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 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 to 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 that 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A third issue is that often learners are trying to navigate their bodies through the world using an outdated map.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 unnecessary 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 meaningless translation! (ok- except for the search by text function, but you get the idea.) When you want to retrieve it, you can see the original, not a 10-character description of a picture. 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.