LESSON COMPENDIUM IN

PEd 211 – PRINCIPLES of MOTOR CONTROL and

LEARNING of EXERCISE, SPORTS and DANCE
ESSU Maydolong Campus
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 This Learning Compendium is exclusively for the use of ESSU for its flexible
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Made possible through the effort of:

PASEL RAMIREZ- DERATAS, EDD-PE

CHAPTER 6 MOTOR
CONTROL AND
LEARNING IN
SPORTS
In this chapter, students will be equipped with the knowledge on motor control and
learning in sports with the following objectives:
1. Gain basic understanding on motor abilities in sports.
2. State principles of sports training and how these principles transferred in sports
motor control.
3. Consider athlete’s capacity to improve motor control to avoid injury in sports.
4. Reflect own self coordinative movements to produce quality motor control in sports.

LESSON 1 Motor Control in Sports

A. Every Healthy Person Will Be Capable of Both Gross Motor Control and Fine Motor
Control.

Motor control is divided into two subsets: Gross Motor Control and Fine Motor
Control

Gross motor control is the ability of a human to move a large muscle group or
segment of the anatomy; the waving of an arm is an example of this type of movement.

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 Fine motor control is the ability to manipulate precise movement, such as
handwriting. All motor control is an integrated product of three aspects of the human
anatomy: muscles, bones, and the central nervous system.

The voluntary motor system, also known as the somatic nervous system, is the
structure that permits and creates motor control. The system takes its name from the
part of the brain known as the motor cortex, from which the signals to initiate movement
originate. The impulse from the motor cortex travels along pathways through the
brainstem into the spinal cord. The nerve cells of the spinal cord connect to a vast and
intricate network to control the skeletal muscle movement. Motor neurons, the
specialized mechanisms that communicate to the muscles, are a continuation from the
nerve roots that branch out from each vertebra in the spinal column to the muscle over
which control is required. There are a number of pathways essential to the function of the
voluntary motor system, of which the pyramidal system is the best known and the most
extensive.

AD
The voluntary, or somatic, motor system that provides the body with motor control is
in contrast to the autonomic system, which begins with the regulation directed by the
distinct regions of the brain, including the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus regulates
the function of many of the essential bodily systems, including heart rate, blood pressure,
and electrolytic balance. The hypothalamus communicates much of its direction to these
involuntary structures by way of the chemical signals, hormones, that are directed to the
glandular network headed by the thyroid gland.
B. ATHLETES SUCCESS IN MOTOR CONTROL

In many sports, athletic success is measured in the fine distinctions between athletes in
terms of their:
1. Coordination (particularly their hand-eye coordination)
2. Balance
3. Overall body control

C. ASPECTS OF MOTOR CONTROL

Many aspects of motor control are hereditary; others are linked to the body type of the
individual.

As an example, a 5 ft 10 in (1.7 m) point guard on a basketball team is expected to

be able to execute complex physical movements, such as dribbling the ball with either
hand at full speed under defensive pressure. The 6 ft 10 in (2 m) basketball forward is
not likely to be able to move with the same grace and speed as the guard. With practice,
the taller and less coordinated athlete could achieve improvements in this particular skill,
but it is unlikely that he or she could surpass the smaller and quicker player.

D. ATHLETES CAPACITY TO IMPROVE MOTOR CONTROL

Body type and heredity aside, all athletes have the capacity to improve their motor
control through the practice and the repetition of distinct motor skills.

In many sports, the drills that form the basis of improved motor control ability are
collateral to the sport itself. Cross training techniques are often employed to enhance a
particular motor ability that is desired for a sport in an athlete. A notable example is the
use of jumping rope in sports such as boxing; the repeated coordination of the athlete's
footwork and hands in the act of skipping improves the athlete's overall coordination.

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 American football has a time-honored training technique where players are required to
move at full speed while negotiating a series of tires placed in a pattern; this drill builds
the ability of the body to coordinate a jump vertically with a movement laterally to avoid
falling into the obstacle, a non-contact simulation of the agile movements required on the
playing field.

