3750 final
TRANSCRIPT
Mary-Catherine Ciuba6 December 2011
Phillip TomporowskiKINS 3750
How to Perform a Cartwheel on a Level Surface
I. Introduction
Motor skills are performed on a daily basis and are essential to daily task completion,
whether consciously or subconsciously. Motor skills are defined as skills for which the primary
determinants of success are the quality of movements that the performer produces and can be
conceptualized in two ways. First, a motor skill can be perceived as a task, for example
decorating a Christmas tree or swinging a golf club. Skills can be classified by task
organization, relative importance of motor and cognitive elements and level of environmental
predictability. Second, a motor skill could be viewed in terms of the proficiency a person
demonstrates when performing a movement. Skills in this concept are based on maximum
certainty of goal achievement, minimum energy expenditure and minimum movement time.
Two concepts also important when discussing motor skills are motor performance and
motor learning. Motor performance is always subjective to influencing factors and is known as
the observable performance of a voluntary action or motor skill. Motor learning is defined as the
changes associated with practice or experience in internal processes that determine a person’s
capability for producing a motor skill. The best way to assess motor learning is the observe for
changes in performance that occur systematically with additional practice sessions, defined by
implicit learning.
Coaches and teachers can assess the learning process and their pupil’s location in it with the
help of abilities and skills. Abilities are defined as a stable, enduring traits that are genetically
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determined. A skill shows a learner’s proficiency to perform a specific task or movement and
this level depends on the level of the learner’s ability for whatever activity they are learning.
Performing a cartwheel is a popular skill all ages strive to master and takes a great deal of
practice and coordination to master. It incorporates hand-eye coordination, accuracy,
coordination and technique from coaching to perform correctly and efficiently. Many children
learn this skill at a young age and due to the presence of a general motor program, they can
pull that motor program and perform cartwheels at any point in their lifetime. A general motor
program is a set of motor commands that is prestructured actions and defines a pattern of
movement instead of a specific movement, allowing variations to the pattern to meet various
environmental demands. Though a cartwheel is a serial action that requires many steps, muscle
activation and information processing, once the program is created the learner will be able to
perform the action on a variety of surfaces, levels and on command without any extra equipment
needed.
The main objective of performing a cartwheel is to balance on both hands with both feet
straight up in the air and then land with both feet on the ground facing 1800 from the stance you
originally started. The more vertical and upright with proper posture the learner is, the more
efficient the movement and the more power the learner will have to perform another flip after the
cartwheel. This movement is the gateway skill into the gymnastics and cheerleading sport; the
cartwheel teaches the learner the importance of balance, flexibility and practice through its
mastery. It is functional for this reason because the cartwheel can be used at any level, both 1
and 9 in gymnastics as well as in many cheerleading sideline and competition routines. Though
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it seems sports specific, cartwheels are fun skills to know and many people enjoy performing
cartwheels in their yards and are a fun action for people of all ages to perform.
One of the ways motor skill learning is explained by psychologists is through the
information-processing model. This model illustrates the learner as a computer, processing
information and storing it away. In this model, the performer deals with input, or available
information in the environment, in several ways and delivers an output, or response. The
main source of input for this skill would be a coach counting or knowing the choreography of a
dance or pass, signaling the learner to begin the cartwheel skill. At the sound of these stimuli,
the learner should begin to process the response. When learning this skill, the coach will use
eight-counts to count the athlete in. The coach will say “Five, six, seven, eight, one”, at which
point, the learner should begin the skill once hearing the word one. Because the learner will only
have a single stimulus, the learner will not be required to differentiate among many stimuli to
make a correct selection.
After a source of input is detected, the first portion of the information processing model is
activated: the stimulus identification stage. During this stage, a learner must perceive a
particular stimulus and analyze the surrounding environment through all sensory systems. The
response selection stage is the second stage of the information processing model where the
athlete decides which action should begin in reaction to the stimulus, if any. There is a
translation between the sensory input and several response options to help the learner decide
what is best for this situation. The third and final step in the information processing model is the
response programming stage. This stage encompasses a variety of processes in the brain and
to validate the original response selection, choose the correct body parts for action and prepares
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for a response. After this step, the information processing model is complete and an output of
either a motor behavior or action should be produced. In this case, the learner should follow the
general pattern of two feet on the ground, both feet in the air and two feet on the ground again,
though it does not mean that the cartwheel is perfectly performed. Output of any kind does not
always achieve the desired goal of the motor program and these subpar performances are an
important part of practice.
II. Who (Learner Characteristics)
Chandler Ciuba is a fourteen-year-old female who is an eighth grader in school and has
no previous experience with tumbling. She is a novice when it comes to tumbling and has no
previous experience or abilities with gymnastics or tumbling movements, though she understands
the basic concept of a cartwheel and sees her friends do them for fun. Chandler has previous
experience with movement from her participation in sports like soccer and cross-country
running. She is a mature young lady with an adequate attention span, arousal capabilities and a
superb memory bank. Chandler is able to focus on a given task in previous experiences and is
extremely attentive, which are both important assets to motor learning.
