I was looking at some information on classical conditioning and thought some of its theories were applicable to coaching student athletes. As a coach you want to elicit a particular response from the athlete. You want them to work hard, and perform skills the right way. I believe some of the basic principles of classical conditioning can be of use.
Let’s start with the definition. classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. By consistently presenting the stimulus you increase probability of the intended response. When the unconditioned response is present the stimulus will continue to be effective. If only the stimulus is present over time the response will began to weaken. During the period of time where the unconditioned stimulus is not present the previous response will spontaneously recover (bad habit returns).
Let’s say a basketball player wants to improve their shooting form. They are taught the efficient form (stimuli 1) and rewarded by making the shot and verbal cues (stimuli 2). If the result continues to be made baskets (unconditioned response) they will continue to follow the shooting form. When they experience a shooting slump the previous shooting form may surface again and the player may revert back to the old form (spontaneous recovery).
The key I believe is getting the player to buy-in to the thought that the form will work. This could work by explaining how it helps them specifically, by giving examples that they understand instead of having the “just do what I say” mentality. If they don’t buy-in there is a possibility they will listen to the personal trainer at their local gym or their best friend or anyone else with an opinion about training for their sport. This can be counter-productive to what a coach is trying to accomplish with players during the year. Arm them with facts and knowledge, because bad habits, once learned, are hard to break.
In the case of strength and conditioning, the players that are more susceptible are freshman, sophomores and transfer students. These players may need more guidance, more attention and need skills and expectations to be explained to them more often. It could be helpful to prevent old habits from resurfacing, or developing new inefficient ones.
Johnny Dunbar