"Muscle memory" is a muscular attribute linked to the development of motor skills.

When an athlete is sidelined from an activity due to injury, the athlete will return more
quickly to his or her previous level of motor ability due to the memory preserved in the
nervous system as to how the motion stressed the subject muscle or structure.

E. A Physical Injury To Any Aspect Of The Voluntary Motor System Will Impair Motor
Control.

A concussion or damage to the spine or spinal column is a frequent cause of such

injuries. When a nerve becomes pinched or otherwise damaged through trauma, such as
a carpal tunnel nerve fracture in the wrist, the pathway for the major nerve ending into
the muscles of the hand, there will be similar limitations of movement.

Motor control can be significantly impaired though stresses imposed on other bodily
systems. When athletes become dehydrated, they will commonly sustain an imbalance
in their electrolyte levels, particularly that of the mineral sodium. A sodium deficiency will
impair the ability of a nervous system transmission to be communicated to the working
muscle.

Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports/sports-fitness-recreation-and-leisure-
magazines/motor-control

LESSON 2 Motor Abilities in Sports

A. MOTOR ABILITIES

Motor abilities can be described as relatively stable sets of inner genetic

presuppositions needed to carry out locomotive activities. They include force, speed,
endurance, coordination and flexibility. Motor abilities are manifested on the outside by
sports skills.

Ability is the make-up of an athlete that we inherit from our parents. Abilities underpin
and contribute to skills. Abilities can be essentially perceptual, essentially motor or a
combination of both. Most abilities to do with action are a combination and are referred to as
psychomotor abilities. Now there is no definitive list of psychomotor abilities.

Stallings (1982) identified the following Psychomotor Abilities:

1. Muscular power and endurance, flexibility
2. Balance
3. Coordination
4. Differential relaxation (selective adjustment of muscle tension)

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Fleishman (1972) identified the following Nine Psychomotor Abilities (referred to as gross
motor abilities):
1. Extent flexibility
2.Dynamic flexibility
3. Explosive strength
4. Static strength
5. Dynamic strength
6. Trunk strength
7. Gross body coordination
8. Gross body equilibrium
9.Stamina

Example: If you an athlete of average height is strong, good coordination and have an
abundance of fast-twitch fibres in legs, then he has the natural ability to be a sprinter.

B. SKILL, TECHNIQUE & ABILITY

Skill
Skill is an athlete's ability to choose and perform the right techniques at the right
time, successfully, regularly and with a minimum of effort. Athletes use their skill to achieve
athletic objectives, e.g. sprinting a 10.0 second 100 metres. Skill is acquired and therefore
has to be learned.
Types of skills
 Cognitive - involves thought processes
 Perceptual - involves interpretation of information
 Motor - involves movement
Psychologists have categorised human behaviour into three broad domains:
 Cognitive skill (knowing) - know and understand the vital aspects of the sport
 Affective behaviour (feeling) - success at the sport depends on mental attitude and
developing psychological skills to cope with stress
 Psychomotor skill (doing) - excellence in sport requires the execution of precise,
fluent and effective movement patterns which need the combination of perceptual
and motor skills.

Technique
Techniques are the basic movements of any sport or event, e.g. a block start in a 100
metres race. We combine several techniques into a movement pattern, e.g. triple jump -
running and then the hop, step and jump phases.

The relationship between skill, ability and technique:

SKILL = ABILITY + TECHNIQUE

Source : https://www.brianmac.co.uk/skills.htm

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 Motor Learning in Sports
LESSON 3

A. CHARACTERISTICS OF MOTOR LEARNING IN SPORTS

Motor learning is characterized by specific features and it incorporates laws that have
to be observed throughout the various manifestations of an athlete’s motor activity. It is the
process of acquiring, completing and using motor information, knowledge, experience and
motor programs. Performing a certain movement is only possible if a suitable motor program
for it exists.
The motor process starts with a definition of the desired result and consists of three
interconnected phases:
1. the phase of basic movement coordination
2. the phase of accurate movement coordination
3. the phase of movement coordination stabilization under changeable and difficult
circumstances.
A precondition for efficient motor learning is an optimally accurate notion of
movement which is based on the visual followed by the kinesthetic processing of
information.