Chandler is also capable of processing information adequately and is aroused or
expresses an activation of her central nervous system above normal levels to learn how to
tumble. I think her ability to quickly process information and have a good memory will play to
her advantage, but her lack of flexibility and previous experience could hinder her ability to
perform this skill (I think she will succeed, but will take her longer than a younger, smaller
individual). In addition, Chandler is interested and therefore motivated in furthering her
tumbling career beyond that of this action and expresses interest in performing on her high
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school cheerleading squad next year, which requires some tumbling passes in order to be
competitive in the selection process. Overall, she has no debilitating conditions, illness or
disease that may inhibit her overall performance. Because of reasons previously stated, Chandler
has high achievement motivation towards doing a cartwheel because the flipping action is
interesting to her personally and she hopes to continue improving the skill as well as more
complex ones throughout her middle and high school career. Achievement motivation is the
direction and intensity of a person’s effort to reach a performance goal, either for personal
mastery or for demonstrating superior results in comparison to others performing the same task.
In her case, achievement motivation deals with both of these aspects. Chandler’s abilities will be
contributing factors aiding her in learning this skill.
At this point, Chandler is in the verbal cognitive stage of learning, where she understands the
basic techniques of performing a cartwheel and performing one is her primary goal. As for her
information processing capabilities, she has a few abilities and skills that should help her in
this learning experience. Information processing capabilities are factors that influence how an
individual responds to the learning process. Some of these capabilities are abilities while others
are skills. Chandler exhibits an adequate amount of abilities like stamina and trunk strength from
her running workouts with previous sports. She is open to this experience and a very kinesthetic
learner, so she will be eager to learn by example and trying the movements through space. She is
lean and muscular and should have the arm strength to support her body weight in the flip. For
her age, she is mature and motivated, which is impressive in a teenager to express at all. She has
had recreational and competitive experience, so she will not be as anxious about performing in
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front of an audience. From her workouts, her fitness level is moderate, which will aid in the
practice to come.
What (Task Characteristics)
Learning experiences, or situations when people make deliberate attempts to improve
their performance of a particular movement or action require many things. Some of these are
preparation, presentation, feedback and practice structures. The combination of these in the right
degrees is crucial and helps define the learning experience. These steps below are all important
information processing demands of the task.
The first step of the learning experience is known as the preparation phase and includes
several concepts of the motor learning process. This portion incorporates changes that are
associated in the process and the internal process of changing with experience determines
someone’s capability for producing this motor skill. During practice, the athlete needs to focus
and create target skills and target behaviors. Target skills are skills that a person wishes to
perform and may include balance and proprioception throughout the skill process. Target
behaviors are the actions that people must be able to produce to perform target skills successfully
performed in the target context. Examples of these behaviors are like visual focus on the mat,
proper hand and foot alignment, exceptional balance and coordination to perform the cartwheel.
There is also an environmental context to the skill as well and shows where the person wants to
perform that skill and the difficulties found there. In this case, Chandler will perform the skill on
a 2” blue foam mat during a competition routine in front of friends and family.
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Another important portion of the preparation phase is goal setting, which is defined as
the process of establishing targets for performance and is crucial to the preparation phase. The
three types of goals are outcome goals, performance goals and process goals. Outcome goals
are targets of performance that primarily focus on the end result of the activity and emphasize the
ability to safely and effectively perform a cartwheel, while utilizing the proper technique. The
difference in outcome goals is that they are concrete goals that focus on one aspect of the skill or
show if the skill was performed or not. Process goals focus on movement production process
and focus on minutiae that are indicative of the expertise and precision the athlete holds.
The second step in the learning experience is known as the presentation phase and
includes instructional assistance and planning on the learner’s part. One of the most important
parts of the presentation phase is the clarification of experience. The learner needs a coach or
teacher to tell him or her what is expected during the learning experience and alleviate any
concerns. This communication allows Chandler to share goals of her learning experience and
help motivate her to experience success and feel less threatened when beginning a new task.
Familiarizing Chandler with the environment and offering support will make her more willing to
take risks to improve her flipping ability. Attentional focus is also important to direct
information to the performer’s attention and incorporates several different types of focus.
External focus is a focus on information that is the consequence of the action being produced
and is applicable to the exercise mat. Internal focus is a focus on information associated with
the body’s movement in producing action and would apply to hand and foot coordination.
Narrow focus focuses on a small range of sources while broad focus is on a wide range of
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information sources, both of which are important to attentional control to help the learner
achieve the goal more efficiently.
The third step is feedback and is an important reason why instructors are vital to the
learning process. Because they know the correct elements of execution of a given task,
instructors are able to influence positively the learning experience. Information feedback, or
feedback that provides error-correction information, can be either descriptive or prescriptive.
