Coaching the weird things out, value of unopposed & more

Here's some Skill Acquisition content for you to explore over the weekend. I hope you enjoy it!

Philip O'Callaghan

Mar 29, 2025

This week at a sconce

Research Insight: The value of opposed and unopposed practice

Podcast Snip: The importance of intent

Quote: Coaching the weird things out

Resource: Graphics to help coaches

Research Insight

The value of opposed and unopposed practice: An ecological dynamics rationale for skill development (Parry et al., 2025)

This was a fantastic paper that answered one of the most common questions around using the CLA in practice-where do unopposed activities fit in. The authors do a brilliant job and I found it tough keeping it to only 5 takeaways for this week’s newsletter. Here’s a quick overview before going into the 5 key insights

The paper challenges traditional drill-based coaching by highlighting the importance of designing alive, game-like practices. Grounded in ecological dynamics, it shows how skill develops through interaction with dynamic environments. The brilliant practical examples shows coaches how you can blend opposed and unopposed tasks to better support transfer and individual development.

🔑5 key insights

1)Coaches need a clear, evidence-based rationale for their practice design—not just personal beliefs or past habits. The paper highlights that effective coaching decisions should be guided by sound theory and research, not just intuition. This helps bridge the gap between what we know from the science of skill acquisition and what actually happens on the pitch or training ground. When coaches can explain why they’ve chosen a certain activity—rooted in evidence—they’re better placed to support learning and performance in meaningful ways.

Quote

"It is therefore essential that coaches have strong rationale for their decisions regarding practice activities and instructional behaviors (Alali et al., 2024). However, it is crucial that this rationale be grounded in evidence-based principles (Williams & Hodges, 2005) beyond a coach’s experience and personal belief system."

2)Athletes are capable of adapting to their environment by learning to pick up and act on relevant information—and this skill develops through regular exposure. The paper reminds us that players aren’t passive—they’re active problem-solvers who, over time, become more attuned to the key cues that matter in their sport. This process of becoming attuned to affordances (the opportunities for action) is essential for skill development, and it only happens when athletes interact with dynamic, information-rich environments.

Quote

"As described by Woods et al. (2021), humans (athletes) are complex, adaptable, and intentional organisms that, through learning, can become progressively attuned to relevant information and the specified affordances."

3)Unopposed practice should be used to explore movement possibilities, not to drill a ‘perfect’ technique. The paper challenges the traditional view that these drills are for mastering a single ideal movement. Instead, it suggests they should create space for athletes to experiment—trying out different ways of moving that suit their own body and context. When used in this way, unopposed practice becomes a valuable tool for encouraging creativity and adaptability.

Quote

"The how and why of isolated, unopposed practice is critical for coaches to consider. Contrary to popular application, we suggest that unopposed, isolated technical practice should be viewed as an exploratory instead of a prescriptive process."

4)Opposed, dynamic, and interactive learning environments are essential at all stages of player development. Whether working with beginners or elite athletes, it’s these rich, game-like situations that help players learn how to adapt, make decisions, and act with purpose. This type of training will better equip them to handle the demands of the dynamic performance environment.

Quote

"Put simply, for player learning and performance preparation in many skill development stages, we argue that opposed, dynamically-changing, and interactive training and learning environments are critical."

5)Even if a task is designed for one player, everyone involved can still benefit by engaging with the same representative and alive practice. When training involves real, dynamic problems, multiple players naturally become part of the learning environment—each adapting, making decisions, and developing their own skills through interaction. This makes the task worthwhile for all involved, not just the targeted individual

Quote

"Here, it must be noted that even when an IDP is developed for a particular player or group, it does not mean that other involved players are not given the opportunity to continually develop. For example, by simultaneously interacting with the same representative and alive problem of a high cross toward the goal, both goalkeepers (who may predominantly be targeted by the IDP session) and their attacking or defending outfield players can benefit from this practice task."

Reference

Parry, T. E., Myszka, S., Yearby, T., O Sullivan, M., & Otte, F. (2025). The value of opposed and unopposed practice: An ecological dynamics rationale for skill development. Quest, 1-21.

Podcast Snip

The importance of intent for coaches

I really enjoyed this conversation with Ian Renshaw and Rob Gray. Intention is one of the most overlooked but important constraints for both players and coaches. Coaches should be intentional with practice design, understanding the specific purpose behind each activity. While low-challenge drills (e.g., slow pitches down the middle in baseball) might build confidence, they don't significantly enhance long-term skill development. Different practices serve different purposes, and it's essential for coaches to adjust training activities based on specific goals, ensuring that skill development occurs through appropriately challenging tasks.

Quote

I think we almost coach weird things out of players”-Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick was my favourite player when I was younger and this message from his podcast was really powerful. He’s talking about two unique shots-John McEnroe’s volleys and Rafael Nadal’s forehand. These shots helped them become legends of the sport and Nadal’s forehand is arguably one of the most dominant shots in tennis history. Roddick says 97% of coaches would have tried to coach the unique elements of these shots out of the players. Some interesting food for thought

https://x.com/Served_Podcast/status/1900925225589440662

Resource

Unopposed vs Opposed Graphics

These are some graphics I made to help you with Unopposed vs Opposed practice tasks based on both the information in the paper “The value of opposed and unopposed practice: An ecological dynamics rationale for skill development (Parry et al., 2025)” and my own insights