A Commentary on Complex Motor Learning and Police Training: Applied, Cognitive, and Clinical Perspectives by Di Nota, P. M., and Huhta, J.-M. (2019). Front. Psychol. 10:1797. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01797 Di Nota and Huhta (2019) recently provided an informative overview concerning complex motor learning in the context of police training. Reflecting the emphasis on complex motor learning in the context of police training, there are a number of pedagogical practices and coaching decisions which are informed by this paper. As Di Nota and Huhta (2019) explain, that “police trainers generally agree that basic skills training should begin with learning the fundamentals, or component “chunks,” in order to develop proficiency, comfort and safety with a given technique” (p. 10). As such, the authors suggest first learning basic skills and techniques up to a proficient level before further develop expertise “through exposure to increasingly complex and demanding situations” (p. 10) and applying them in performance settings. Concerning this assumption of a linear and modular approach to training (Moy et al., 2015), we raise two issues informed by the ecological dynamics perspective on skill development (Araújo and Davids, 2011; Seifert et al., 2019) that may extend some of the suggestions of Di Nota and Huhta (2019). First, the problem of isolation in complex motor learning and second, the problem of neglecting representative task design before the utilization of complex scenario trainings. It is understandable, that article length restrictions may have impacted on the authors in providing the necessary details that we feel warrants additional mention. Hence, it is not our intention to take away from the quality work presented but rather to support its desired aims. Firstly, from an applied coaching perspective, the issue of isolating parts of movements in order to integrate them later on in a more complex movement or isolating the movement from the performance context has been observed in the police training domain on various
Language: en
LA - en SN - 1664-1078 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02444 ID - ref1 ER -