Descriptive feedback describes errors made during the performance of a skill. Prescriptive
feedback not only describes errors made during performance of a skill, but also provides the
learner with some suggestions, which might benefit the learner. Parameter feedback, which
provides error information about the changeable surface features of movements, is used in later
stages of learning, though they can be extremely beneficial throughout the learning process.
Unlike the other three steps, the presentation structure is an important concept throughout
the learning experience. This concept can have either a positive or negative effect on the learner
and must be constantly considered. Like previously stated, Chandler knows she learns best
kinesthetically and therefore should learn in ways that are best for her. Personal traits and
characteristics must be taken into consideration while learning a new skill as well as the practice
type used. There are two types of practices: block practice and random practice. Blocked
practice uses the same practice or skill repeatedly and enhances immediate performance.
Random practice, on the other hand, requires a performance of a number of skills in a random
order and is more effective in the later stages of learning.
The process of teaching Chandler to perform a cartwheel needs a task analysis and
involves a series of steps. A task analysis shows a method of estimating the key components of a
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motor task. In the novice stage, or verbal cognitive stage of learning, only a few components
will be focused on in the task analysis and elements will be addressed more meticulously later
on.
Task Analysis
Takeoff:
1. Athlete will begin standing erect, with both arms extended above their head and
concentrating at the floor.
The athlete will put her hands straight up in the air, creating about a 1200 angle between
the right and left arm to the trunk of the body. The athlete’s palms should be facing
towards his or her right leg (the “lead leg”), which is pointed at a perpendicular angle to
the rest of the athlete’s body. The athlete will tumble to the right because he/she is most
likely right handed and this motion will feel the most comfortable. The stimulus will be
when the athlete is focused at the ground and the coach counts the athlete in by saying “5,
6, 7, 8, 1” , which helps the athlete realize when to begin and will begin performing the
skill on the 1 count. As a beginner, the athlete will be able to use five small prints to help
them understand hand and foot placement throughout the skill (seen below).
2. The athlete will begin to bring their hands towards the mat (both the dominant and non-
dominant hands) to match the markings on the mat.
By placing there hands on the markings appropriate to that hand, the learner should be in an
optimal position to jump over the hurdle effectively. This should place the athlete’s hands
far enough away from the feet so that the athlete does a complete revolution in the cartwheel.
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In addition, the learner’s hands should be close enough so that she does not have to stretch
extensively in order to push her legs over in the cartwheel.
3. As the athlete approaches the initial contact, the nondominant (trail) leg should begin to
lift off the ground, so that the lead leg is holding most of the body weight of the learner.
Initial Contact:
4. As the athlete is propelled laterally and towards the ground, the lead arm (right arm)
should make initial contact with the floor
5. The trail leg should not be bearing weight at this point and the lead leg is now flexed to
begin the flip motion.
Handstand:
6. The lead leg should push extend in a powerful contraction to help push the body above
both hands, which is a handstand skill in gymnastics.
Before beginning a cartwheel skill, a coach should hold the learner in a handstand that the
athlete kicks off the ground into so that they have a feeling for how the athlete feels
holding their body weight on their hands. They should be able to hold a handstand for
three seconds before beginning a cartwheel regimine.
7. The non-dominant hand (left hand) should now make contact with the floor, making the
body weight be focused completely on the hands.
8. The trunk, arms and legs should be extended, straight and tight in order to hold this
weight on their hands in this position.
Terminal Contact:
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9. The dominant hand (right hand) must then push off the ground and begin the leg’s
descent back to the ground.
10. The trunk should flex towards the contralateral side (or towards the side the body will
land, for a right handed person that is to the left).
11. The non-dominant leg is now leading for the remainder of the skill and the athlete’s non-
dominant leg makes contact with the ground again.
12. The dominant hand that pushed off should now be up in the air, bearing no weight.
Landing:
13. At the point, the athlete should make the dominant foot make contact with the ground and
the non-dominant hand pushes off and raises off the ground.
14. The athlete’s end position is exactly identical to the start position.
A cartwheel mat, typically used for beginners
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Takeoff Initial Contact Handstand Terminal Contact Landing
The progression of a cartwheel
Skills are organized into three categories, but can be a combination of the three. Discrete
skills are brief and have a well defined beginning and end, like kicking a soccer ball or throwing
a baseball. Serial skills incorproate several discrete actions connected in a sequence and the
order is crucial to success. Continuous skills unfold without a recognizable beginning and end
of an ongoing and repetitive fashion, like rowing or in-line skating. Cartwheeling is a discrete
task because it has a definite beginning, middle and end, but can also be considered a continuous
skill because it has a certain sequence of skills (like the takeoff and handstand) that are different
and the order is crucial.
Another way to classify skills is by the importance of motor and cognitive elements.
