-1x) during higher periods of play (>15 hours of sport per week)
It’s really that simple. Prioritize what your female athlete needs most.
Working on her low-hanging fruit affects the rest of her development MUCH FASTER than adding in countless hours and $$$ on skill training.
References
Magill, R., & Anderson, D. (2013). Motor Learning and Control: Concepts and Applications. McGraw-Hill Education. https://books.google.com/books?id=t9hcMAEACAAJ
Barillas, S. R., Oliver, J. L., Lloyd, R. S., & Pedley, J. S. (2021). Cueing the Youth Athlete During Strength and Conditioning: A Review and Practical Application. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 43(3), 29–42. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000567
Gagen, L. M., & Getchell, N. (2006). Using ‘Constraints’ to Design Developmentally Appropriate Movement Activities for Early Childhood Education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(3), 227–232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-006-0135-6
Otte, F. W., Millar, S.-K., & Klatt, S. (2019). Skill Training Periodization in “Specialist” Sports Coaching—An Introduction of the “PoST” Framework for Skill Development. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 1, 61. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2019.00061
Sommi, C., Gill, F., Trojan, J. D., & Mulcahey, M. K. (2018). Strength and conditioning in adolescent female athletes. The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 46(4), 420–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913847.2018.1486677
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In 2015 Emily opened Relentless Athletics to build a community for female athletes while educating their parents and coaches on the necessity of strength training and sports nutrition to optimize sports performance and reduce injury risks in the female athlete population.
Emily holds a M.S. in Exercise Physiology from Temple University and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Drexel University. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at Concordia University St. Paul with a research focus on female athletes & the relationship between strength training frequency, ACL injury rates, and menstrual cycle irregularities (RED-s). Through this education, Emily values her ability to coach athletes and develop strength coaches with a perspective that is grounded in biochemistry and human physiology.
In 2020, Emily was an Adjunct at Temple University, instructing her own course on the current research behind female athlete development. Additionally, Emily has worked as a consultant in developing health education curriculums at the high school level.
Emily is passionate about developing young female athletes from middle school to college, assisting in ACL-R rehab, and developing more female strength coaches within the Relentless family while working on her Ph.D.
When she isn’t on the coaching floor or working in her office, she is at home with her husband Jarrod and their daughter Maya Rose, and, of course, their dog Milo (who has become the mascot of Relentless)!!
