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Technique correction, transfer of learning, problems with skill and drill coaching, habit pattern errors and Old Way New Way sports coaching.

Technique correction

• Sports Coach review

Olympic sport

• Yuri Hanin's review
• Published research

Who's using it?

• Olympic coaches
• Sports institutes
• Golf coaches
• Swimming coaches
• Tennis coaches
• Football coaches
• Other coaches

The transfer problem

• Skill correction
• Transition training
• Code/rule changes
• Performance slump

Skill and drill coaching

• What's wrong with it?
• Doing it hard
• Habit patterns

Habit pattern interference

• Demonstration
• Learning is disabled

Old Way New Way

• Habit correction
• All sports | all levels
• Learn how

Proof of concept

• Yuri Hanin's review
• Coach's reports
• Coaching science
• Research articles

New coaching model

• Technique correction
• Skill development
• Slump recovery
• Sports transitions

Coaches' reports

• Olympic sports
• Elite sport
• Recreational sport

Ordering

• Order form

Technique correction - when practice doesn't make perfect

Technique correction is the sports coach's continuing challenge. This extract from Sports Coach, Australia's national sports coaching journal, described this familiar problem.

"It is one of the most perplexing and frustrating obstacles any coach has to face; without warning and often without apparent reason, the athlete they are coaching goes into a form slump.

Hitherto excellent techniques, often carefully refined over years of hard work are lost, to be replaced by persistent and stubborn errors that refuse to respond to correction.

In the past, this has usually resulted in a long and destructive regime of constant repetition of skill drills aimed at driving the offending error from the athlete's repertoire....  [However] the correct technique, apparently recovered after constant practice, disappears under the pressure of competition....

A different approach ... enthusiastically endorsed by a growing number of coaches and sporting professionals, is Old Way New Way^®, which aims to put the athlete back on the right path, not within months or weeks, but possibly after one intensive session...

... one of the most spectacular examples of Old Way New Way's^® success [is] cricketer Jason Gillespie [who] needed to change his bowling action .... he was able to change a major part of his bowling action in about 20 minutes....

... Olympic [athletes], a javelin thrower and a sprinter, were in a form slump associated with technique problems .... both problems were corrected ....

While an experienced Old Way New Way^® practitioner is needed initially, there is no reason why coaches should not quickly learn the subtleties of the method and introduce it when required."

Read the rest of this highly positive review of the Old Way New Way^® method of coaching sport by Graham Cook in Sports Coach, 2003, Vol. 25, No.4.

Sports Coach is Australia's national sports coaching journal, aimed at the practicing sports coach, and is a coach development resource of the Australian Sports Commission.

Produced quarterly, the magazine presents up-to-date sports coaching articles on a variety of topics, ranging from interviews, sports coaching drills and nutrition to research results in a wide range of sports. Sports Coach is an excellent periodical for the active sports coach.

 

Technique correction in Olympic sport: Rapid and permanent technique correction with Old Way New Way^®

"I heard about the system two years ago when I was in Australia as an invited visiting international scholar. The idea of rapid correction of technique was very appealing since my practical work with athletes and coaches focuses on performance enhancement, optimal performance states, and preparation for important international competitions.

Persistent errors in technique, especially under competitive stress, are very common among elite athletes and are perhaps among the major factors that can cause underperformance. Moreover, the major problem with a conventional approach to error correction is that it takes a long time and the change is often not permanent.

Therefore, I started over a year ago by taking the Personal Best Academy online sports coaching skills course conducted by Dr. Paul Baxter who uses and teaches Old Way New Way^® in Brisbane, Australia.

As part of this practical course, Paul and I communicated via email on specific performance enhancement problems I wanted to work on. I've been using Old Way New Way^® for rapid correction of consistent errors in technique with track and field athletes (javelin, hammer throwing and sprinting), with a pro-tour female golfer, and also with a soccer team. All nine interventions were very successful. At the same time, we collaborated with Paul to advance our research into skill development and correction with elite athletes and still do.

There are several benefits that I have experienced using Old Way New Way. It is very practical; the technical problem is solved quickly and completely in just one single session; the results are immediate, there is no adaptation period as with conventional skill development and correction.

