The Perception & Action Podcast 94 – The Legacy of Nikolai Bernstein II: Skill Acquisition through Free(z)ing Degrees of Freedom
9 snips
Jan 30, 2018 Explore the fascinating theory of freezing and freeing degrees of freedom in skill acquisition. Delve into Bernstein's three-stage learning model, illustrated with relatable examples like hammering and baseball swings. Discover empirical tests in sports coaching that reveal when to allow freezing and the importance of promoting freeing for better performance. This intriguing discussion brings practical insights for anyone looking to improve motor skills and enhance learning in sports.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Bernstein’s Core Learning Framework
- Bernstein framed motor coordination as mastering redundant degrees of freedom to make the body controllable.
- He proposed three learning stages: freezing, freeing, and exploiting reactive phenomena.
Why Learners ‘Freeze’ Movements
- Freezing reduces movement options by locking joints or tightly coupling body parts.
- This simplifies control early in learning but produces inflexible, suboptimal movements.
From Rigid To Functional Couplings
- Freeing reintroduces mobility, typically proximal-to-distal and cephalocaudal first.
- It also creates task-specific functional couplings (motor synergies) that optimize performance.