Non Linear Coaching - The 5 Core Principles

When coaching using a non-linear approach, practice design and delivery should adhere to these 5 core principles:

1. Representative Learning Design

The content of practice should provide players with information the game will provide. Drills and activities should look or feel like the game. Removing game information and making use of isolated or unopposed drills has an impact on learning.

2. Constraint Manipulation (CLA)

Rather then direct, instruct, and tell players what to do and how, when, and where to do it, make changes to the various information sources the activity provides as a way to guide their discovery of skilled solutions.

3. Functional Variability

Activities should not ask players to do the same thing, the same way on repeat. We want players to have lots of time on task but we want them to use different techniques, patterns, strategies, etc. to achieve the same outcome. In other words, we want repetition without repetition.

4. Focus of Attention

Everything we ask a player to do requires them to focus their attention. There are two ways they can focus that attention...internally or externally. In non-linear coaching we want activities that move the players attention away from what they doing and how they are moving (internal focus) to what they have to achieve as an outcome (external focus).

5. Perception-Action Coupling

We don't just want players acting because we told them to, we want them to act based on what they see, hear and feel. We want actions to be the result of perception. We call this read and react in hockey. However, we also want our players to learn that they can act in order to perceive.

Coaching to these core principles has the following benefits:

• practice is dynamic and more engaging & enjoyable

• long term learning and recall improves

• better practice to game transfer

• decision making develops

• skill acquisition is enhanced

• technical proficiency increases