Reference for Paper

Krause, L., Farrow, D., Buszard, T., Pinder, R., & Reid, M. (2019). Application of representative learning design for assessment of common practice tasks in tennis. Psychology of Sport and Exercise , 41, 36-45.

🚀 Article in 3 Sentences

1. Gives a really nice introduction into practice design and to what Representative Learning Design is
2. Go through how they picked up and analysed the data before giving the results showing the differences between the practice tasks and match play behaviours of the players.
3. There is a nice bit at the end where they give 3 Implications for coaches and practitioners

🤝Impressions

Really insightful paper. The comparisons were really good and that they had the access to the HawkEye technology provided a clearer lens into the behaviours of the players.

👨‍🏫Who should read this?

Anybody interested in coaching but especially tennis coaches. The first part of the paper gives a really nice description of what Representative Learning Design is. All tennis coaches should read the part of the paper that looks gives the RPAT scores for the practice tasks.

🎾How Article will influence my coaching

• Information from ball flight and position of opponents are key affordances for tennis players. A representative task in tennis would have to include both these key affordances.
• Make sure to sufficiently challenge the players emotionally. They will play a lot different if there are no consequences for their mistakes
• Make sure that the players are not using strategies that won’t help them improve their performance in a game. The example in this study was standing further behind the baseline to give themselves more time.
• It’s very important to understand gender differences in the way the strategies that they use
• Players should be encouraged to exploit the rules/constraints to their advantage to help them win the practice tasks. This will help develop their problem solving and decision making skills

📃Takeaways for coaches

• Take a look at the RPAT. This is a very good starting place for looking at RLD
• When starting out with RLD coaches should design tasks that: more closely simulate the key information from the performance environment and/or challenges the players emotionally. Make every shot important, have consequences present and build a suitable amount of pressure.
• Challenging players emotionally is crucial as they will play differently if they are less apprehensive about the consequences of their mistakes