Moreover, the observed technique improvement is permanent and extends into psychological benefits such as feelings of empowerment, enhanced self-confidence, satisfaction with the elimination of errors, better understanding, higher motivation and a desire to engage in more high quality training of this kind. A single learning trial lasting from one to two hours, including an half hour warm up, usually results in 80% or better improvement in performance. The new way (corrected skill) is consistently performed and spontaneous recovery of errors, if any, is easily handled. Skill improvement also directly transfers to competitive performance, as shown in our case studies. Under conventional skill correction methods, technique difficulties still resisted correction after months and, in some cases, years of effort. Without Old Way New Way, as one coach said, it would have required up to 2000 repetitions or four years of practicing the correct starting technique before the performance would have improved.

I think Old Way New Way^® greatly extends the sport psychologist's potential area of applied work with athletes and coaches. Up till now applied sports psychologists worked almost exclusively in the domain of mental skills training as a means to performance enhancement. Now they can work in both domains.

Perhaps, the greatest benefit for me professionally is that I can see how I can extend my own work - the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) model. For instance, from a general focus on optimal (or dysfunctional) emotional subjective experiences I have moved further to kinesthetic awareness and now can appreciate more the role of individually relevant technique. Thus to enhance performance I can focus not only on optimal emotional states but on optimal technique which, if not developed, can be a serious barrier to performance improvement.

Finally, Old Way New Way^® is based on a sound theoretical and methodological framework. It has been empirically validated in non-sports settings (educational). The underpinning theory offers a high degree of predictability of performance errors and their likely resolution. The 4-step correction procedure itself is well structured and provides an opportunity for a well-planned intervention with a very clear focus. But what's more, the whole thing is a real cooperative effort between the athlete, the coach and the sport psychologist and this is a mutually beneficial experience usually resulting in the development of high quality working (partnership) relationships.

The program can be used solely or in conjunction with another. For instance, I incorporated it into my own IZOF model as skill correction with movement patterns was missing from my applied perspective.

Finally, team consulting with Paul via Internet in working with athletes and coaches was professionally and personally an outstanding and exceptionally enriching experience. Thanks Paul!"

Professor Yuri Hanin from the Research Institute for Olympic Sports, Jyväskylä, (Finland) relates his experiences with the application of Old Way New Way^® in his work with elite Finnish Olympic athletes and coaches.

This ground breaking work with coaches and their athletes was published in The Sport Psychologist, 2002, 16, 1, 79-99.

This research won second prize in the 4th EAA [Coaching] Science Awards, out of a record entry of 28 projects from 13 European countries.

 

Technique correction using Old Way New Way^® - who's using it?

Browse the long list of sports corporations, sports coaching organisations, schools, colleges, universities, institutes of sport and small businesses who have purchased our Old Way New Way^® sports coaching courses.

 

Technique correction and the transfer of training problem in sports coaching

Technique correction is one of the most time consuming and frustrating tasks in sports coaching. This critical coaching skill involves trying to correct an athlete's or player's sports technique difficulties and other established sport performance problems that make the athlete uncompetitive.

Coaches find that, despite quality coaching, training and skill drills, elite athletes and players as well as beginners tend to develop their own way of doing things. Sometimes an athlete's "own way" is suitable for the athlete's physique, performance level and temperament but more often it isn't. You can't watch all of them all the time so, for one reason or another, imperfections develop and technique errors inevitably creep in. If not detected and corrected early, these technique faults soon develop into bad habits and are then much harder to correct. Consequently, even though you try to get it right the first time you inevitably end up spending a lot of time trying to undo technique problems that have developed.

Sometimes, when players join a new team or change coaches they bring with them or later develop minor or major performance problems that have become entrenched because they were not picked up and corrected early enough. This makes them less competitive.

Sports technique problems can follow a sports injury because the athlete is unable or reluctant to resume correct form for fear of re-injury. Sometimes the original injury is itself caused by poor or incorrect form. Sports technique problems and sports injury problems are often closely linked.

Professional players transitioning from one sport to another, e.g., changing from American football to rugby league or to Australian Rules football, often have great difficulty changing over to new rules, new strategies, new techniques and new skills. In addition to such technical difficulties, decision making can also suffer, making the player uncompetitive and unable to function well in a team situation.

What all this means is that for one reason or another, the athlete sooner or later has to change what he or she is doing. Although most of the discussion here concerns sports technique difficulties and mental barriers to performance as being the reason to change, the athlete does not necessarily have to be doing something "wrong" before the time comes to change. What was perfectly OK one day can, with the introduction of new rules or new equipment, become outdated and no longer leading edge performance and make the athlete uncompetitive. Importantly then, we are talking about any kind of change, whether it be

Sports technique problems lead to a prolonged and frustrating adaptation period during which old concepts and skills first have to be unlearned before new understanding and skills can be developed.