Cognitive skills are the primary determinant of success is the quality of the performer’s
decisions regarding what to do. These skills depend on the strategy required to dictate the
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movement rather than the actual movement itself. Motor skills, as previously stated, is the
primary determinant of success is the quality of movements. The act of performing a cartwheel
is a motor skill and the quality of movement determines the success of proficiency.
A third way to classify skills is by the level of environmental predictability. These skills are
divided into open skills and closed skills. Open skills are performed in unpredictable
environments and learners must adapt to their surroundings. Close skills are performed in an
environment that is predictable or stationary. Chandler’s cartwheel will be performed inside on
the same mat, so it is considered a closed skill because there are no environmental tendencies to
adapt for.
The cartwheel requires no objects to perform. The learner can wear shoes or not and do
not require any other objects to perform. The cartwheel can be modified and increase difficulty
by using only one hand on the ground, elbows on the ground or no hands on the ground. As far
as injuries go, there have been documented cases on broken bones, rashes from the floor and
few injuries to the head when performing flips like the cartwheel. However, with proper
technique and soft padding surfaces at the beginning of the learning stages should help Chandler
avoid injury.
Goals
Before beginning any practice session, it is important for the learner and instructor to
communicate about long term goals and focus on getting the learner to those points. Goal
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setting is known as the processing of establishing targets for performance and increase the
motivation of the learner while maximizing the effects of practice. While goal setting is a highly
individual matter, it causes the learner to be more committed to goal achievement, and she
usually will have a better understanding of the purpose of various learning activities. Research
indicates that the best way to implement goal setting is via use of the “CARS” strategy, whereas
goals are challenging, attainable, realistic, and specific. This ensures that goals are encouraging
to improvement, achievable given the conditions of learning, based on prior experience, and
measurable. When goals are satisfied, they can increase the quality of the learning experience.
Chandler’s first long-term goal is to learn the handstand skill first and master holding herself up
on her hands. She is in the process of learning that new skill and is developing consistency. In
addition, she wants to learn how to do a cartwheel with proper technique so that she may make
the varsity cheerleading squad next year and be able to do a cartwheel on command.
Where (Target Context)
When teaching a new skill, it is important to know the target context and environmental
context in which people want to be able to perform a skill. This will allow the learner to perform
in a more relevant setting and gain confidence and experience in her applicable environment.
She will practice and the United Cheerleading gym in Columbus, GA over thanksgiving break.
She will have the opportunity to practice on a variety of surfaces and will perform her final skill
on a 2” blue foam mat at this gym as well. This skill is considered to be in a recreational
context because Chandler is learning the skill for fun and to show off her new ability to flip. In
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the novice stage, she will have one on one instruction in the same building with limited crowd
noise and distractions.
III. When
a. Novice
There are three stages of learning that Chandler will progress through during the learning
experience: novice, intermediate and advanced. In this novice stage, most of the learning is done
in the verbal cognitive stage since the learner has no knowledge of doing a cartwheel. The
learner must begin to generate ideas about the movement and coordination to help understand the
process. In the preparation phase, Chandler must prepare for the first practice session at the
cheerleading gym and goals must be established so there will be a specific focus for both
Chandler and the instructor. She must work with the instructor to formulate outcome goals,
performance goals and process goals.
Preparation
Chandler’s outcome goal for this first novice stage is to do a cartwheel on a modified
cheese wedge mat without a spotter (picture below). Because of the different type of mat, this
modification of equipment will help Chandler flip more easily and be softer to help cushion her
probable falls. This goal focuses on the end result and can be compared to other’s performances,
so it is an adequate outcome goal. Chandler’s process goal for the beginner phase is to perform
the cartwheel with correct form throughout the skill. Since her process goal focuses on the
quality of movement, this goal is accurate for this context as well. She also must set a
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performance goal that focuses on improving some aspect of performance. Chandler’s
performance goal is to begin and land in a balanced position and not fall over while performing
the skill.
Cheese mat
Chandler will perform a cartwheel three times and the coach will grade her technique using a
check system. Each bullet is one point and the totals will be recorded here. If she completes the
cartwheel, the total will go under “Yes” and if not, “No”.
Process Measures
Takeoff:
_____ Hands facing towards dominant leg
_____ Dominant foot is facing towards the mat
_____ Flex dominant leg to 300 to begin
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Initial Contact:
_____ Dominant hand and Non-dominant hand approach the floor and laterally flex the torso towards the floor
_____ Lift straight non-dominant leg off the ground and no longer bear weight
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_____ Dominant hand now touches the floor
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Handstand:
_____ Dominant leg now contracts to push off
_____ Hold body weight completely on hands
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Terminal Contact:
_____ Laterally flex to non-dominant side to continue flip
_____ Keep eyes on the floor to keep an awareness of where they are in space
_____ Non-dominant leg now touches the floor
_____ Dominant hand comes off the floor and is no longer bearing weight
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Landing:
____ Maintain lateral flexion to finish skill
_____ Dominant leg now touches the floor
_____ Non-dominant hand comes off the floor and is no longer bearing weight
_____ Bring both arms above head to finish the skill
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Outcome Measures
Cartwheel Done Yes No
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Trial 1Trial 2Trial 3
As far as target skills and target behaviors go, Chandler can form basic ones since she
is starting with no previous experience. Her target skills include things such as being in a
balanced position as hands and feet make and lose contact with the floor, proper posture and
staying in line during the flip and using core to stabilize the body throughout the skill. These
target skills are appropriate because these are skills she wishes to perform. Her target behaviors
is to perform a cartwheel on a cheese mat with no distractions and shows the environmental
context the target skill must be performed in, so it fits in this category as well.
