Wednesday, April 29, 2009

IM Tasks Variations for Hockey


An IM provider in Australia I believe, works with a professional hockey player. This video is a bit long, but it's interesting. I use some similar variations but relate them to visual processing and faster mental processing for academic reasons.
The first two handed task with colors and numbers is similar to one of mine, but I add the requirement to cross midline. Crossing midline is very difficult for some students, but very important for efficient mental processing. My Core Conditioning format includes a lot of trunk rotation, crossing midline, balance, and some visual processing.

Also, Bobby makes this look easy. Often when I load tasks like this, either adding balance, visual processing, decision speed, etc, students will feel almost overwhelmed at first. It takes A LOT of mental focus to stay on the beat and get 'good' hits when loading a task. Bobby here has some practice under his belt. The first time he did these tasks, they were harder for him I'm sure. I would have enjoyed seeing the first time. In IM, you can see the changes and gains on a daily basis usually, helping students to stay engaged and motivated.