Blocked practice schedules involve chunking, where sport-specific skills (skating forwards, skating backwards, passing, shooting, etc.) are practiced separately for a period of time (i.e. low contextual interference). On the other hand, random practice schedules require skills to be utilized in a somewhat indiscriminate order (i.e. high contextual interference).

Blocked practice has been shown to improve motor performance, especially for beginners, whereas random practice has been shown to enhance motor learning. The variation that exists during random practice forces the athlete to adapt to the changing context & develop the underlying mechanism of the movements rather than simply repeating the same motion continuously. A study involving high school basketball players found that those assigned to the blocked practice group (27 chest passes, 27 overhead passes, and 27 sidearm passes) outperformed their peers in the random practice group (total repetitions were equal – 81 – but participants were not allowed to perform the same pass more than two times consecutively) during the intervention; indicating superior motor performance. However, the random practice group outperformed the blocked practice group during both the retention test (1 day later) & the transfer test (participants were required to perform the passes from a greater distance); indicating superior motor learning (Medina, Baba, & Thomas, 2019).

Indeed, skills that are learned slowly, are forgotten slowly. It should be noted that random practice schedules pose a greater challenge to learners than blocked practice, & athletes may feel as though they are not improving quickly – which can be frustrating. The incorporation of learner autonomy & positive verbal feedback can help reduce frustration.

Recommendation: Incorporate more random practice as athletes become more skilled, but find the proverbial “sweet spot” to balance the amount of challenge & frustration that is imposed.