Variability in Practice

If variety is the spice of life, variability is the spice of sports performance and development. I have previously discussed how variability in snooker effects shot selection. I have discussed variability in practice design and in relation to Physical Education. Movement variability underpins an athlete's adaptability by coordinating many degrees of freedom that are available, leading to efficient movement solutions. I have written previosuly about a coaches best ability is adaptability, and I believe the same is true of a player. On the field of play, we want players to display dexterity, which is "finding a motor solution for any situation and in any condition... "The demand for dexerity is not in the movement itself, but in the surrounding conditions" (Bernstein, 1996, p21). An important aspect of developing movement dexterity is movement variability in training. If dexterity, adaptability and creativity are skills that are highly valued in performance, variability is a