> Nevertheless, while there has been a lot of interest in the use of Constraints-led Approach (CLA) and Nonlinear Pedagogy (NLP) in enhancing teaching, coaching and learning, there remains many questions about how CLA and NLP can be delivered at the “coalface” (i.e., on the training field, practice gym, playing field, etc.).
very strange use of language here.. this appears to be about conscious sports, but clothed in language referring to "the environment" repeatedly
Yeah, this is a weird article to have popped up on HN and probably pretty opaque to anyone not already versed in the topic. The "ecological" part here comes from ecological psychology [1] which, in contrast to cognitive psychology, tries to explain perception and action in terms of dynamical systems. The terminology is indeed very strange if you're not familiar with it.
When applied to sports coaching it basically comes down to:
- Skill is a matter of interacting with and adapting to the game environment (which includes the other players), rather than memorizing or automatizing correct movement patterns
- Humans are good at unconsciously figuring out how to move in order to interact with their environment, but bad at consciously controlling their movements
- So to teach people effectively, instead of telling/showing people what to do, you set up carefully designed practice environments and let them experiment and figure stuff out
[2] is probably a better introduction to this topic than the linked article.
Thanks for the summary -- that was really helpful. Is ecological psychology used in a broader way than just movement / sports? I guess I'll read the wikipedia page, but I'm intrigued by the idea, so if there's a review paper you'd recommend or some other reference aside from the one you linked, I'd dig it.
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 21.6 ms ] threadvery strange use of language here.. this appears to be about conscious sports, but clothed in language referring to "the environment" repeatedly
When applied to sports coaching it basically comes down to:
- Skill is a matter of interacting with and adapting to the game environment (which includes the other players), rather than memorizing or automatizing correct movement patterns
- Humans are good at unconsciously figuring out how to move in order to interact with their environment, but bad at consciously controlling their movements
- So to teach people effectively, instead of telling/showing people what to do, you set up carefully designed practice environments and let them experiment and figure stuff out
[2] is probably a better introduction to this topic than the linked article.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_psychology 2. https://swordstem.com/2023/07/31/part-1-ecological-psycholog...