Take a Page from Your Coach's Play Book: Teaching Technical and Tactical Skills in Athletic Training

Abstract

Context The ability to demonstrate sound clinical reasoning is needed for a practicing athletic trainer. However, instruction on how to make a correct clinical decision may be deficient in many athletic training programs. Objective To provide an overview of how to teach technical and tactical skills, using both a tradition and a nontraditional approach, and to apply this teaching method to athletic training education. Background The teaching of technical skills involves four steps: (1) introduction, (2) demonstration and explanation, (3) practice, and (4) error correction. The teaching of tactical skills takes technical skills a step further by putting them into action. To teach a tactical skill, coaches (1) identify the decision to be made, (2) determine knowledge needed to make a good decision, (3) identify cues that should or should not be attended to, and help to ensure the cues are interpreted correctly, (4) determine appropriate tactical options, and (5) design an opportunity to practice reading the situation and choosing appropriate tactics. Applying this approach to athletic training, students may be better prepared to make good decisions when placed in a situation to do so. Description This paper discusses how applying a methodology for teaching technical and tactical skills will help athletic training students to become better at clinical decision making. It also provides an application example that can be adapted to other situations aiding in the implementation of this approach. Clinical Advantage(s) This approach can be applied to numerous situations and scenarios, preparing athletic training students to be better clinicians through proper clinical reasoning and decision making. Conclusion(s) The ability to reason clinically is a foundational skill that needs to be taught in athletic training programs. Teaching technical and tactical skills is a viable method to help athletic training students develop this skill.