Types of guidance that a coach would use for performers

Coaches are constantly striving to teach performers new skills in order to improve their skill level. One strategy used to undergo this is guidance. Guidance is defined by Schmidt as “A large class of common methods in which the learner is guided in various ways through the movement patterns”. There are 4 types of guidance which are to used in conjunction with teaching and practice methods; visual, verbal, manual and mechanical. A good coach will know how to utilise each of these guidance methods accordingly in order to strive for the best performance levels from their athletes.

Visual guidance is where you as the coach need to provide a demonstration for the performers, and would usually be used when introducing a new skill or to athletes in the cognitive stage of learning. The demonstration would be provided possibly through videos or you actually showing them yourself. The purpose of this method is to give the performer/s a mental image so that interpret the skill and refer to it when necessary. One potential weakness with this guidance method is that if your coaching students, they may be bombarded with information and struggle to understand the desired technique.

Verbal guidance consists of explaining to your performers what you would like them do. This method would be used alongside a visual demonstration if the performers were still at novice level, however if they are beyond this stage, a demo may not be needed. This form of guidance can be effective if you are giving technical information, or if the athlete is of a high level, you may be able to convey tactics. Potential weaknesses with this method include the possible overloading of information, which would result in the failure of the skill being duplicated. This can be overcome by making sure that if you’re the coach you make it concise to ensure maximum learning.

Another form of guidance would be manual guidance. This involves having to physically move the athletes into the correct position if they are failing to do it alone. This method is highly effective in ensuring that they experience kinaesthesis. This is where the body’s sensory organs are able to memorise the positioning of your body, so that you can return to a position again after moving (muscle memory). This would be useful in building an athlete’s confidence, as they are successfully completing the technique. If a performer becomes dependent on the aid it could stunt the improvement of the skill and actually make it harder for the coach to alter this habit in the long run.

The final guidance method is mechanical aids and this involves props and equipment in order to help the athletes learn. A classic example of this is in swimming lessons when younger swimmers use flotation devices. Just like manual guidance, if the aids are used for too long, performers become dependent and struggle to dissociate the skill and the devices used. This method would primarily be aimed at beginners or possibly high level athletes that are returning from injury.