1. Phase of Basic Movement Coordination

2. phase of accurate movement coordination
3. phase of movement coordination stabilization

B. MOTOR COORDINATION EXERCISES

 Coordination is the ability to select the right muscle at the right time with proper
intensity to achieve proper action.

 Coordinated movement is characterized by appropriate speed, distance, direction,

timing and muscular tension.
It is the process that results in activation of motor units of multiple muscles with
simultaneous inhibition of all other muscles in order to carry out a desired activity. [1]
The cerebellum is the primary centre in the brain for coordination for movement and the
ability to execute smooth accurate motor response.

For coordinated movements to occurs all the below systems are involved
 Cerebellum
 Vestibular system
 Motor system
 Flexibility and ROM

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  Deep sensations
 Vision

Components of Coordinated Movement

Coordinated movement is dependent on:

 Volition: is the ability to initiate, maintain or stop an activity or motion.

 Perception: intact proprioception and subcortical centres to integrate motor
impulses and the sensory feedback. When proprioception is affected it is
compensated with visual feedback.
 Engram: A postulated physical or biochemical change in neural tissue that
represents a memory. Research proved that high repetitions of precise performance
must be performed in order to develop an engram. A 1980 study concluded
"Thousands of repetitions are required to begin to form an engram and millions of
repetitions are necessary to perfect it. Coordination is developed in proportion to the
number of repetitions of an engram practiced just below the maximal level of ability
to perform."

Types of Coordination
Motor coordination to complete a task a collaboration of three skills:
1. Fine Motor Skills
 Require coordinated movement of small muscles (hands, face).
 Examples: include writing, drawing, buttoning a shirt, blowing bubbles
2. Gross Motor Skills
 Require coordinated movement of large muscles or groups of muscles
(trunk, extremities).
 Examples: include walking, running, lifting activities.
3. Hand-eye Skills
 The ability of the visual system to coordinate visual information. Received
and then control or direct the hands in the accomplishment of a task.
 Examples : include catching a ball,sewing,computer mouse use.

Coordination Tests for Athletes / Everyday Sports Person

Many high level tests also exist to help assess and improve an athletes skills and
performance e.g. Stick Flip Coordination Test; Wall-Toss Test; Block Transfer; Soda
Pop Test; Plate Tapping; Light Board; Test Heel-to-knee test.

General Principles of Coordination Exercises Involve

1. Constant repetition of a few motor activities
2. Use of sensory cues (tactile, visual, proprioceptive) to enhance motor
performance
3. Increase of speed of the activity over time
4. Activities are broken down into components that are simple enough to be
performed correctly.
5. Assistance is provided when ever necessary.

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6. The patient therefore should have a short rest after two or three repetitions, to
avoid fatigue.
7. High repetition of precise performance must be performed for the engram to
form.
8. When ever a new movement is trained, various inputs are given, like
instruction(auditory), sensory stimulation(touch) ,or positions in which the patient can
view the movement (visual stimulation) to enhance motor performance.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255671200_Motor_learning_in_sport
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Coordination_Exercises

LESSON 4

Key Sports Training Principles

A. SEVEN (7) PRINCIPLES OF EXERCISE AND SPORT TRAINING

Individuality
Everyone is different and responds differently to training. Some people are
able to handle higher volumes of training while others may respond better to higher
intensities. This is based on a combination of factors like genetic ability,
predominance of muscle fiber types, other factors in your life, chronological or
athletic age, and mental state.

Specificity
Improving your ability in a sport is very specific. If you want to be a great
pitcher, running laps will help your overall conditioning but won’t develop your skills at
throwing or the power and muscular endurance required to throw a fastball fifty times
in a game. Swimming will help improve your aerobic endurance but won’t develop
tissue resiliency and muscular endurance for your running legs.