The only modification of equipment in this stage is to use the cheese mat for comfort
and safety reasons, otherwise, the skill will be the same throughout all stages and over time she
will work on perfecting technique and achieving automaticity. Target context is also important
in the learning of a new skill and is the place where the skill will take place and its distractions
the learner must overcome. Chandler might encounter attention issues with loud noises and
conversations around her while practicing and learn to overcome them. By allowing Chandler
to set her own goals and have one on one coaching time, she should be motivated to work hard
and have motivation to achieve these goals. The motivation of the learner is so important in this
novice stage and the instructor must keep the learner engaged and focused while doing a session.
Her performance will be measured by the performance measures above and baseline
measurements should be taken at the first practice session to know if she has improved over
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time. The learner’s goals and performance aspects above assess progress that best indicate skill
level. Both must be considered to gain the most accurate conclusion to see if changes in
practice, experience and factors help or hinder Chandler’s achievement.
Presentation
During the first practice session, Chandler will start on the high end of the cheese mat
and attempt to perform the flip with a trained spotter helping her flip. The action will be
demonstrated to her as a presentation, make sure to answer any questions and clarify all
expectations and then she will attempt to reproduce it. All questions should be answered and
expectations clarified before Chandler performs the first flip. Once the learner sees and performs
the task for the first time, she will be motivated and confident in her performance because she is
doing well.
To manage arousal, the coach should give only positive reinforcement for trusting the
spotter and performing the skill again and again, even if she falls. Arousal is the level of CNS
activation and it is Chandler’s goal to have arousal in the optimal performance zone so she can
efficiently perform the cartwheel. The scariest part of the flip is putting your life in someone
else’s hands, which requires a lot of trust. She must focus attention at the floor and focus on her
movement and should also be praised for that and steered clear from distractions with the
coach’s help. Attentional focus can either limit or improve performance and its two
components are the direction and width of focus. Direction refers to an internal focus that is
associated with the body’s movement in producing action and external focus is associated with
information that is a consequence of the action being performed. It is most important that
Chandler directs her attention to internal focus cues during this novice stage of learning. If the
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learner continues to fall and is not able to land on her feet, instruction should be given to the
learner and then follow with a motivating statement to focus on the positive aspects of the
motivation, otherwise defined as instruction from the teacher.
Instructions are an important portion of this task because they will be given to the
learner both verbally and physically. Both types of instruction must be used by the coach
appropriately to help the learner understand how to reproduce the movement. Demonstration
may need to be given throughout the learning process in this area to help the learner know how
the cartwheel works. Instruction for this practice session will be visual and verbal and should be
given in small amounts to not overload the learner. Initial instruction will be placed in
Chandler’s short term memory and allow her to retrieve, rehearse, process and transfer
information during the practice time. The guidance portion of the instruction is crucial in the
novice stage. Guidance is a procedure used to direct learners through task performance in an
effort to reduce errors or fears and can be active or passive. Active guidance requires active
movement from the performer and preserves the relative timing and feel of the skill. Chandler
will gain this over time as she begins to perform a cartwheel on her own and intrinsic feedback
helps her correct the technique. Passive guidance is when the teacher moves for them and aids
the learner through the cartwheel. The physical rehearsal of the motor skill is always more
important than verbally expressing the flip. The majority of this practice time should be physical
rehearsal and only take water breaks at regular intervals or at signs of fatigue to help the learner
perform at optimal levels. Fatigue should be avoided and if the athlete becomes tired, they
might need a break as well as motivation to push through the pain. Another important rehearsal
mechanism is mental rehearsal. A great time for the coach to use this skill is during a water
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break every 15 minutes to avoid fatigue with the learner. At this time, the coach should question
her flipping and feeling hollow (or having a tight core) during the flip.
Feedback
It is important to give feedback to the learner throughout the process, but know to give
extrinsic or see if they can produce it intrinsically. Since she is a beginner, she will require
mostly extrinsic feedback but if she gives off evidence of intrinsic feedback, praise her for it
because it aids her to become more self-efficient. Intrinsic feedback arises from the individual
and is received naturally from the body moving through space from stretch receptors and
proprioreceptors to help the body move throughout the skill. Because it is so unfamiliar,
Chandler will begin to learn this and it will greatly increase in the intermediate phase. If I had to
make a ratio, the feedback should be 80% extrinsic and 20% intrinsic, so the coach is heavily
influential in this stage. Another important aspect of feedback to consider is precision.
