Teachers and coaches gotta decide how they're gonna teach a skill

• Whole: Practicing the whole movement at once (e.g. a tennis serve)
• Part: Breaking the skill down into pieces and practicing each part (e.g. a basketball lay-up)
• Combination: Whole-part-whole or part-whole, mix it up!

How do you decide? It depends on the skill

• If all the parts happen at the same time (like a volleyball serve), go whole.
• If the parts happen one after another (like a lay-up in basketball), go part.
• If the parts are all super connected and don't make sense on their own, go whole.

Practicing perfectly all the time may not be the best way to improve your skills. In fact, it may even hurt your performance. Instead, try mixing it up!

Variable practice means changing up how you practice a skill. Like throwing a ball to different targets, at different distances, angles, or heights. But don't change it so much that it's a totally different skill. Keep the basic movement the same.

Why? Well, research says variable practice makes you more consistent and accurate. Plus, it helps kids develop a "schema" for a skill.