{"id":35191,"date":"2026-06-08T09:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T08:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=35191"},"modified":"2026-07-16T13:38:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:38:35","slug":"skill-acquisition-how-do-you-know-that-your-training-sessions-are-transferable-to-performance","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/skill-acquisition-how-do-you-know-that-your-training-sessions-are-transferable-to-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Skill Acquisition: How Do you Know that your Training Sessions Are Transferable to Performance?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 8 Jun 2026 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Skill Acquisition: How Do you Know that your Training Sessions Are Transferable to Performance?<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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At a recent Leaders Virtual Roundtable, members with a direct interest in the topic discussed their challenges and opportunities.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By John Portch<\/h6>\n
\u201cWe know it\u2019s hard to measure learning, but also, how do you measure challenge in this space?\u201d<\/h6>\n

That observation and question, posed by a skill acquisition specialist at a recent Leaders virtual roundtable, neatly captured the challenge of optimising athlete skill development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we can say with confidence that it\u2019s actually hard to measure all of these elements,\u201d she continued. \u201cCoaches can see changes in athletes over time, but how do we know that it\u2019s actually stuck?\u201d<\/p>\n

To illustrate her point, she spoke of a recent university research project in Australia where athletes were asked to train within a set of fixed constraints. As part of the project, both the athletes and their coaches were quizzed on their perception of the level of challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne athlete found it harder, one found it easier, and it was the same constraints, same drills.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is nothing unusual in that fact, but it does highlight the importance of coherent, context-specific approaches if teams are to gain a handle on skill acquisition in sport.<\/p>\n

Last month, members of the Leaders Performance Institute \u2013 all skill acquisition specialists or coaches with decades of experience in elite sport \u2013 shared their views on the challenges they face and the potential opportunities to pick \u201clow-hanging fruit\u201d, as another participant put it.<\/p>\n

Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n

Skill acquisition is fragmented<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got pockets of really great work, but there\u2019s not necessarily a systemised approach to being able to embed that knowledge across coach development, across coach education,\u201d said another skill acquisition specialist working in the Australian system. He added: \u201cWe need to take a systems approach and be able to influence all those different pieces. At the moment, they probably don\u2019t talk well to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unclear understanding<\/strong><\/p>\n

The aforementioned fragmentation is a direct consequence of the way skill acquisition is perceived more widely.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, what we\u2019re trying to do is help athletes become more skilful,\u201d said a coach development specialist based in the UK and Ireland. \u201cPeople are doing things so differently; we use lots of different words in this area to describe much the same thing.\u201d He then hinted at the solution. \u201cWhat I think would be really useful for everybody is just going \u2018what is it we\u2019re trying to achieve?\u2019 And then be clear; \u2018what is it we actually mean when we say these things?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Overstated certainty<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that I see is that I think that often the concepts that are associated with skill acquisition get stated with too much certainty; that there is really clear, solid evidence that everybody should do a certain something,\u201d said the coach development specialist. \u201cThat worries me because I just don\u2019t think that there is the strength of evidence to support some of the statements that are made.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his skill acquisition-focused peers concurred. \u201cWe can probably have confidence that the research often doesn\u2019t reflect the complexities of the environments that our coaches actually work in,\u201d he said. \u201cI spent 10 years with Paralympic sport in Australia, and I remember the first time I went in. I was young, keen, had all this knowledge, all these ideas; and I remember going into the environment for the first time and thinking \u2018I\u2019ve got nothing because nothing from my academic background translates directly here\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cultural barriers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of all the challenges discussed thus far, the coach development specialist cites cultural context as perhaps the most significant for coaches. \u201cWe can probably have confidence that coach education in this space is mixed at best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaches are very often taught to think in a different way than what might support skill acquisition,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This is a problem because, as a coaching lead in the British system observed, \u201cthe expectation for coaches to be exceptional in this domain is not what it should be.\u201d He then went further. \u201cI think even the phrase \u2018skill acquisition\u2019 may put people off. No one wants to feel incompetent in the domain in which they\u2019re employed.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also spoke of the challenge of managing athlete comfort, beliefs and expectations. \u201cIf they want to do something and you\u2019re not giving them what they want to do, you\u2019re on a sticky wicket.\u201d<\/p>\n

A skill acquisition coach admitted there were times when \u201cwe would have lost the athletes; they wouldn\u2019t have been ready; it was too quick, too far away from their norm, it made them too uncomfortable. We had to continually iterate and play at their challenge level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Practice design<\/strong><\/p>\n