You, as an experienced or aspiring coach, know that special coaching sessions, skill drills and practice does not fix established technique problems quickly. Sometimes it can take a full off season before an established technique difficulty is overcome. Sometimes it does not fix the technique problem at all.

This, then, is the coach's dilemma. Athletes and players know that there is no gain without some pain. But sometimes there is just too much pain and very little gain.

 

Technique correction - what's wrong with skill and drill coaching?

Technique correction takes up a lot of your coaching time. You've tried different coaching courses and seminars over the years, picked up a few useful ideas but none of it was really "new" to you because you've been around the coaching scene for quite a while. If there was anything really valuable around, you'd have heard of it by now, wouldn't you?

You're busy and don't have time to spend on things that don't work.

You've found that most coaching science research is not very practical, requires specialised knowledge, equipment or facilities to make it work, is too involved and takes too long to implement and is manipulative (carrot and stick) stuff that oversimplifies human motivation and learning powers.

You've found that most sports psychology methods and ideas require the athlete to spend a lot of time practicing such mental skills before they become a normal part of the athlete's performance routine. Unfortunately perhaps, some coaches and athletes disregard mental skills training as being impractical for this very reason.

You know from bitter experience that players and athletes often fall back to old ways, despite quality coaching and being highly motivated to improve.

You use skill drills to try to improve skill development and correction but you're looking for something more.

You're looking for a better way but it has to be supported by evidence, be affordable and it must be cost-effective

Your own approach to skill development and correction, refined over the years with elite and promising athletes and highly professional players, goes something like this. You:

• Make the athlete more aware of what he or she is doing wrong, perhaps using videotaping or other methods to improve awareness
• Explain why the athlete needs to change and why it's important
• Demonstrate the better technique or action and then have the athlete copy this
• Provide corrective feedback and reinforcement until he or she appears to catch on
• Provide plenty of skill drills and practice sessions to assist the learning process
• Tell them to practice the new technique or action until it becomes "automatic" for them

This is quality coaching at work. However, there comes a time when even the best coaching is not enough to help an athlete or player overcome an established sport technique problem.

You can easily recognise established sports technique problems and other sport performance problems because they just refuse to go away. The typical sequence of events is something like this:

• Despite quality coaching, during competitive match play the athlete appears to forget what he or she learned and falls back to old ways
• You explain that this is simply a period of adjustment to the new technique during which relapses are supposed to occur, and tell the athlete just to keep practicing, to not worry about the outcome and instead to just concentrate on the technique
• You explain that there's a thing called "muscle memory", developed by practice, which makes it harder to unlearn old, established, automated movement patterns and actions. "Just keep practising and eventually it will become easier," is your best advice. After all, we all know that old habits die hard.
• Your job as coach is now done. You've provided the training, the support and the encouragement, so now it's up to the athlete to make the effort and improve. It's no longer a coaching problem.
• This roller coaster ride of improvement during training followed by relapse in competition sometimes goes on for months
• In fact, it can take a full off-season or longer before an established technique difficulty is overcome
• This is very frustrating for you as coach, far too time consuming and certainly not cost-effective

You also realise what the athlete is going through, during all this intensive and prolonged skill correction and development work, i.e.,

• To the athlete, the new action feels strange, having done it the other way for so long
• At first, it takes a deliberate conscious effort to focus on each part of the action
• While the coach is alongside, giving cues and feedback, the athlete can do the right thing
• But the athlete falls back to old ways during competitive match play or independent performance under pressure
• This roller coaster ride of "highs" and "lows", of being able to do it "right" during practice followed by relapses to the "wrong" way during match play goes on and on, for months, even years
• Despite the athlete's best efforts, lasting improvement is slow in coming.
• Being told that this is a period of adjustment to the new skill or technique, during which relapses are supposed to occur, does not make it any easier to take.
• No longer competitive, the athlete's frustration increases as the months go by
• In a slump and no longer in control of his or her own performance, the athlete feels helpless
• The athlete starts to blame him- or herself for the lack of progress. "I've had the best coaching and I'm well motivated, so now it's up to me to improve."
• It's not long before self confidence suffers and he or she begins to think, "Perhaps I'm not cut out for this game, after all. Maybe it's time to give it away and concentrate on other things."