Precision gives information about the direction and magnitude of error to the learner and allows
them to know exactly how incorrect the movement was. In the novice stage, the coach should
avoid using precision feedback unless it will help the learner perform the cartwheel, but at this
point the learner is not expected to have perfect form, so feedback on this one aspect is
unnecessary. The frequency feedback needs to be very present in this stage.
Practice Structure
Another important aspect of this stage is the practice schedule. She will practice one on
one with an appropriate coach for thirty minute privates three times a week. This stage will use
blocked practice, because only cartwheels and sometimes handstands for form work will be
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worked on during this time. Over time, we hope Chandler will form a general motor program
of how to do a cartwheel and will be able to move the skill to different terrains and mats in the
future. Over time, Chandler should form a schema, a set of rules relating the various outcomes
of a person’s actions to the parameters the person sets to produce those outcomes, especially with
cartwheeling on a cheese mat. Physical practice involves several parts, including
fractionalization, segmentation and simplification. Fractionalization allows the learner to
practice different parts of the skill at various times and put each part together to complete skill.
Segmentation is practiced when one part of a skill is practiced for a time, a second part is added
and then the two are practiced together. Simplification is a type of practice in which the
complexity of some element of the skill is reduced. Slow motion practice can also aid in
learning, but this is difficult to accomplish with this flip. In this stage, Chandler will strive to
create a general motor program to perform flips on gymnastics mats and schema to help her
realize which motions go where throughout the movement from practice.
Transfer will occur in this step because she has no previous experience doing a
cartwheel, so she is bound to use other experiences and apply them to a new task. Portions of the
motor programs from kicking in soccer and strides in cross country can help Chandler perform
these techniques at the beginning of this process. We hope for a positive transfer for her, where
she will learn quicker than a novice due to these experiences and hope she will excel.
Generalizations is the capacity of the schema to accommodate something new, which will be
used more in the intermediate stage than here. Since Chandler will be performing on the same
cheese mat throughout this stage, generalization is not needed quite yet.
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Phillip TomporowskiKINS 3750
Between the novice and intermediate stages, a there should be a positive transfer and
should gain generalization while going into the next stage. The only difference in the two stages
is a mat change from the cheese mat to the 2” blue foam mat. Throughout this stage, positive
reinforcement should be used to verbally praise, clap and smile to encourage Chandler to
encourage this behavior and punishment should be avoided in this stage.
b. Intermediate
Preparation
Once Chandler is able to perform a cartwheel of a cheese mat and mastered all the basic
movements with the proper form and technique, she will advance to the intermediate stage of
learning. Moving to this stage indicates that Chandler has achieved all the previous goals of a
novice. Before beginning practice sessions in the intermediate stage, she must develop a new list
of goals to be achieved at this new level of training. Her outcome goal at this stage is to do the
cartwheel and keep arms and legs straight throughout the flip. Chandler’s performance goal is
to increase her score from the previous assessment portion. Lastly, the process goals is to
perfect proper technique and form while performing the cartwheel, like pointing her toes and
performing a dramatic landing.
Chandler’s target skills for the immediate stage of learning again include things such as
a balanced position throughout the flip, correct arm and leg position, correct core activation and
the speed of the overall flip. Her target behavior is the performing the cartwheel on the 2” blue
foam mat without falling during the flip.
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Phillip TomporowskiKINS 3750
The equipment used during this stage changes from the fluffy cheese mat to a harder
2” blue foam core mat. This mat is used for competitive routines, so it is important for Chandler
to be able to perform the skill on the same floor that she will again in the future. The target
context is again in the United Cheerleading gym in Columbus, GA and is still focusing in the
same local area as the cheese mat. Chandler will be more likely to be motivated since the mat
changes and she is now performing a skill on a mature mat and is excited to step onto the
competitive floor and show her coach the skills she has mastered. Performance measures will
be used again to evaluate Chandler’s process (below). The process measures are modified
slightly to add keeping her appendages straight and focusing on only a slight bend in her elbows.
Each will give her a rating between one and thirty and the scores will be averaged between three
trials. For the outcome measures, Chandler will receive three points for doing a cartwheel and
zero for not successfully landing on her feet.