Progression
To reach the roof of your ability, you have to climb the first flight of stairs
before you can exit the 20th floor and stare out over the landscape. You can view this
from both a technical skills standpoint as well as from an effort/distance standpoint.
In order to swim the 500 freestyle, you need to be able to maintain your body position
and breathing pattern well enough to complete the distance. In order to swim the 500
freestyle, you also need to build your muscular endurance well enough to repeat the
necessary motions enough times to finish.

Overload
To increase strength and endurance, you need to add new resistance or

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 time/intensity to your efforts. This principle works in concert with progression. To run
a 10-kilometer race, athletes need to build up distance over repeated sessions in a
reasonable manner in order to improve muscle adaptation as well as improve soft
tissue strength/resiliency. Any demanding exercise attempted too soon risks injury.
The same principle holds true for strength and power exercises.

Adaptation
Over time the body becomes accustomed to exercising at a given level. This
adaptation results in improved efficiency, less effort and less muscle breakdown at
that level. That is why the first time you ran two miles you were sore after, but now
it’s just a warm up for your main workout. This is why you need to change the
stimulus via higher intensity or longer duration in order to continue improvements.
The same holds true for adapting to lesser amounts of exercise.

Recovery
The body cannot repair itself without rest and time to recover. Both short
periods like hours between multiple sessions in a day and longer periods like days or
weeks to recover from a long season are necessary to ensure your body does not
suffer from exhaustion or overuse injuries. Motivated athletes often neglect this. At
the basic level, the more you train the more sleep your body needs, despite the
adaptations you have made to said training.

Reversibility
If you discontinue application of a particular exercise like running five miles or
bench pressing 150 pounds 10 times, you will lose the ability to successfully
complete that exercise. Your muscles will atrophy and the cellular adaptations like
increased capillaries (blood flow to the muscles) and mitochondria density will
reverse. You can slow this rate of loss substantially by conducting a
maintenance/reduced program of training during periods where life gets in the way,
and is why just about all sports coaches ask their athletes to stay active in the
offseason.

The principles of specificity, progression, overload, adaptation, and reversibility are

why practicing frequently and consistently are so important if you want to improve
your performance.
Missed sessions cannot really be made up within the context of a single season.
They are lost opportunities for improvement. Skipping your long ride on weekend A
means you can’t or shouldn’t go as far as originally planned on weekend B
(progression & overload). Skipping your Monday swim means your swimming skills
and muscles won’t be honed or stressed that day (specificity). Missing a week due to
a vacation sets you back more than one week (adaptation and reversibility).

Source:https://www.teamusa.org/USA-triathlon/News/Blogs/Multisport-Lab/2012/August/28/7-
Principles-of-Exercise-and-Sport-Training

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 Transfer Principles for Sports Training
LESSON 5

The Transfer Principle suggests that learning and performing one activity affects the
performance of related skills and activities. This principle is essential for designing
practice strategies that have the greatest positive impact on competitive performance.

A. TRANSFER OF LEARNING IN SPORTS

Learning or regularly performing a skill can affect, either positively or negatively, the

learning of a second skill.

Positive Transfer
This usually occurs when the two skills in question are similar in some way. Having
already mastered one of the skills, makes learning the second skill easier. Coaches can aid
this positive transfer by making sure the individual understands the similarities between the
two skills and by making sure that the basics of the first skill are well learnt so that they
transfer more easily into the second skill. An example of this is a tennis player using their
knowledge of a serve to help them learn the overarm serve in volleyball.

Negative Transfer
This occurs when having learnt one skill, makes learning the second skill more
difficult. This more often happens when a stimulus common to both skills requires a different
response. For example, a squash player who takes up tennis may find it difficult to learn to
not use their wrist during shots.
Negative transfer can be avoided by making sure the athlete is aware of the
differences and making practice sessions similar to match situations to ensure a larger,
generalised motor programme.

