Basic Principles Article #10: Using TAGteach for Physical Movement

By Joan Orr, M.Sc.

In past articles in this series we have talked about the tag point – the exact response, action or position that a teacher pinpoints with a tag (the click sound) to tell the learner “YES, that was right!”, how to associate the audible tag with a tangible reinforcer, how to harness the power of peer tagging and how to apply TAGteach in various practical learning situations. Here we talk about how TAGteach can be used to help teach physical skills.

Identify the Activity and Break it Down

TAGteach was first used with physical skills and this is a very powerful application that can have dramatic results in a short time. As a coach, you first identify the critical steps involved in the skill you wish to teach and then identify your learner’s point of success to give you a starting point.

Point of Success

The point of success is something the learner can already do and where he is guaranteed to earn a tag. For example a T-ball player can stand with his feet on each of two marks that you have put on the ground. This is the point of success since you know for sure he can do this. The first tag point is “feet on the markers”. After a few tries you will no longer need the markers and the tag point is “feet in the ready position”. The point of success is a place to return to if the athlete is having trouble with more difficult tag points.

The Three Try Rule

You give an athlete three tries (or fewer) at a new tag point and if she cannot earn a tag, then you redesign the tag point to improve her chances of success. For example, you are teaching a two-foot take off for a spike shot in volleyball. The tag point is at the start of the jump “two feet on the ground”, but the athlete runs and jumps off one foot three times in a row. Rather than reminding (dare we say nagging) to get the desired result, a solution is to take the jump out of the skill. Have the athlete stand on the ground. The tag point is “rise on your toes”. This is a point of success since you know she can do this. After a few tags for rising on toes, the next step is to jump in place (no run up). At the start of the jump the tag point is “two feet on the ground”. When this has been tagged a few times the athlete can take one step and then jump of two feet and then two steps etc until the run has been put back into the skill and the athlete is consistently jumping off two feet. The tag point is still the same, but the skill is becoming more complex. If there are three failures in a row, you simply return to the most recent point of success.

Build on Success

Your athletes can build skills rapidly using the above approach without needing constant reminders. Each part of a skill is developed individually with tag points designed to maximize each athlete’s success. Off-point errors are ignored so that the athlete can focus on the tag point. For example, in the volleyball spike the tag point is “two feet on the ground” during the jump and so you will not comment on any other aspects, such as arm position. Later you can give a tag point (or series of tag points one at a time) to help focus on arm position and you will ignore one-footed jumps if they occur. Return to the jumping tag points if you notice any deterioration in these, but usually previously tagged aspects of a skill are retained, or regained easily in one or two tries. Athletes describe the tagged skill elements as “photographs” in their minds to which they can easily return. Here is a video of high jump taught with the techniques described here.



Next time we will talk about the Point of Success in more detail.