What are the types of guidance, what are the strengths and weaknesses of each, and which suits a given learner?
The types of guidance (visual, verbal and physical/manual), the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how to choose the right type of guidance for a learner at a given stage.
A focused CCEA GCSE Physical Education answer on guidance, covering the three types (visual, verbal and physical/manual), the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how to choose the right guidance for a learner at a given stage.
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What this dot point is asking
CCEA wants you to know the types of guidance, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how to choose the right type for a learner. CCEA's three types of guidance are visual, verbal and physical/manual. Guidance is the information a coach gives to help someone learn a skill, and matching it to the learner is key.
The three types of guidance
A simple way to remember them is show, tell, move: visual shows, verbal tells, and physical/manual moves or supports the body.
Advantages and disadvantages
Each type suits different learners and skills, and CCEA often asks for both sides.
| Type | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Visual | Clear picture to copy; good for beginners; shows the whole movement | A poor or unclear demonstration is copied wrongly; fast/complex skills hard to show |
| Verbal | Quick; highlights a key teaching point; good with a demonstration | Too much is confusing; some skills are hard to describe; relies on the learner listening |
| Physical/manual | Feel the correct movement; safe; builds confidence; good for new or dangerous skills | Over-reliance on support; can feel uncomfortable or give a false feel; hard with large groups |
Choosing the right guidance
Examples in context
Example 1. Why coaches combine types. A swimming coach teaching front crawl might show the stroke (visual), tell the swimmer to "keep the elbow high" (verbal), and support their body in the water to feel the position (physical/manual). Combining the types covers each one's weakness, a clear, practical point CCEA rewards.
Example 2. Matching guidance to the learner's stage. A beginner needs lots of visual and physical/manual guidance to form the movement and feel it safely. An advanced performer needs mostly verbal guidance, fine-tuning cues, because they already know the skill. Choosing guidance to suit the stage of learning is the heart of this topic.
Try this
Q1. Name the three types of guidance. [3 marks]
- Cue. Visual, verbal and physical/manual guidance.
Q2. Give one advantage and one disadvantage of physical/manual guidance. [2 marks]
- Cue. Advantage: the learner feels the correct movement safely. Disadvantage: over-reliance on the support or a false feel of the movement.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA 2022 Paper 26 marksDescribe the three types of guidance and give an advantage of each for a beginner.Show worked answer →
One mark for describing each type and one for an advantage of each (up to six).
Visual guidance: showing the learner what to do, for example a demonstration, a video or a diagram. Advantage: a beginner can see the correct movement and form a clear mental picture to copy.
Verbal guidance: telling the learner what to do, for example instructions, cues or explanation. Advantage: it can quickly highlight a key teaching point and is useful alongside a demonstration.
Physical/manual guidance: physically moving or supporting the learner's body through the action, for example a coach holding a gymnast in a handstand. Advantage: it lets a beginner feel the correct movement safely and builds confidence.
Markers reward each type described (visual = show, verbal = tell, physical/manual = move/support) with a relevant advantage for a beginner.
CCEA 2023 Paper 24 marksExplain one disadvantage of visual guidance and one disadvantage of physical/manual guidance.Show worked answer →
Two marks for each disadvantage explained.
Visual guidance: if the demonstration is poor or unclear, the learner copies the wrong technique; a complex skill shown too fast can also be hard to follow, so the learner does not pick up the detail.
Physical/manual guidance: the learner can become reliant on the support and not learn to perform the skill alone; it can also feel uncomfortable or give a false feel of the movement, and it is hard to use with a large group.
Markers reward a clear disadvantage of visual guidance (poor demo copied, complex skills hard to show) and of physical/manual guidance (over-reliance, false feel, hard with groups).
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