I will be honest with you. Most of videos I see on the internet about teaching motor skills are pure BS. Everybody claims that their specific exercise will revolutionize your game… Will it though?
I created a table that can help you determining if a specific exercise is efficient or not. Check that out below:
| Component | Score (0-10) |
|---|---|
| Transfer | |
| Retention | |
| Challenge Level | |
| Variability | |
| Engagement | |
| Decision-Making | |
| Perception-Action Coupling | |
| Reps Per Minute |
A well-designed exercise maximizes transfer (how well skills apply to the actual game) and retention (how well skills persist over time). If an exercise only improves performance within the drill itself but fails to enhance overall gameplay, it’s not truly effective. Likewise, if a player shows improvement while practicing the drill but quickly loses that skill without constant repetition, the drill lacks long-term effectiveness. Those are rated based on you estimation/experience whether transfer and retention would occur.
An effective drill provides the right level of challenge—not too difficult, causing frustration and excessive errors; but not too easy, not resulting in learning. The ideal drill keeps players engaged, slightly outside their comfort zone, and continuously adapting.
Additionally, effective drills include variability to encourage adaptability and problem-solving. They should also maintain player engagement, as motivation enhances learning. Decision-making is another crucial element; players should practice making choices about techniques, strategies, and movement patterns rather than simply repeating movements. Finally, effective drills must preserve the relevant perception-action coupling, ensuring that players respond to the same informational cues they would encounter in the actual game. For example, reaction-time drills using lights (e.g., https://www.reflexxrlt.online) may fail to transfer to sport-specific scenarios because they lack relevant perceptual information.
Finally, an essential aspect of drill effectiveness is the quantity of repetitions athletes are able to perform. Even if an exercise checks all the right boxes—representative context, variability, motivation—if athletes don’t get enough opportunities to repeat the targeted skill, learning can be compromised. One way I like to monitor this is by tracking the frequency of the key action—how many times per minute or hour the athlete performs it. For example, if a two-hour session results in only five instances of the target skill, that’s a red flag that the drill may need restructuring to boost repetition rates.
Concluding Remarks
That table is certainly subject. Still, it is better than following everything without reflection. Next time, whenever you see a specific drill or exercise on the internet, try to rate the drill based on those components. In general, game-like drills are rated higher (and they are truly more efficient), and isolated drills are naturally rated lower.