The coach development specialist cited challenge point theory \u2013 essentially pushing athletes beyond their current ability \u2013 as useful but limited in isolation. \u201cThe deeper challenge there is, well, when do we use more of it? When do we use less of it?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Is an error-strewn session better than one where athletes sharpen their existing skills? \u201cI\u2019m not sure we’re at a point where we can say we understand the value of repetitive drill-like practice,\u201d he added. \u201cIf we introduce this level of variability, what\u2019s going to be the impact? If we dial it back, what\u2019s going to be the impact? I think that\u2019s probably the next frontier, not just for research, but for coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coherent systems (and language)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t sit with one group,\u201d said another skill acquisition specialist. \u201cWe need to take a systems approach and be able to influence all the different pieces. At the moment, the different disciplines probably don\u2019t talk well to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

It requires a shared understanding and sharper definitions. \u201c\u201cWhat is it we\u2019re trying to achieve?\u201d asked the coach development specialist, \u201cand then be clear, what is it we actually mean when we say these things? We use lots of different words in this area to describe much the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI think that we might be better off going, \u2018well, to what is it that we can actually anchor?\u2019 What are the things that we could consider to be good practice rather than saying \u2018do this all the time and everything will be better?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

One trend is for skill acquisition to be implicit, as a coach working at a major European football club explained: \u201cskill acquisition is a little more hidden and less explicit here \u2013 I don\u2019t know whether I\u2019m cheating the system by not trying to shout from the rooftop.\u201d<\/p>\n

A skill acquisition lead suggested there may be an opportunity in some instances \u201cto be a bit more explicit and reflect back on how do we actually design the best skill-learning environment?\u201d<\/p>\n

As if to underline the complex nature of the problem, the UK-based coaching lead responded to both by saying: \u201cI like the concept that it\u2019s hidden, it\u2019s implicit, but equally, I like the idea that it\u2019s really transparent. There\u2019s some solution somewhere between those two things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Better transfer from training to performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe more contextually relevant we can make the skill development, the more likely we are to get transfer into performance environments,\u201d said a skill acquisition coach.<\/p>\n

The coach development specialist then built on this point. He said: \u201cI think we ignore the context around an athlete and a coach. If we\u2019re going to make an impact with this work, we need to zoom out and look at the context around the coach and athlete rather than saying \u2018do this all the time and everything will be better\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coaching lead felt there was some \u201clow-hanging fruit\u201d to be found in this area. \u201cWe don\u2019t do systematic analysis of training sessions to understand stimulus and response,\u201d he said, while admitting he has yet to find the right tools or metrics.<\/p>\n

For all that, athletes must have some agency too. The All Blacks of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning vintage were a prime example of a mature, player-led approach to the transfer of training to competition, as their former GM told the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had players that wanted skill acquisition,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had a mission as a group that come game time, we needed self-reliant athletes. And the only way we could build that was through them getting themselves ready to play. So coaches became the support rather than the lead. Skill acquisition was built into every session, but the player would design how they utilised that period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is, of course, a balance to be struck. The coaching lead noted how frustrated his players once were with a monotonous session, yet \u201cthe transfer 36 hours later was unbelievable\u201d (he also noted that his observation was \u201cnon-scientific\u201d).<\/p>\n

Improve how coaches think, not just what they do<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere tends to be a frustration that some of these ideas aren\u2019t adopted more,\u201d said a skill acquisition specialist. \u201cI would encourage people to think about, well, what are the systems that we\u2019re putting around coaches? What are the environments we\u2019re creating to actually enable coaches to be more open, more curious, and make it more accessible? And what are the multiple nudges and ways in which we can do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

He also noted one coach lamenting the fact that there was little coach education in this space two decades ago (even if he admitted he might not have been receptive in the early 2000s). \u201cHow do we actually create systems so that more coaches more often can start to access these ideas and get support in this area?\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWhat we want to do is help coaches become good decision makers and designers of that environment and have a rationale and intent for why they\u2019re making those manipulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connect training, data and performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The coach based at the European football club spoke of their work with analysts to ensure better transfer of training to performance. \u201cWe have a database of all of our training sessions, logged what we\u2019re doing, and then the analyst gives me a monthly report of like, \u2018you\u2019ve covered this, you\u2019ve covered this, you\u2019ve covered this\u2019,\u201d he said while emphasising that his club is only at the start of its development in this space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have a research and innovation team that feed back to us on our game performance and highlight any dips or trends such as \u2018actually your counter-attacks are down in the last month\u2019. Then I go back to the training library and go \u2018okay, we\u2019ve not done enough counter-attack practices or actually we\u2019ve done loads of counter-attack practices, but they\u2019re down, so why is there not a transfer?\u2019 And so we\u2019re trying to attack it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then reflected on his ability to influence his coaches. \u201cWhen we break off and do unit or individual work, I\u2019m constantly trying to nudge them into making the practices a little bit more relevant, game relevant and asking themselves how that is transferring to what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Skill Acquisition: Tension, Challenges and Opportunities<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n