We’re built to accept the world beginning to end; a start, middle, the finish. It’s how we live. It just makes sense. A kindergartener can’t start with calculus curriculum, you can’t read Shakespeare without knowing the alphabet. Same with physical activity, especially complicated movement patterns. We learn in a predictable sequence:
-Prepare; stance, grip, etc.
-Initiate action; load the club, racket, ball, stick/bat, etc. with potential energy.
-Complete a bunch of other necessary gyrations to get the most out of that energy; bend the knees, open the hips, rotate the shoulders, etc.
-End the skill; follow through, thumb to nose, pick up grass, etc.
-Repeat; recreate movement patterns in that same order
The golf swing is a complicated kinetic chain of physical movements, almost always taught start-to-finish; set-up, backswing, downswing, follow-through. In the book, Total Golf: A behavioral approach to lowering your score and getting more out of your game, Thomas Simek and Richard O’Brien propose teaching the golf swing back to front, end to start.
In forward progression you repeat a series of movements in order to get to what is usually the most important part of the skill, the finish. To be able to hit a golf ball, for instance, you need to progress through set-up, backswing, downswing, and contact before you follow-through. Most teachers will tell you that the follow-through is at least as important as every other part, but some of us never get there.
Backward progression learning teaches the finish first. Foundations like grip and balance are taught to build a foundation, but posture, tempo, and body position are taught finish to start, follow-through-to-set-up. When errors occur in the process, you go back to the stage that you performed correctly, re-master it, and start all over again.
Features of Backward Shaping include:
-The rate of learning is much faster than forward progression. In one study of moderate skills, mentally challenged subjects using backward shaping techniques learned at approximately the same rate as normal subjects using forward progression.
-There are fewer errors inherent in backward shaping, increasing a learner’s self-confidence in perfecting complex physical activities.
– The number of repetitions needed to achieve physical activity goals is significantly fewer.
– In backward shaping the latter parts of the skill are better developed, because you practice them more, which leads to an overall higher level of skill performance than in forward progressions.
So, why isn’t Backward Shaping more popular? The answer is most likely tradition. Forward progression is easier to understand, rarely questioned as the correct model for learning. You tend to teach how you were taught. It just makes sense. But comparisons have shown that backward shaping can be superior in developing speed, accuracy, fluency, and skill maintenance. It may be the alternative to teaching the old fashioned way.
Bill Burk's collective writing...and some other stuff. 