Play Practice: Engaging and Developing Skilled Players, Second Edition, provides an alternative to traditional sport instruction. This innovative and authentic approach to teaching sports combines contemporary theory with the experience of practical and reflective work in real sport environments. Coauthors Alan Launder and Wendy Piltz, both with wide-ranging experience as players, teachers, and coaches, expand and update the play practice approach they presented in the first edition and show how it can be used to help improve sport skills for players of all ages and abilities. This flexible model of sport pedagogy can be applied as a whole or one element at a time. It covers a wide range of team and individual sports, including archery, table tennis, flag football, snow skiing, cricket, and track and field. Plus, you’ll find a wealth of field-tested ideas for working with diverse learners in schools and communities. The second edition highlights the significance of key terms such as games sense, technique, resilience, and fair play. It also provides new information relating to the complexity of learning and addresses the difficulties beginners face in the learning process. The second edition of Play Practice integrates a thorough analysis of skilled performance with an understanding of the conditions under which people best learn. It also shows how the strategies of simplifying, shaping, focusing, and enhancing can help you create situations to maximize learning and positively influence the attitudes of learners. Over 130 illustrations and photos demonstrate specific approaches, ideas that can work for multiple sports, and ways to apply the approach with beginners through elite players. Summary sections in each chapter help you quickly identify and review key topics. And two bonus chapters about the origins, evolution, and theoretical bases for Play Practice are available free for download at www.HumanKinetics.com/PlayPractice. Play Practice is based on the idea that an individual’s commitment to achieving mastery is a powerful motivator for learning. Learn to harness these motivators and create enjoyable practice situations in which learners young and old, whether resistant beginners or highly motivated professionals, are encouraged to strive for excellence.

This new edition covers a broader variety of disciplines including exercise science, kinesiology, movement studies, physical education, sport science and sport studies.

Describes play workshop experiences that give educators a deeper understanding of play-based learning and illustrate the power of play.

No matter what you have tried so far, there is a better way. There is a better way to practice so you lower your scores and have more fun. The better way means learning to go beyond your comfort zone on the range so you are in your comfort zone on the course. The better way means combining the mental and physical aspects of golf to create habits of excellence. Practice to Learn, Play to Win uses the latest research in brain science to supercharge your golf. The better way to golf starts with great practice and ends with great scores.

*** SPECIAL LAUNCH PRICE GOES AWAY MARCH 1ST *** If you''re a Self-Taught Guitarist wanting to play songs without spending all your time practicing, this may be the most important book you ever read... But first a warning: this book is NOT for everyone... This isn''t one of those "practice until your fingers bleed" or "cram confusing theory into your mind" type of guitar instruction books. There are plenty of those available (i.e. practice scales & exercises for hours per day and feel guilty if you don''t). When I first decided to learn to play guitar, I read all the guitar books for beginners and focused on developing a lot of areas like scales, theory, and exercises that promised me one day I''d be able to play the songs I loved. The problem is, when you approach practice like that, you have a lot of "stuff" to practice, but you usually have no REAL MUSIC to show for it, ending up with what I call Mountain Climber Syndrome. You feel like eventually, your hard work is going to pay off, everything will come together, and you''ll finally be able to play songs. Why not play songs right away instead? The simple, three-step system in this book requires a slight shift in the way you think about practicing, but leaves you with lots of songs, confidence, and a lifelong skill you can use any time you want to learn the songs you love ON DEMAND. With that said, let''s jump right in... Practice Less, Play More! is about getting immediate results from your guitar. This means ONLY focusing on the things that help you play songs (both BEFORE practice & AFTER practice). The idea is to divide your guitar practice into 3 phases: The first phase focuses on priming your mind so you have the right mindsets & techniques to learn songs quickly and all of the right materials to get the most out of your practice sessions. The second phase focuses on practice technique, showing you exactly how to break a song down and quickly program each part into your fingers. Far too few guitar practice books explain this clearly! The final phase focuses on the best mindsets & techniques to use when you switch out of Practice Mode and are actually playing songs, so you can play them as effortlessly as possible and have a blast doing it. It is called "Practice Less, Play More!", because you are constantly building momentum (and your song Playlist) without having to endure hours of mind-numbing practice. It is actually an easier, less-stressful approach to playing guitar. Not only that, this book shows you: How to get songs to performance-quality within days... You should practice guitar parts over & over until you master them, right? WRONG! (find out why in Chp 7) How to create a practice routine you enjoy and can actually stick to (even if you have a super busy schedule) When is the best time to practice for long-lasting results 5 ways to cut your practice time in half and virtually guarantee you make progress each time you pick up your guitar What to think about while you''re playing songs (the answer may surprise you) How to reduce the amount of mistakes you make and exactly what to do when you make one (most Beginners are doing the opposite!) One practice method you should NEVER use if you want rapid results on guitar Say goodbye to guessing what to practice next and finally build a Playlist of songs you''re proud to play on guitar! The book is an easy read and will feel like we''re just chatting, as I tell you my best stories from on & off tour and show you my best strategies for learning songs. Order Now Before The Price Increases ***All proceeds from this book are being used to create new programs for cancer patients and their caregivers. Thank you for your support!

Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.

Combining the research talents of many long-standing members of the Association for the Study of Play, this work provides discussions of the theory and applied value of play, as well as ongoing research from America, Australia, Taiwan, and Korea. The developmental and educational theories of Lev Semenovich Vygotsky are analyzed in several chapters. The world's premiere play scholar, Brian Sutton-Smith, continues his seminal play theory work, following up on previously presented findings and constructing a developmental theory of play based on emotions. Chapters address: • Play as a parody of emotional vulnerability • Learning to observe children at play • Symbolic play through the eyes and words of children • The activities of children at recess in middle school Professors, teachers, scholars, and university students interested in early childhood education, child development, play theory and practice, and preschool and elementary education will find this volume of interest.