Those unique individuals who have the inner strength and enough support may persevere and after many months and sometimes years of frustrating drill, practice and training they will eventually improve and regain their lost glory. Like Lazarus, they will rise from defeat and once again be competitive in their chosen sport. Their journey back to greatness is the stuff of legend and has produced many bestsellers.

For many athletes, though, the onset of technique difficulties and other performance problems, especially once they become established and resistant to change, spells the end of a promising career. They fade from the competitive scene, never to be heard of again. Sometimes they re-emerge to adopt a non-competitive role so they can continue to contribute to their chosen sport. Sometimes their coach's reputation dies with them.

This familiar scenario is played out every day all over the world in every sport you can think of. Sports technique problems strike athletes and players at all levels of achievement, from the beginner to the elite athlete. The repeated inability of conventional sports coaching methods to deal quickly and permanently with established sports technique problems represents a monumental lost opportunity and a terrible waste of talent.

But isn't this is how it's always been? Aren't we supposed to, "Do the hard yard". After all, we all share the universal suspicion of anything that comes, "Too easy". After all, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Above all, there is the work ethic that says, "By the sweat of thy brow ...." We are supposed to struggle in order to achieve.

Perseverance in athletes as in other achievers is highly valued and admired. Life is meant to be a struggle. And even if you don't subscribe to all these beliefs, we all know that old habits die hard - that's how it's always been since time began, so why should we expect anything different?

In short, accumulated conventional wisdom tells us that improvement and change are supposed to come slowly, after lots of effort, frustration and expense. Athletes, like other people, understand this and while they do not like the fact, they still accept it as being a normal part of life's struggle.

Fortunately, it really does not have to be that way. Sports technique problems and other sports performance problems have an alternative explanation along with a corresponding practical and user friendly solution that comes to us from new research into the psychology of learning, sports psychology and coaching science.

The alternative explanation for the persistence of technique problems and other performance difficulties is based on the well researched brain mechanism of proactive habit interference and the phenomenon of learned errors or habit errors. A detailed reading list of published research into new methods for accelerating skill development and correction is located in this web site.

 

Technique correction and habit pattern errors: An alternative explanation for sports performance problems

To fully understand and appreciate how old knowledge and skills can interfere with and slow down the learning of new knowledge and skills, you should now do the technique correction colour chart activity which demonstrates this powerful, universal and involuntary obstacle to learning. When you have completed the demonstration proceed to the explanation of your scores and then return to this page via the Sports Coaching Skills link.

You have now experienced proactive habit interference, also known as the proactive inhibition (PI) effect, through the colour chart activity and therefore better understand the powerful effects of prior learning on new learning.

From the point of view of the player or athlete who is trying to improve, the explanation of how proactive habit interference blocks or slows down learning and change is like this:

• The new technique feels strange having done it the other way for so long
• Because the new technique differs from the old way there is a conflict or tension between them
• Your brain detects this conflict and instantly activates proactive inhibition (PI for short) or proactive habit interference, a well researched knowledge protection mechanism
• PI protects all your learned knowledge and skills, right and wrong, and strongly resists and slows down any attempt to change or improve your prior knowledge and skills
• We all have this knowledge protection mechanism but it is stronger in some people. It is an unconscious mechanism and we have little or no control over it
• The level of PI a person has is not associated with their intellectual ability or "IQ"
• PI is why old skills, habits and techniques die hard and why self-improvement is so difficult, slow and frustrating under conventional training methods
• PI causes accelerated forgetting (within minutes or hours) of the new way and this is why you revert to your old incorrect technique when you are competing
• You know what you're doing wrong and what you should do and you're highly motivated to improve but your brain (force of habit, i.e., PI) won't let you change
• Forget about "muscle memory" and such things because there is no real research support for these explanations - the real cause of your technique problems is PI
• Technique difficulties, then, are caused by what you already know, not by what you don't know
• It is a sobering fact that with conventional methods it can take you up to 2,000 repetitions of the new way before you are comfortable and competent with the new technique and it replaces your "old" way.

Proactive habit interference is a major cause of a wide range of sports performance problems including:

• technique difficulties
• problems of skill development
• poor transfer of learning from coaching and skill drills to competition
• transitioning problems
• performance slump
• choking
• anger management
• problems learning mental skills
• problems with goal setting, focusing and coping with distractions
• many team problems.

Now you know what the problem is and what it feels like, you are ready for the solution. Being aware of PI and it's effects, however, is not enough to overcome it. Simply re-teaching a skill or action, even when supported by specific videotaped feedback to improve awareness, is unlikely to work quickly, if at all. You need an alternative coaching method that bypasses habit interference altogether in order to accelerate learning and skill development. This coaching method is called Old Way New Way^®.