Process Measures
Takeoff:
_____ Arms straight
_____ Legs straight
_____ Hands facing towards dominant leg
_____ Dominant feet has toe pointed
_____ Dominant foot is facing towards the mat
_____ Flex dominant leg to 300 to begin
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
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Phillip TomporowskiKINS 3750
Initial Contact:
_____ Dominant hand and Non-dominant hand approach the floor and laterally flex the torso towards the floor
_____ Lift straight non-dominant leg off the ground and no longer bear weight
_____ Dominant hand now touches the floor
_____ Dominant arm remains straight
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Handstand:
_____ Dominant leg now contracts to push off
_____ Hold body weight completely on hands
_____ Elbows slightly flexed
_____ Toes Pointed
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Terminal Contact:
_____ Laterally flex to non-dominant side to continue flip
_____ Keep eyes on the floor to keep an awareness of where they are in space
_____ Non-dominant leg now touches the floor
_____ Dominant hand comes off the floor and is no longer bearing weight
_____ Elbows still slightly flexed
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Landing:
____ Maintain lateral flexion to finish skill
_____ Dominant leg now touches the floor
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Mary-Catherine Ciuba6 December 2011
Phillip TomporowskiKINS 3750
_____ Non-dominant hand comes off the floor and is no longer bearing weight
_____ Point dominant leg’s toes
_____ Bring both arms above head to finish the skill
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Outcome Measures
Cartwheel Done Yes NoTrial 1Trial 2Trial 3
Presentation
Because Chandler is now in the intermediate stage, more is expected of her and she
should now know the basic technique and form required to throw a cartwheel. Chandler is not
expected to have perfected the skill yet, but expectations should be clarified that the practices
are more serious and she should be able to focus and accomplish the goals above for this learning
stage. Because the learner is more comfortable with the task, her arousal levels should now be
at the optimal level and anxiety that the skill brings should be diminished. This change should
increase her performance and efficiency. Also, Chandler is able to focus solely on practices
while at the gym, a characteristic of the intermediate stage of learning. Due to the change in
floors, Chandler’s attentional focus must be shifted towards a external focus to account for this
new, tougher variable. She will continue to have narrow focus since doing a cartwheel is the
most relevant information presented at this time.
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Phillip TomporowskiKINS 3750
Instruction can and should be more detailed than what the learner is accustomed to
because Chandler is more comfortable with this cartwheeling skill. She should be verbally
quizzed to repeat elements of proper technique in order to make sure Chandler is storing
information in her long term memory, insuring that the transfer is occurring. In addition to
instruction, the coach will provide a demonstration on the blue foam mat in order to show
proper technique in the physical form one more time. Active guidance in this form of
demonstration will help Chandler extrinsically and then help her intrinsically realize what
techniques are off and how to correct them during these practices. Verbal guidance is the only
guidance that should be provided during this stage to allow Chandler to become aware of
incorrect technique and be able to fix it actively instead of change passively.
Physical rehearsal is essential in this stage of learning and will allow Chandler the
repetition her body needs to feel comfortable with the correct body movements. Because the
skill cannot effectively be broken up into parts, she should stick with segmentation practice in
this practice. First, she will only focus on getting her hands on the ground with proper technique.
The blue foam mat is not angled, so this approach is different from previous experience on the
cheese mat. Fatigue can be avoided by again taking water breaks at regular intervals and allow
the learner to leave the mat, collect her thoughts and approach the skill again. Mental rehearsal
will again be carried out in this stage in the same fashion mentioned in the novice stage.
Feedback
Precise feedback in the intermediate stage helps progress Chandler to the automaticity of
movement because this stage focuses primarily on technique versus performance. She should
begin to rely on intrinsic feedback and grow tendencies for the athlete to know what proper
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technique truly feels like and develop a capability of self-correction. The instructor should
reduce the amount of feedback she gives Chandler during this stage and begin faded feedback.
Faded feedback illustrates beginning with lots of instructor feedback and decreasing comments
over time. Delayed feedback is another important type of feedback to this stage and provides
feedback several seconds after the movement, allowing the learner to detect errors on her own.
Again, frequency of feedback should be drastically reduced in this stage overall.
Practice Structure
As far as practice schedules are concerned, the intermediate stage should have longer
practices since attention is no longer an issue. The intermediate stage will have 1 hour long
sessions three times a week and this stage should last approximately two weeks in length. Again,
these practices will use blocked practices since she will only focus on throwing a cartwheel.
Although blocked practice has been shown to not benefit the learner in competition, this is not
the case in Chandler’s situation. The movements performed in practice will transfer directly into
the exact competitive setting with no loss of information. Chandler will develop a schema for
the new general motor program for cartwheels in her mind from the novice stage. Transfer
should be waning while generalizations waxing in order that the learner make strides towards
automaticity while practicing the skill.
c. Advanced
Presentation
Because Chandler has learned and retained all the information from the novice and
intermediate practice sessions, she is now in the advanced stages of learning. Chandler’s
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outcome goal in preparation for this stage of learning is to land on both feet using the 2” blue
foam mat and use exact technique, including pointing her toes and exact proper body placement
throughout the skill. Her performance goal is to perform a cartwheel more efficiently and with
better technique than the two previous stages. The learner’s process goal is to improve perform
and further perfect these techniques. The target skill is to execute correct technique to
effectively perform the cartwheel. Her target behavior is for Chandler to perform all the body
movement essential for throwing a cartwheel while keeping her core contracted and posture
erect. There is no modification of equipment from the intermediate stage because the same mat
and environment will be used again. This stage, like the previous one, mimics a real life
situation like competitive cheerleaders use daily. Her target context remains on this blue floor
in the same gym. Chandler’s motivation has continued to increase since the first practice
because of the improvements she sees on paper and feels while performing the skill.
