The STEP Model

You can make changes to the simplicity or complexity of an activity or game, increasing the level of challenge or support, by:

• adjusting the physical size and shape of the environment
• modifying the task and activities including the rules
• changing the size or type of equipment
• adjusting the number of individuals and the roles they perform.

Using the STEP Model enables you to take a personalised approach to practice, tailored to meet goals, current abilities and needs.

For example, reducing playing area can increase the level of challenge with more participants in a smaller space and / or simplify the challenge by reducing the distance the participants have to move or pass. 

Introducing specific rules can create challenge for an individual or a team as collective. This may include the number of passes to be made, or that it must be scored in a particular way.  The use of rules, including safe zones, can also help make an activity easier to achieve.  

The manipulation of equipment can increase the target area or reduce the target area, as well as slowing down or speeding up the way an object moves. Varying participant numbers and roles enables a coach to overload a team or have individuals playing for both teams in a specific role.

In a net game, the court size on either side of the net may be different, or individuals may play with a different racket.

Changing the equipment, such as playing volleyball with a balloon, provides individuals with more time to adapt and adjust their position, in addition to reducing the skill level required to keep the balloon moving and in the air.

Further, the use of a swim aid can help an individual increase buoyancy or reduce it. The coach can ask one person to hold the kick board at the top of the board, providing maximum support for the arms and buoyancy, and another to hold the end of the kick board, requiring effort and reduced buoyancy, which results in greater control for the individual. If the float is turned upwards and held at the edges, it would require an increase in leg work to push against the kick board which is forcing the water out of the way.

As the coach manipulates the four components, the variations are endless and limited only by yourself and your participants’ imagination and creativity.

By embracing the STEP Model principles, coaches can unlock a world of possibilities, fostering an engaging and adaptive learning environment that inspires both creativity and growth in their participants.