In a general sense,  translation is the process of converting some information from one form into another so it can be understood better by the receiver. In teaching motor skills, this is usually to get the learner to experience an optimal sensation of movement.

Movement is usually taught by a movement educator with words, metaphors, visual images or video  that act as cues or descriptors of what the educators want the learner to do. Then the learner must then translate those cues into movement.

In this explanation, it doesn't matter what the optimal pattern is; it depends on the movement problem. In any case,  coaches rely on their experience, history, hopefully some human physiology and laws of gravity to recognize an optimal movement pattern.  Ideally the cues allow the athlete themselves to experience a particular sensation of optimal movement, replicate the pattern,  and retrieve it at will.  

The goal is allow the learner to Experience, Replicate,  Recognize  and Retrieve  (some version of the pattern)  at will based on the movement problem.

Often these cues invoke different responses from different people because each person has a different translation of the words/cues/images into a sensation of movement. 

Another issue is the person has to be able to control their body to 'match their translation' of that movement.

A third issue is that often learners are trying to navigate their bodys through the world using an outdated map. Like a map with a misplaced "You are here." arrow - that is just flat out wrong. 

One of the problems in this back and forth is illustrated by the common phrase " Coach, I AM doing that!"

Exercise in unneccessary translations: Do you  feel ridiculous when you are saving a picture  on your computer, and you have to TYPE THE FILENAME  in the text box?? when  saving a PICTURE!? A picture that you can see at any time by looking at the large icons. Talk about a meaning less translation! (ok- except for the search by text function, but you get the idea.) When you want to retrieve it, you can see the originalm, not a 10 character desctiption of a pciture. Just  open the folder, set to LARGE ICON view  and look.

Fun Fact:  PantherTec's founder once wrote a 26 page paper on the forehand stroke. It was really bad.  And don't ask her what salt tastes like.