Performance measures will incorporate previous scales and additional pointers are added to
assess a more precise technique. The same outcome measure scoring system will be used in the
advanced stage that has been introduced previously.
Process Measures
Takeoff:
_____ Arms straight
_____ Legs straight
_____ Hands facing towards dominant leg
_____ Dominant feet has toe pointed
_____ Dominant foot is facing towards the mat
_____ Flex dominant leg to 300 to begin
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Mary-Catherine Ciuba6 December 2011
Phillip TomporowskiKINS 3750
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Initial Contact:
_____ Dominant hand and Non-dominant hand approach the floor and laterally flex the torso towards the floor
_____ Lift straight non-dominant leg off the ground and no longer bear weight
_____ Dominant hand now touches the floor
_____ Dominant arm remains straight
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Handstand:
_____ Dominant leg now contracts to push off
_____ Hold body weight completely on hands
_____ Elbows slightly flexed
_____ Toes Pointed
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Terminal Contact:
_____ Laterally flex to non-dominant side to continue flip
_____ Keep eyes on the floor to keep an awareness of where they are in space
_____ Non-dominant leg now touches the floor
_____ Dominant hand comes off the floor and is no longer bearing weight
_____ Elbows still slightly flexed
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Landing:
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Mary-Catherine Ciuba6 December 2011
Phillip TomporowskiKINS 3750
____ Maintain lateral flexion to finish skill
_____ Dominant leg now touches the floor
_____ Non-dominant hand comes off the floor and is no longer bearing weight
_____ Point dominant leg’s toes
_____ Bring both arms above head to finish the skill
_____ Keep arms and legs in line with their torso
Outcome Measures
Cartwheel Done Yes NoTrial 1Trial 2Trial 3
Presentation
At this learning stage, there are high expectations for Chandler. Since she has already
performed in this environment and is completing the same skill, the only advancement seen in
this context is to perfect skill and improve automaticity. She should not have to be shown the
skill again as far as presentation goes and perfecting the technique is her expectation. She
should do a cartwheel with proper technique and form, allowing all the aspects of the assessment
receive high scores. Her arousal level should be the higher at this stage than the intermediate
because she is trying to be perfect instead of just perform the skill on this mat. To help her relax,
she should take deep breaths before performing a cartwheel. Chandler should focus her
attention on doing the cartwheel and making the motions automatic and require little to no
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mental concentration on the flipping, which allows concentration to be used to focus on proper
technique instead.
Instruction should be seldom used in this stage, with the exception of short phases to aid
Chandler while performing a cartwheel. Visual demonstration is not applicable at this stage
and guidance is no longer needed because Chandler is aware and able to perform correct body
movements and positions. Physical rehearsal will still be a portion of this practice and focus on
perfecting technique and increasing confidence to perform multiple cartwheels in a row. Fatigue
should be avoided with water breaks at regular intervals. Mental rehearsal can also be used
here to boost her confidence and make Chandler ready for the performance.
Feedback
Intrinsic feedback is the most important type of feedback that should be present at this
stage. Summary feedback also plays a role in this stage and informs the learner about each
attempt in the series at a later time. Precise feedback should also be given during breaks
between trials as a type of extrinsic feedback. Another type of beneficial feedback is videotape
feedback of the practice session, which allows the learner and instructor to watch movements
and point out errors together that they may have missed in practice sessions. This type of
feedback is a great way to identify and correct bad habits and allow the learner and instructor
realize their mistakes. Frequency of feedback should be limited to a bare minimum in this
stage.
Practice Schedule
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The practice schedule will again be set up in a blocked fashion and occur three times a
week with one hour sessions. The general motor program and schema from previous stages
will be implemented and perfected during these sessions. Chandler will continue to perform
cartwheels and feel like the motion is automated at this final point in the learning process. All
the transfer and generalizations of this skill should already have occurred, but the few
technique changes that do occur in this stage should be generalized and become a portion of the
schema through this practice.
IV. Summary
The information-processing model is extremely important when developing a learning
experience to teach a skill to a novice properly. Stimulus identification, response programming
and response selection with the environment and individual’s processing affects their output
while performing a skill. The stimulus (with the countdown) is the signal for Chandler to
mentally prepare for the cartwheel and decide to perform the flip. One decision is made and the
response is carried out. The output would optimally be performing the cartwheel correctly in
terms of efficiency and technique. This process shows how learners process information, store it
and retrieve it on a later date. It is essential to motor skills and helps athletes to decide what
action to take and how to perform under pressure. Knowing how to teaching athletes these skills
is a must for coaches and teachers and should be the bedrock of every learner’s education of any
skill, physical or not.
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