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# Principles of Practice Design ## Breaking Down Skills: Progressions and Sequencing Effective practice design requires practitioners to consider several decisions regarding the breakdown of skills. Should a skill be broken down into parts or practiced as a whole? How do speed and accuracy affect...

# Principles of Practice Design ## Breaking Down Skills: Progressions and Sequencing Effective practice design requires practitioners to consider several decisions regarding the breakdown of skills. Should a skill be broken down into parts or practiced as a whole? How do speed and accuracy affect skill acquisition? How best to learn skills requiring equal proficiency on both dominant and non-dominant sides? ### Whole Versus Part Practice Learning a novel motor skill is challenging, especially when early functional demands exceed a learner's attention capacity. Part practice simplifies the learning process by breaking the skill into natural parts. Parts are practiced separately until mastered before integrating them. This strategy's advantages include: 1. Simplifying the skill 2. Early success leading to increased motivation 3. Practice on problematic components without wasting time on mastered parts However, separating a skill into parts might not always be the most efficient approach. Whole practice, which involves practicing the complete skill, is favored under specific conditions. The best choice depends on which method maximizes positive transfer to whole-skill performance (Wightman and Lintern, 1985).