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Choosing to move, moving to learn
Choice. Internal locus of control. Ability to deploy predictive motor learning from a solid choice point based on one's own perception of one's own interoceptive state.
This is all about athletes, however, it could just as easily have been about Feldenkrais.
Excerpts:
Re: a world class kickboxer:
Choice. Internal locus of control. Ability to deploy predictive motor learning from a solid choice point based on one's own perception of one's own interoceptive state.
This is all about athletes, however, it could just as easily have been about Feldenkrais.
Excerpts:
"The ability to make choices and exert control over one’s environment has been identified as a fundamental psychological need [1] and even a biological necessity [2]. It has been shown that that the anticipation of making a choice is associated with greater activity in brain regions involved in motivational processes [3].... This study is the first to examine how choice can enhance the training of competitive athletes."
"In an interesting study by Wulf and colleagues [8], participants who were allowed to choose the order of the to-be-completed five calisthenics exercises performed 60% more repetitions than those in the yoked group, despite similar fitness baselines."
"The positive effects of choice on motor skill learning have been reported for a wide range of populations—including children, adults, and even those with motor impairments [10]. Yet, until recently, no one examined if this effect generalizes to athletes. Being an applied sports scientist and a kickboxing coach, I identified a gap in the literature…"
"In one of the rounds the order of the delivered punches was predetermined, on the other round the athlete chose the order of punches himself...we worried he may have reached a plateau in his punching ability, and that the intervention would not affect his performance. This was exacerbated by the fact that our protocol did not lead to any fatigue. However, to our surprise, on each of the six testing days, he punched harder (5-10%) and/or faster (6-11%) in the choice, compared to the yoked rounds!"