Transfer of skills can work both ways, in that a skill currently being learnt may affect a
skill previously learnt, or a skill learnt in the past may affect a skill currently being
learnt:

Proactive Transfer
A skill learnt in the past affects a skill currently being learnt or to be learnt in the
future

Retroactive Transfer
Learning a new skill affects a previously learned skill.

Bilateral Transfer
Where the learning of one skill is transfered from one limb to the other e.g. a
footballer learning to pass with their left foot when they have previously learned this skill with
their right foot.

Zero Transfer

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 Where there are no transferable elements between previously learned skills and the
new one about to be learned e.g. bowling in cricket and skipping.

Stimulus Generalization
The transfer of previously learned skills to a new situation can sometimes be
generalized rather than specific to the situation. For example, a performer who has learned
to catch a ball playing rugby, may react to catch any ball in the same way. This is not always
a positive thing as in a different situation (e.g. football) catching the ball is not within the rules
of the game!

Response Generalisation
When a performer has well learned a skill they can begin to adapt the skill to vary it.
An example is in cricket where a bowler will vary his or her delivery to try to unsettle the
batsman.

Six Categories of Skill Transfer have been Identified:

1. Transfer between skills – such as all racket sports

2. Practice to performance – transferring skills learnt in training to a competitive
environment
3. Abilities linked to skills – balance to perform a good landing in gymnastics
4. Limb to limb (bilateral) – striking a football with the right or left foot
5. Principle to skill – the principles of defensive play in rugby are similar to football
6. Stages of learning – skills that are learnt in the cognitive phase will then be built upon
in the associative phase
https://www.teachpe.com/sports-psychology/transfer-of-learning

B. Transfer Principles for Sports Training

Which is the key to ensure the best outcome in a sport.

1. Continuity of Training The training of the sports persons has to be continuous
and regular. Hence, too long a break in the training
should be avoided and the condition of optimum load
should be created.
2. Increasing the Training There is a relationship between the load and adaptation
Load process. Training load should be gradually increased to
enable the body, to adapt higher demands progressively.
3. Active Participation It is a well known fact that a player who is passively
engaged in the training does not develop abilities and
always remains totally dependent upon the coach or the
physical education teacher and never develops
confidence or improves performance capabilities.

Therefore, the teacher/coach must ensure that the sports

persons participate in the training with conviction and
sincerity
4. Planned and Systematic To achieve a high level of sports performance in
Training competitions, the training must be well planned and
conducted in a systematic manner for better results.
Both general and specific training of a sports person are
5. General and Specific equally important because general training creates the

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 Training base and specific training helps to achieve high
performance. General training needs to general
conditioning of the body such as developing strength,
speed, endurance, flexibility, agility, balancing, ability in
general.

Whereas specific training consists of specific exercises

with the aim to develop specific strength, specific muscle
group and specific motor abilities required for a particular
sport
6. Clarity Clarity with respect to all aspects of the concerned sport
and games more importantly, its techniques and tactics
for performance enhancement
7. Cyclicity The training can be organized in three different cycles:
Macro cycle: having duration of 3–12 months; Meso
cycle of 3–6 weeks; and Micro cycle of 5–10 days.
8. Ensuring Results Sports training is planned to achieve the expected
results in small and major competitions or tournaments.
9. Critical Training Load The training load may be increased to meet the higher
demands of competition in unforeseen situations. The
training load should be managed more than the general
load. This critical load should be measured 4–5 times in
a year.
The adaptability to the training load should be in proper
10. Adaptability proportion between the load and recovery. Then only a
sports person gets adapted to the training load.
The uniformity may be in terms of time and duration of
11.Uniformity and the activity, whereas, the load may vary as per the
Differentiation capacity of the individual sportsperson. It is an
established fact that no two individuals are alike. The
sports persons participating in the training are different in
terms of age, health condition, individual capacity,
recovery pace and physique. Keeping these factors in
view, the training must be planned as per the needs of
the individual sports person.
Training of the sports person should be planned and
12. Feasibility conducted to draw the maximum benefit. Too little or too
much training needs to be avoided.
.
Sources: https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/iehp105.pdf
https://Sports%20Training.pdf

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