Decision Training is a new method of teaching and coaching where the same emphasis as in Behavioral training is placed on Technical and Physiological training, but the cognitive skills underlying higher levels of performance are trained at the same time

First lets look at Behavioral training

With Behavioral training, emphasis is on the acquisition of technical and physiological skill, and there is little regard for the development of cognitive skills during practice. Coaches promote high levels of physical effort, but miss the development of the athlete’s perceptual and cognitive processes with their  regular practice. Instruction follows a path of simple to complex drills using high levels of repetitive blocked practice. Behavioral training promotes an internal focus of attention as coaches continually draw the athlete’s attention into their own body.

This type of training may be hit & miss, meaning performance is exceptionally good one day and terrible the next, leaving both the coach and athlete at a loss to know why !

Athlete’s  trained in behavioral training  do not develop the higher-order cognition skills needed to understand what underlies their own higher (or lower) levels of performance

Decision Training

With Decision Training, the same emphasis as in Behavioral training is placed on technical and physiological training, but the cognitive skills underlying higher levels of performance are trained at the same time

Instead of using simple to complex drills, tactical whole training is used where skills are trained within tactically oriented drills that simulate parts of the game. A technique-within- tactics approach is used, where the same technical perfection is sought, but within tactical contexts. Hard first instruction is used, external focus is trained where the athletes are encouraged to direct their attention outward to the critical objects, locations, and tactical events in their sport. Communication between coach and athlete changes from one where the coach tells the athlete what to do to one  where the athletes are required to analyze their own performance and provide corrective solutions. This is achieved by deliberately withdrawing and reducing bio-feedback using a bandwidth approach.

Practices with a decision training focus, help athletes anticipate events, attend to critical cues, retrieve the best response from memory, focus on the appropriate events at the right time, and make effective decisions in both high and low pressure settings.

Decision Training therefore incorporates higher levels of cognitive effort into the practice environment while preserving or increasing the amount of physiological, technical, and tactical training that occurs.

Permanent gains are only achieved when cognitive and physical training occur in concert

Three Step Decision training Model

Step 1: Decisions – identify one decision that is to be trained using 1 of the 7 cognitive skills

Step 2: Drills – Use a drill that trains the decision in a real play mode using cognitive triggers

Step 3: Tools – Use the training tools to train decisions using a variety of methods that enhance decision making

  Identify Decision to be trained using one of Seven Cognitive skills

• 1.      Anticipation
• 2.      Attention
• 3.      Focus & Concentration
• 4.      Pattern Recognition
• 5.      Memory
• 6.      Problem Solving
• 7.      Decision making

Design  drills using one or more of the Seven Cognitive Triggers or Cues

• 1.      Object
• 2.      Location
• 3.      Quiet Eye
• 4.      Reaction time
• 5.      Memory
• 6.      Kinesthetic
• 7.      Self-Coaching

Use one or more of the Seven Decision Training Tools

• 1.      Variable practice
• 2.      Random practice
• 3.      Bandwidth Feedback
• 4.      Written Questions
• 5.      Video Feedback
• 6.      Hard first Instruction & modeling
• 7.      External Focus of Instruction

Equipment - SwinngLAB have developed their own 3D Cognitive Trainer which is programmable to facilitate:

• 1.      Kinesthetic technique
• 2.      TPI assessment & training
• 3.      Cognitive drills

For further information or an on-line demo of our 3D Cognitive Trainer please contact:

henry@swinglab.com.au    or graham@swinglab.com.au    0414 780 667