Designing Skill Progressions

In this lesson you will look at how skills develop. Players often move through stages. At first they are working out what to do and make many errors. With practice, the movement becomes more consistent and they can start to adapt it. Eventually, it becomes largely automatic, freeing their attention for decisions such as where to hit the ball or which delivery to bowl. Not every player moves at the same speed, and players can drop back a stage under pressure or fatigue. Understanding these stages helps you decide how much information to give, how hard to make an activity and when to move on.

• Early stage: working it out, many errors
• Middle stage: more consistent and adaptable
• Later stage: largely automatic, attention on decisions
• Players progress at different speeds

In this lesson you will learn about closed and open practices. A closed practice is predictable and controlled, such as driving a drop-fed ball. It is useful early on for building technique. An open practice adds variation, movement and decisions, such as facing mixed deliveries from a bowler with fielders in place. Match play is the most open of all. A good progression moves players along this scale, adding unpredictability as they become more consistent. Do not stay in closed practice for too long, because skills learned only in predictable settings often break down in matches. Aim to get players into decision-making activities as early as their safety and ability allow.

• Closed practice is predictable and controlled
• Open practice adds variation and decisions
• Progress along the scale as players improve
• Move to decision-making early and safely

In this lesson you will learn a simple tool for changing difficulty, known as STEP. S stands for space: making the area bigger or smaller. T stands for task: changing what players must do, such as hitting into a target or scoring off a set number of balls. E stands for equipment: using different balls, bats or targets, such as a soft ball or larger stumps. P stands for people: changing numbers, such as adding fielders or working in pairs. By adjusting one element at a time, you can make an activity easier or harder for the whole group or for individual players without changing the whole session.

• S is space: bigger or smaller area
• T is task: change what players must do
• E is equipment: balls, bats and targets
• P is people: numbers and groupings

In this lesson you will learn how constraints shape learning. A constraint is a rule or condition that encourages players to find a particular solution. For example, awarding bonus runs for hitting along the ground encourages controlled drives, while placing a target zone outside off stump encourages a consistent line. Small-sided games with clever rules can develop technique and decision-making together, often without long explanations. Watch how players respond and adjust the constraint if it is too easy or too hard. Constraints work well with experienced players, who enjoy problem solving, and with juniors, who learn through play.

• A constraint is a rule that shapes behaviour
• Bonus runs and target zones guide players
• Small-sided games build skill and decisions
• Adjust constraints that are too easy or hard

In this lesson you will learn to judge the right level of challenge. A useful guide is that players should succeed often but not always, perhaps around seven times out of ten. If players succeed almost every time, the activity is probably too easy and it is time to progress. If they fail most of the time and become frustrated, regress to an easier version. Watch for technique breaking down, boredom or loss of focus, all of which are signals to change something. You can progress or regress individuals within the same activity using STEP, so everyone in a mixed-ability family group is challenged appropriately.

• Aim for success often but not always
• Near-perfect success means progress
• Frequent failure and frustration means regress
• Adjust individuals within the same activity

In this lesson you will look at progressions over several weeks. A single session rarely makes a skill stick. Plan a block of sessions with a theme, such as playing spin or bowling at the death, and build from simple to complex across the block. Revisit key skills regularly rather than covering them once and moving on. Use your session reviews to decide where to start the next time. Link progressions to the season, focusing on technique during pre-season and more on match scenarios as the Winn Family T-20 League season approaches. Keep notes so you and other coaches can see the plan.

• Plan themed blocks of sessions
• Build from simple to complex over weeks
• Revisit key skills regularly
• Link the block to the season calendar