SHAPING THE GAME: Representative Learning (5:7)

By Coach Barry Jones IIHF Level 3 High Performance | USA Hockey Level 3 Performance

Representative Learning: Why the Iceberg Must Resemble the Game

Learning Must Resemble the Game to Transfer

In non-linear coaching, learning does not transfer because athletes understand concepts.

It transfers because the information they train with matches the information they compete with.

Representative learning lives below the waterline. Athletes do not experience it as a framework. They experience it as familiarity when the game speeds up.

If the training environment does not resemble the game, adaptation remains local and fragile.

Representation Is About Information, Not Appearance

Representative learning is often misunderstood as making drills look like the game.

Appearance is secondary.

What matters is whether the task contains the same time constraints, spatial pressures, opponent cues, decision demands, and emotional signals.

If the information is wrong, the behaviour will not survive competition.

Perception and Action Must Stay Coupled

In competition, perception and action are inseparable.

Athletes must see information, interpret it, act on it, and recalibrate instantly.

When training removes information, pauses decision-making, or isolates movement, this coupling breaks.

Below the surface, the coach protects perception–action coupling by ensuring athletes must see, decide, and act together.

When Representation Is Lost, Coaches Over-Explain

When tasks lack representative information, coaches feel the need to fill the gap verbally.

More explanation appears. More whiteboard time. More tactical reminders.

This is not because athletes are failing to understand. It is because the environment is failing to teach.

Good Representation Reduces Instruction

When tasks carry the right information, athletes recognise patterns earlier, decisions speed up naturally, confidence increases, and transfer improves.

Above the surface, it looks like understanding.

Below the surface, the environment has done the teaching.

Representative Learning Protects Adaptability

Representative environments do not lock athletes into one solution.

They expose athletes to variable opponents, shifting space, changing timing, and evolving affordances.

This variability strengthens adaptability rather than undermining it.

Learning becomes robust because it has already lived inside uncertainty.

Linking Forward

Representation alone is not enough.

Athletes must also be given opportunities to sample different solutions, explore alternative roles, and experience variability over time.

These layers complete the iceberg.

Author Bio: Barry Jones is an IIHF Level 3 High Performance Coach and USA Hockey Level 3 Performance Coach. His work blends ecological dynamics, nonlinear design, and athlete-centred leadership to build adaptive teams that thrive in uncertainty.