Old Way New Way^® can overcome sports performance difficulties permanently and more quickly than conventional, i.e., currently available, coaching methods.

 

Technique correction: What is Old Way New Way^® sports coaching?

Personal Best Academy uses and teaches Old Way New Way^® to sport coaches, players, athletes, physiotherapists, sport medicine practitioners, sport psychologists and other individuals seeking to improve performance in sport.

Old Way New Way^® has been taught to sport psychologists and coaches at the SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SPORTS INSTITUTE (SASI). SASI coaches are using Old Way New Way^® to coach soccer, hockey, basketball, squash, kayaking, baseball and other sports.

It is used at the RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR OLYMPIC SPORTS in Finland to improve performance of Olympic athletes in individual and team sports such as hammer throwing, soccer, javelin and sprinting. Technique correction research with Olympic athletes was published in The Sport Psychologist.

Swimming coaches have used Old Way New Way^® for technique correction in swimming, cutting six seconds off the best 100 metre time of promising young athletes, and to correct a wide range of technique faults.

Old Way New Way^® is not like behaviour modification, brainwashing or hypnosis, nor is it psychological conditioning.

It is readily incorporated into what coaches and trainers normally do and is well-accepted by players and athletes - it is very user-friendly.

Based on a novel interpretation and synthesis of well researched and accepted learning principles, Old Way New Way^® is far superior to conventional approaches to correcting technique problems and developing new skills.

Old Way New Way^® is done in practical, hands-on situations where the facilitator works with the athlete and the coach.

With Old Way New Way^® there is no need for special equipment, although the use of video feedback, stop-motion analysis and kinesthetic feedback can be helpful with complicated performance skills.

Old Way New Way^® works with the brain, not against it, to accelerate the natural process of change.

Old Way New Way^® can help whenever long established automated skill routines need to be changed or improved, i.e., in all areas of sport and athletics.

 

Technique correction: Proof of concept

Read the published research papers and case studies on the effectiveness of Old Way New Way^® sports coaching.

The complete list of all research publications on the Old Way New Way^® learning method can be read here.

 

Technique correction: A new model for coaching sport

Old Way New Way^® offers an entirely new approach to skill development, technique correction, performance slump recovery and other sport performance difficulties, whether these be physical or mental. Although highly innovative, this methodology is readily integrated into what coaches and athletes normally do in their quest for skill development and continuous improvement.

1. Old Way New Way^® is a unique example of successful collaboration between researchers and practitioners to design the most effective training protocols.
2. Old Way New Way^® is basically a Neo-Constructivist model - the player/athlete is the one who is responsible for learning, understanding and changing
3. The coach's ability to identify and diagnose the error or technique problem is critical, as is his or her ability to identify, explain and demonstrate to the player or athlete the "correct" technique. This befits the coach's role as the expert
4. The athlete can be empowered through Old Way New Way^® to take on personal responsibility for improving
5. The athlete's prior knowledge and skills (incorrect as well as correct) must be incorporated into any coaching strategy
6. If no conflict is likely between new and pre-existing knowledge and skills, then a conventional coaching strategy is OK and new knowledge and skills will consolidate and build on old
7. However, when prior knowledge and skills are likely to conflict with the new, the athlete needs to follow prescribed Old Way New Way^® procedures and not just attempt to practise the new while ignoring pre-existing knowledge and skills.

 

Technique correction case studies in coaching sport

All kinds of technique difficulties can be corrected, including physical skills as well as mental skills.

TO READ THESE CASE STUDIES: Click on the hyperlink to read details of some of these case studies. After reading them, click the "Back " button on your browser to return to this page.

We have successfully corrected errors and faulty technique, unlearned habits and developed skills in a wide range of sports, for example:

Technique correction in Olympic javelin and sprinting

Abstract of a paper published in The Sport Psychologist, 2002, 16, 79-99.
"Exploratory studies examine the effectiveness of Old Way New Way, an innovative meta-cognitive learning strategy initially developed in education settings, in the rapid and permanent correction of established technique difficulties experienced by two Olympic athletes in javelin and sprinting. Individualized interventions included video-assisted error analysis, step-wise enhancement of kinesthetic awareness, re-activation of the error memory, discrimination and generalization of the correct movement pattern. Self-reports, coach's ratings and video recordings were used as measures of technique improvement. A single learning trial produced immediate and permanent technique improvement (80% or higher correct action) and full transfer of learning, without the need for the customary adaptation period. Findings are consistent with the performance enhancement effects of Old Way New Way^® demonstrated experimentally in non-sport settings."
Yuri Hanin, Research Institute for Olympic Sports, Finland. Tapio Korjus and Petteri Jouste, Finnish Sports Association, Finland; Paul Baxter.

