Blocked Practice in Sport: Definition, Benefits, Limitations, and Application

What is blocked practice in sport?

Blocked practice is a motor learning strategy characterized by the repetitive performance of a single skill or task in a predictable environment, often until a certain level of proficiency is achieved before moving on to another skill.

Understanding Blocked Practice

In the realm of sport and motor skill acquisition, practice design plays a critical role in how effectively an athlete learns, refines, and retains skills. Blocked practice represents one end of the practice variability spectrum. It involves focusing exclusively on one specific skill or movement pattern for a dedicated period or a set number of repetitions before transitioning to a different skill. This contrasts sharply with "random practice," where multiple skills are interleaved within a single practice session.

Key Characteristics of Blocked Practice

• Repetitive Nature: The hallmark of blocked practice is the high volume of repetitions of the same skill. For example, a basketball player might shoot 50 free throws in a row, or a golfer might hit 100 drives with the same club.
• Predictable Environment: The conditions under which the skill is performed often remain constant throughout the blocked session, minimizing external variability.
• Focus on One Skill: The learner's attention is entirely dedicated to mastering the mechanics and execution of a single task without the cognitive load of switching between different movements.
• Clear Structure: Practice sessions are typically organized in a sequential manner, with distinct blocks for each skill being trained.

Examples of Blocked Practice in Sport

Blocked practice is prevalent across various sports, particularly in the early stages of skill development or when focusing on technical refinement.

• Basketball: A player practices 20 consecutive free throws, then 20 consecutive layups, and then 20 consecutive jump shots from the elbow.
• Tennis: A coach might have a player practice forehand groundstrokes for 15 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of backhand groundstrokes, and then 15 minutes of serves.
• Golf: An individual spends an hour at the driving range, hitting only a 7-iron repeatedly, focusing on swing mechanics.
• Swimming: A swimmer performs 10 repetitions of flip turns, then 10 repetitions of dive starts, then 10 repetitions of streamline drills.
• Gymnastics: A gymnast repeatedly practices a specific element of a routine, such as a back handspring, until consistent.

Advantages of Blocked Practice

While its limitations are well-documented, blocked practice offers several benefits, especially under specific circumstances:

• Initial Skill Acquisition: For beginners learning a completely new motor skill, blocked practice can be highly effective. The repetition allows the learner to grasp the fundamental mechanics and coordination patterns without the added complexity of task switching.
• Technical Refinement: When an athlete needs to correct a specific flaw in their technique (e.g., a golfer's slice, a pitcher's arm slot), blocked practice allows for focused attention and immediate feedback on that single aspect.
• Reduced Cognitive Load: By not having to constantly re-plan or re-orient for a different task, the learner's cognitive resources are freed up to concentrate solely on the execution of the current skill. This can lead to faster initial performance gains.
• Immediate Performance Improvement: Learners often show rapid improvement within a blocked practice session, which can be highly motivating and build confidence.
• Confidence Building: Consistent success in a predictable environment can boost an athlete's self-efficacy regarding a particular skill.

Disadvantages and Limitations

Despite its immediate benefits, research in motor learning, particularly concerning the "contextual interference effect," highlights significant drawbacks of relying solely on blocked practice:

• Poor Transferability (Contextual Interference Effect): The primary limitation is that skills learned in a blocked fashion often do not transfer well to the unpredictable, dynamic environment of actual competition. The brain does not develop the robust problem-solving and decision-making capabilities needed when conditions change.
• Limited Retention: While immediate performance may be high, long-term retention of skills learned through blocked practice tends to be poorer compared to more variable practice methods.
• Monotony and Boredom: The repetitive nature can lead to decreased motivation, disengagement, and a lack of challenge for the learner over time.
• Lack of Problem-Solving: Blocked practice doesn't train the athlete to adapt to novel situations, anticipate opponent movements, or make rapid decisions under pressure – all crucial elements of successful athletic performance.
• Over-reliance on Predictability: Athletes may become overly dependent on consistent external cues, struggling when those cues are absent or altered in a game scenario.

When to Use Blocked Practice

Given its advantages and disadvantages, blocked practice should be viewed as one tool in a comprehensive training approach, not the sole methodology. It is most appropriate in the following scenarios:

• Teaching Beginners: When introducing a completely new skill, blocked practice can help establish the foundational movement patterns.
• Correcting Specific Technical Flaws: For an athlete struggling with a particular aspect of a skill, a temporary block of practice can help isolate and correct the issue.
• Warm-ups: To re-groove basic movements or activate specific muscle groups before more complex training.
• Skills Requiring High Precision: For highly repeatable, self-paced skills where consistency is paramount (e.g., free throws, golf putts), blocked practice can be beneficial for refinement.

Blocked vs. Random Practice

It's crucial to understand blocked practice in contrast to random practice. Random practice involves interleaving different skills within a single session, forcing the learner to constantly switch between tasks. For example, a basketball player might alternate between free throws, layups, and jump shots in a mixed sequence. While random practice often leads to poorer performance during the practice session (due to higher cognitive load), it consistently results in superior long-term retention and transfer of skills to competitive environments. This phenomenon is known as the contextual interference effect.

Conclusion

Blocked practice is a valuable, foundational tool in motor skill learning, particularly for initial acquisition and technical refinement. Its strength lies in its ability to facilitate rapid initial performance gains and reduce cognitive load. However, for developing robust, adaptable, and transferable skills essential for competitive sport, it should be strategically combined with, and progressively transitioned to, more variable and random practice designs. An effective training program intelligently integrates both blocked and random practice to optimize both skill acquisition and long-term retention and transfer.