BYU Lineman Gets Stuck In Gymnastics Team Foam Pit

Talk about a sticky situation. When BYU gymnastics coach Guard Young decided to test his team's mental toughness, he invited athletes from other teams, including the football team, to jeer at his performers while they practiced their routines. “One of the funnest things we’ve done this year was we brought in sports teams to cheer us on and to heckle us on the balance beam,” Young told the Herald Extra last week. As you might know, football players are quite large. And when practiced ended, they understandably decided to try out the acrobatic gymnastics equipment. “After they heckled the girls, they saw the foam pit and they couldn’t resist,” Young said. But when Cougars defensive lineman Motekiai Langi had a go at the pit, the 6-foot-7, 397 pound sophomore found that it might not be fit for someone of his size. “We all thought it was pretty funny until we realized we couldn’t get him out,” Young said. “Then I was like, seriously, how do you get someone like that out of the foam pit, We got him out, but it took some effort and some football players to help. Thankfully I didn’t get a phone call from (head football coach Kalani Sitake) about it. “It sucked me down,” Langi said while laughing. Eventually, Langi got free thanks to the help of his teammates. But not before he learned a valuable lesson.

Acting consistently with the new value. The individual is firmly committed to the value, perhaps becoming a civil rights leader. Krathwohl, D.R., Bloom,B.S. and Masia, B. B. (1964).Taxonomy of educational objectives, Book II. Affective domain. New York, NY. This domain is characterized by progressive levels of behaviors from observation to mastery of a physical skill. Several different taxonomies exist. Perception - Sensory cues guide motor activity. Set - Mental, physical, and emotional dispositions that make one respond in a certain way to a situation. Guided Response - First attempts at a physical skill. Trial and error coupled with practice lead to better performance. Mechanism - The intermediate stage in learning a physical skill. Responses are habitual with a medium level of assurance and proficiency. Complex Overt Response - Complex movements are possible with a minimum of wasted effort and a high level of assurance they will be successful. Adaptation - Movements can be modified for special situations. Origination - New movements can be created for special situations. Imitation - Observing and copying someone else.

Manipulation - Guided via instruction to perform a skill. Precision - Accuracy, proportion and exactness exist in the skill performance without the presence of the original source. Articulation - Two or more skills combined, sequenced, and performed consistently. Naturalization - Two or more skills combined, sequenced, and performed consistently and with ease. The performance is automatic with little physical or mental exertion. Harrow (1972) developed this taxonomy. Reflex movements - Automatic reactions. Basic fundamental movement - Simple movements that can build to more complex sets of movements. Perceptual - Environmental cues that allow one to adjust movements. Physical activities - Things requiring endurance, strength, vigor, and agility. Skilled movements - Activities where a level of efficiency is achieved. Active mental attending of a physical event. The learner watches a more experienced person. Other mental activity, such as reading may be a pert of the observation process. Attempted copying of a physical behavior. The first steps in learning a skill. The learner is observed and given direction and feedback on performance. Movement is not automatic or smooth. Trying a specific physical activity over and over.

The skill is repeated over and over. The entire sequence is performed repeatedly. Movement is moving towards becoming automatic and smooth. Fine tuning. Making minor adjustments in the physical activity in order to perfect it. The skill is perfected. A mentor or a coach is often needed to provide an outside perspective on how to improve or adjust as needed for the situation. Harrow, A.J. (1972). A taxonomy of the psychomotor domain. Simpson, E. (1972). The classification of educational objectives in the psychomotor domain: The psychomotor domain. Vol. 3. Washington, DC: Gryphon House. Who is this aimed at, What do you expect them to be able to do, This should be an overt, observable behavior, even if the actual behavior is covert or mental in nature. If you can't see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, or smell it, you can't be sure your audience really learned it. Under what circumstances will the learning occur, What will the student be given or already be expected to know to accomplish the learning,

Degree - How much, Must a specific set of criteria be met, Do you want total mastery (100%), do you want them to respond correctly 80% of the time, etc. A common (and totally non-scientific) setting is 80% of the time. This is often called the ABCD's of objectives, a nice mnemonic aid! Tip: Never use the word understand in an objective. It is too vague, and does not specify a measurable behavior. Specific - Use the ABCDs to create a clear and concise objective. Measurable - Write the objective so that anyone can observe the learner perform desired action and objectively assess the performance. Achievable - Make sure the learner can do what is required. Don't, for example, ask the learner to perform complex actions if they are a beginner in an area. Relevant - Demonstrate value to the learner. Don't teach material that won't be used or on which you will not assess. Timely and Time Bound - Ensure the performance will be used soon, not a year from now.