Motor coordination and accuracy improvement educational technology for Special Mission officers

Фотографии: 

ˑ: 

Colonel, Ph.D. A.V. Malyshko
Colonel A.A. Starovoytov
Captain N.E. Gukov
Captain, postgraduate V.O. Suvorov
Military Institute of Physical Culture, St. Petersburg

Keywords: educational technology, motor coordination and accuracy, physical exercise, special mission unit.

Introduction. In the present situation of the globally mounting military and political tensions and serious threats to the Russia’s national security, top priority will be given to the innovation concepts to improve the physical training systems in application to special mission officers. It is a matter of common knowledge that success of any combat mission largely depends on how well trained the special forces officers are in the professional-combat and physical aspects [3, 4].

Physical fitness of the special forces officers will meet the relevant requirements that are dictated by specifics of modern combat operations in different anti-terror missions. For the special forces officers being highly effective in these operations, their motor skills need to be adequate in terms of speed, timeliness and security. These skills require high motor coordination and accuracy being developed and stepped up by the special mission officers, with the motor coordination and accuracy skills being interpreted as base constituents of general agility. And agility in its turn may be interpreted as the ability to act in a fast and determined manner in the mission performance process and/or effectively respond to and to successfully cope with sudden situations triggered by outside factors [1, 2, 5].

Objective of the study was to provide substantiations for the motor coordination and accuracy improvement technology in application to special forces officers.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was based on educational modeling and educational experiment. The motor coordination and accuracy skills of the subject special mission officers were rated based on the Makarov handgun test target shooting (5 single shots) rounds.

Study results and discussion. Educational goals of the target physical practices within the frame of the Gymnastics and Weight Training course were designed to include special settings to improve agility on the whole and its constituent qualities in particular in the subject special forces officers. Experts identified a few most frequent drawbacks in the physical fitness of the subject  officers in the training process, including: insufficient coherence and precision of the motor skills demanding high coordination qualities in the combat mission performance process; plus some indetermination hampering the ability to act in a fast and efficient manner in real combat situations [4].

Therefore, a high priority will be given by to new sophisticated concepts in the efforts to improve the physical fitness standards of the special forces officers. In the relevant educational technology development process, we believed it could be beneficial to make a special emphasis on the physical training course objectives, institutional formats, methods and tools to excel the motor coordination and accuracy skills of the special mission officers.

With these goals in mind, we developed and substantiated a model motor coordination and accuracy improvement educational technology applicable within the frame of the Applied Gymnastics and Weight Training course for special mission officers. The model educational technology includes the following four interconnected stages (see Figure 1 hereunder).

Stage I was designed to assess the background motor coordination and accuracy skills of the special mission officers studying the course.

Stage II was intended to form the necessary skills by the relevant coordination-, spatial-orientation- and accuracy-improvement practices within the frame of the relevant acrobatic and gymnastic course.

Stage III offered more challenging practices to improve the basic motor coordination skills with special corrective individualized components for the lagging-behind trainees in the groups of the special mission officers.

Stage IV was designed to rate the motor coordination and accuracy skills of the trainees and make necessary specific corrections to the training process.

Each of the above stages of the new educational technology was designed to attain some specific objectives and spelled up each step of training course managers in the process highlighting the most efficient methodological tools applicable at the stage.

The model educational technology was tested by an experiment. The educational technology test data were found indicative of the model motor coordination and accuracy improvement educational technology being highly beneficial and efficient in application to the physical training of special mission officers.

Stage

Objectives

Content

Methodological tools

Stage I:

Assessing the background motor coordination and accuracy skills of newcomers

Rate the starting abilities and qualities for the motor coordination and accuracy skills improvement program

Make decision on the specific motor coordination and accuracy skills improvement practices applicable

Give explanations and instructions to help understand the essence and goals of the motor coordination and accuracy skills improvement practices

Stage II:

Form the necessary motor coordination and accuracy skills

Develop the relevant coordination-, spatial-orientation- and accuracy-demanding skills

Plan the special motor coordination and accuracy improvement practices

Highlight the key drawback(s) coming up in the motor coordination and accuracy improvement process

Stage III:

Focus on correction of the underdeveloped skills in the motor coordination and accuracy improvement process

Identify the most challenging motor coordination and accuracy improvement practices

Offer individualized practices to develop the specific skills in the motor coordination and accuracy improvement process

Apply special tools tailored to the individual needs of the trainees in the practices

Stage IV:

Rate success of the trainees following the motor coordination and accuracy improvement course

Identify individual motor coordination and accuracy quality rates of the trainees

Design and apply fair rating system for the motor coordination and accuracy qualifications

Apply the relevant tools to rate the motor coordination and accuracy qualities of the trainees

High fitness for combat missions as a result

Figure 1. Model motor coordination and accuracy improvement educational technology for special forces officers

The tests showed that the relevant professional combat actions indicative of the special forces officers being fit for anti-terror operations were significantly higher in the study group as compared to the reference group. The advantage of the study group was particularly notable in the Makarov handgun shooting tests and obstacle crossing tests. In the Makarov handgun shooting (5 single shot) tests, for example, the study group scored on average 48.87±1.18 points after the experimental course compared to the reference group average score of 44.21±2.87 points.

Conclusion. The model motor coordination and accuracy improvement educational technology was proved to be highly efficient in application to the special mission officers subject to the study and may be recommended for application in the professional physical training courses for special forces officers.

References

  1. Baymukhametov R.M. Osnovy teorii i metodiki provedeniya uchebno-trenirovochnykh zanyatiy po gimnastike i atleticheskoy podgotovke: ucheb. posobie (Fundamentals of theory and methodology of gymnastics and weight training sessions: study guide) / R.M. Baymukhametov, N.E. Gukov, O.S. Zaytsev et al.; ed. by A.N. Kisly, G.A. Pavlov. – St. Petersburg: VIFK (ARIPhC), 2013. – 177 p.: il.
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  4. Kuramshin Yu.F. Metody obucheniya dvigatel'nym deystviyam i razvitiya fizicheskikh kachestv: ucheb. posobie (Methods of teaching motor actions and development of physical qualities: study guide) / Yu.F. Kuramshin. – St. Petersburg: Fizicheskaya kul'tura i sport, 1998. – 99 p.
  5. Teoriya i organizatsiya sluzhebno-prikladnoy fizicheskoy podgotovki, fizicheskoy kul'tury i sporta: uchebnik dlya kursantov VIFK (Theory and organization of applied service physical training, physical culture and sport: textbook for cadets of MIPhC) / ed. by V.V. Mironov, A.A. Obvintsev. – St. Petersburg: VIFK (ARIPhC), 2014. – 297 p.

 

Abstract
Due to the aggravation of the military and political situation and the emergence of real security threats to Russia new approaches are required to physical training of special forces officers.
The article presents results of the authors' research, aimed at studying and developing a motor coordination and accuracy improvement educational technology in application to military personnel at physical training sessions. This technology reveals the phased activities of coaches when developing motor coordination and accuracy in the special forces officers in the Gymnastics and Weight Training course. This technology solves the problem of identifying officers' skills of mastering agility exercises; developing the skills of spatial orientation and accuracy of motor actions during exercises; defining the most difficult coordination-developing exercises; determining the level of motor coordination and accuracy skills in the special forces officers.