Redundancy

Redundancy, training variability, and skill adaptation are interconnected concepts in motor learning and athletic development. Together, they highlight the athlete’s ability to adapt movements to achieve consistent outcomes under various conditions, leading to robust and flexible performance.
 
Redundancy refers to the idea that the human body can achieve the same movement goal using multiple movement patterns or joint combinations. This concept is also called the degrees of freedom problem, first described by Nikolai Bernstein. The body has many degrees of freedom (e.g., muscles, joints) that allow for multiple solutions to the same task. Redundancy is not inefficiency; rather, it provides flexibility, enabling athletes to adapt to various constraints or perturbations.
 
This encourages movement exploration during training, allowing athletes to discover different ways to accomplish a task. It promotes resilience by giving athletes the ability to adjust their solutions under changing constraints (e.g., fatigue, pressure, or environmental).
 
Training variability involves exposing athletes to a diverse range of training or practice conditions to enhance skill learning and adaptability. By introducing variability in training, athletes learn to adapt to novel or unpredictable situations, improving their ability to transfer skills to competitive environments. Variability supports the development of a robust movement system, preventing over-reliance on a single technique.
 
Skill adaptation refers to an athlete’s ability to modify their movement patterns to meet changing task, environmental, or individual constraints. This results from training or practice in variable and representative design that challenge the athlete’s ability to maintain performance consistency. It’s closely tied to the concept of perception-action coupling, where athletes continuously adjust their movements based on sensory information. This enhances decision-making and perceptual attunement in dynamic environments. It builds resilience, allowing athletes to maintain performance under stress, fatigue, or unexpected challenges.
 
Redundancy provides athletes with a toolbox of movement solutions, ensuring flexibility in how they achieve a task. Training variability creates the conditions necessary for athletes to explore these solutions and discover the most effective ones for different situations. By emphasizing diverse training or practice conditions, movement exploration, and adaptability, athletes gain the tools to perform consistently at a high level while minimizing the risk of injury or performance breakdown.
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