Improvement is more than repeating a task. Learn the action, test it under changing demands and check what remains when the help disappears.
A runner completes a compass exercise accurately while the coach reminds them what to do. The following weekend, the same runner leaves a control in the wrong direction. Has the training failed?
Not necessarily. The exercise may have improved performance in that particular session without yet producing a skill the athlete can use independently. Doing something well today and learning it for the future are related, but different.
That distinction matters whenever we describe a routine as automatic. Automatic does not mean careless. It means a well-practised action can be used with less deliberate attention, while the athlete remains responsive to the situation.
First, make the action clear
Take direction out of a control. “Use your compass better” gives the runner little to work with. A more useful instruction is: orient the map, set the outgoing direction, identify something ahead on that line and leave towards it.
Practise at a speed that allows the runner to connect the map, compass and terrain. Choose a course where the target action is repeated without overwhelming them with other problems. Discuss what accurate execution feels and looks like, including how to notice a poor start early.
Then, change the conditions
Once the basic action is becoming reliable, vary the task. Change the exit angle, visibility, terrain detail and distance to the next reference. Add a short approach into the control so that the runner must finish one leg and prepare the next.
Increase difficulty in manageable steps. Adding speed, dense vegetation and head-to-head pressure simultaneously may produce plenty of mistakes but little clarity about their cause. The right progression exposes a weakness while leaving enough control to work on it.
Feedback should lead to another attempt
After an inaccurate exit, avoid stopping at “I lost concentration”. Reconstruct the sequence. Was the compass set before leaving? Was the map aligned? Did the runner follow an inviting path instead of the planned direction? Did preparation start too late?
Use that explanation to select the next attempt. Repeating a short section can be valuable when the athlete knows what they are changing. Afterwards, test the same principle on a different leg so that success does not depend on remembering the answer.
Encouragement helps an athlete stay engaged. It cannot replace an accurate explanation or a suitable task. Equally, an error should be information, not a judgement about the person making it.
Check retention and transfer
A useful learning check comes after a delay, with less help. Can the runner still perform the action next week? Can they use it in a different forest? Can they keep it when running harder or when another athlete appears?
Research on learning and performance describes why an easy-looking practice session is not sufficient evidence of lasting learning. Much of that work comes from settings outside orienteering. Applying the distinction here is a coaching interpretation, not proof that one particular compass drill is best.
Keep the progression flexible. A runner who becomes uncertain may need a simpler task briefly. An athlete who is consistently accurate needs a new challenge, rather than more repetitions of an already familiar answer.
Persistence matters most when each repetition has a purpose. The goal is a skill that survives a change of map, pace and pressure.
Further reading
- Soderstrom, N. C. & Bjork, R. A. (2015). Learning versus performance: an integrative review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 176–199.