Technique correction in Sheffield Shield Cricket

Jason Gillespie's early return to pace bowling as described in The Advertiser, Adelaide, 13 November 1997.

Technique correction in Rugby League

Ball passing technique; team communication; kicking skills; tackling skills

Technique correction in Swimming

Stroke correction and tumble turns.

Technique correction in Track and Field

Correcting poor starting technique.

Technique correction in Golf

Golf grip, stance, head and arm position and swing; controlling anger and refocusing after a bad shot; (mental skills technique correction: )

Technique correction in Australian Football: kicking technique

Goal kicking technique of players in the Queensland Rail State Under 18 Australian Football Team; hand ball and marking technique in the Palm Beach Currumbin High School Sports Excellence - Australian Football Program.

Technique correction in Martial Arts

Defensive and offensive techniques in Aikido

Technique correction for Mental Skills

Controlling anger in golf and learning to re-focus on the game after a bad shot.

 

Technique correction skills courses - new formats

Choose from these four rapid technique correction routine formats, from AU$33 to $395, covering specific sports as well as a generic all sports version. Note that not all courses are available for download.

Technique correction - full course including instructional video:

CD ROM containing full text including a video demonstration. Available courses include a generic all-sports course, swimming and lawn bowls (AU$59. Currency conversion). More information. Order form.

Technique correction - downloaded course without video:

Downloaded file containing full text including a transcript of the video demonstration but no video. Available courses include a generic all sports course, swimming and lawn bowls (AU$33. Currency conversion). More information. Order form.

Technique correction - online course:

Online coach development course includes all course material on CD ROM including the video, plus step-by-step guidance and support in a course that is customised just for you (AU$395. Currency conversion). More information. Order form.

Technique correction - coach development workshop:

One-day rapid technique correction workshop tailor made for sports, athletics and track and field coaches, skills coaches, martial arts instructors and others providing technique correction, skill transition training, breaking bad habits in any sport, from beginner to advanced level including Olympic. More information.

 

Sports coaching links

Other sports sites of interest:

Lawn Bowls Coaching in Queensland
Coaching of technique, tactics, mental skills, practice methods for lawn bowls.

De Trainer/Coach Homepage (in Dutch)
Dutch soccer coaching page

British Journal of Sports Medicine

Peak Performance Sports
Sports psychology tools for athletes from mental game expert Dr Patrick Cohn. Uncover the secrets used by professional athletes to boost your mental game advantage! Developed by sports psychology guru, Dr Patrick Cohn, Peak Performance Sports is considered the most comprehensive mental game improvement site on the web. Packed with valuable tips and strategies as well as a variety of products and services, PeakSports.com will take seriously motivated athletes to the next performance level—fast!

Improving too slowly?

Sports coaches and players try to get it right the first time but invariably end up spending a lot of time trying to correct technique faults and bad habits that somehow develop.

Once established, habit pattern errors like technique faults are notoriously hard to correct because they actually disable learning of correct technique and slow down or completely block improvement. This makes an athlete uncompetitive and can lead to a career-threatening performance slump.

The typical advice to practice skill drills and train hard is usually not very effective. The athlete may appear to improve during training but repeatedly falls back to old ways under pressure of competition.

Transfer of training from skills coaching sessions and practice drills to competition is consequently poor.

Transition training, required when the athlete has to change over to a new code, new equipment, new techniques or new rules, presents similar adjustment difficulties. Old habits die hard.

Fortunately, a coaching science discovery called Old Way New Way^® Sports Coaching offers:

1. A new perspective on the transfer of training problem.

2. A cost-effective and user-friendly method for rapid skill and technique correction, and habit correction.

3. A fast and practical method of sports transition training.

This page explains how established and habitual technique faults can interfere with skill development and learning of correct technique.

This HOME page describes the main features of Old Way New Way^® sports coaching, including technique correction, transfer of learning, problems with skill and drill coaching, habit pattern errors, the basic theory underpinning the method, and available training programs in this award winning approach to coaching sport.