GUIDED
DISCOVERY
Guided
Discovery is a methodology used to teach a sport. It is
rather new in this country but has been used extensively in Europe in teaching
physical education and tennis. It is gaining a large following in the
U.S. in the tennis community and a few of us in the golf profession have begun
to utilize this tool. What is different from the current method?
Well let me explain the current method a little.
Directed
Learning. Today, almost all teaching pros use the
Directed Learning method. This method consists of explaining the sequence
we want a student to execute, demonstrating the sequence and then having the
student replicate what was demonstrated. The student is directed on how
to learn. And if the student is doing it wrong, then the teacher points
out the mistake(s), and directs the student to hit more balls to try and
assimilate the skill.
Unfortunately, that is
not how we humans learn best. We learn best when we experiment, when our
minds are active in finding the solution on how to accomplish a task.
That is how motor learning works.
The basic outline of Guided Discovery is to put the student in a learning
bubble, using various methods, that enable the student to 'discover' how to
accomplish a specific task. This doesn't mean that I won't show you how
to accomplish a motor task. It means that we will try to ingrain that
motor skill by having your mind discover how to get from the desire to accomplish a task
to actually accomplishing the task.
While this sounds more difficult than copying what a golf pro shows and tells
you to do, it isn't. And more importantly, the key is that motor skills
learned in this way are truly ingrained and easily portable from the driving
range to the golf course. Many of us become Range Rogers, the golfer that
has a great swing and ball striking ability on the practice range but it all
comes apart on the golf course where and when it matters.
The best example of
what Guided Discovery does for motor learning is a telephone call. We
have two phones and a connection, be it wired or wireless. As long as the
3 pieces are working, when phone 1 calls phone 2, it passes through the
connection properly. Motor learning is the same. The brain is one
end, the muscle nerve receptors the other end, and the connection is the nerve
system sending the signals. Just as you must dial correctly to get the
person you seek at the other end of the phone call, so too must the brain send
and contact the proper recepters to replicate the motor task. Our job is
to make sure we train the mind and body to have the proper 'calling code' so
the proper action is replicated by the body.
For more, please read: What is Guided Discovery.doc
