Analyse the nature of a skilled performer

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

AO1 Analyse the nature of skilled performance

Skill is used in everyday life , it is used in different ways such as walking, running, reading, writing, cooking etc. Skill can be defined in a number of ways, and there are a number of different types of skill, the three most commonly used skills in sport are cognitive skills, perceptual skills, and motor skills and when you combine the three it is known as perceptual motor skills or psychomotor skills.

The mostly commonly used definition of skill is Knapp’s theory which states “the learned ability to bring about predetermined results with maximum certainty often with a minimum outlay of time and energy or both” Knapp (1963) .This is saying that skill is learned and comes naturally to the performer, it is always done to perfection in an efficient and effective manor without using a lot of time and energy or both. Skill is learned, learning is a relatively permanent change in performance, performance is a temporary action.

In this picture Kaka is using a number of different skills such as cognitive skills he is deciding to hit the shot high/low, curl/swerve amount of power to use. He is also using perceptual skill by being aware of his surroundings e.g the positioning of the goalkeeper is he of his line? Too far to the left or the right?, the best place to place the ball, is the ball set up for a shot, will the shot be blocked?. In this picture kaka is also using motor skills ,he is running and about to strike the ball he is controlling his muscles in a coordinated way to continue running and strike the ball in the same stride pattern

Cognitive Skills: Skill which involves the mental/intellectual ability of the performer e.g what tactics do you use? High ball to a big player , low ball to small player , defensive/ offensive etc.

Perceptual Skills: Skill which involves the detection and interpretation of information e.g how well you read the game, understand what’s going on around you,

Motor Skills: Skill which involves movement and muscular control

e.g jumping ,kicking a ball ,running ,handstand etc

Perceptual Motor/ Psychomotor Skills: Skills which involve cognitive, perceptual and motor skills e.g soccer match: you are running in one on one with the goal keeper do you shoot or pass? Go low or high? Hard or soft? Are you aware of the goal keeper’s positioning is he staying up or diving left or right? What way do you shape your body for the shot/pass? How much time do you have to make up your mind to shoot or to pass? How far is the defender(s) away from you?

How comparing novice and expert performers can highlight characteristics of skill

Novice performers can easily be singled out when they are playing against expert performers

Novice Performer:

They haven’t learned /practiced the skills thoroughly.
They aren’t aware of the goal
They are inconsistent - they wont be able to repeat a skill over and over
They are uneconomical- they don’t use the correct energies at the right stage of the skill
Not accurate- they can’t place the ball were they want it to, in other sports their feet/hands might not be in the place they’re meant to be.
They cant anticipate – they cant ...

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Novice performers can easily be singled out when they are playing against expert performers

Novice Performer:

They haven’t learned /practiced the skills thoroughly.
They aren’t aware of the goal
They are inconsistent - they wont be able to repeat a skill over and over
They are uneconomical- they don’t use the correct energies at the right stage of the skill
Not accurate- they can’t place the ball were they want it to, in other sports their feet/hands might not be in the place they’re meant to be.
They cant anticipate – they cant read their oppositions play/game plan
The inability to repeat performance- they might have a good game or competition but it was a ‘one-off’ they couldn’t play that well again

Expert Performer:

They have learned/practiced the skills thoroughly and can do the skill efficiently and effectively with maximum certainty without using much time and energy or both each time.
They are aware of the goal – rewards trophies etc.
They are consistent – they could repeat the skill perfectly over and over.
They are economically coordinated- they know when to use the correct energies at the right time of the skill
They are Accurate- they can place the ball were they want it , in other sports they’re hands/feet are always in the correct place.
They can anticipate – they can read the oppositions game/play they can tell what they are going to do because of the opposition’s body shape or maybe they have played against them before and have stored information in their long term memory about the opposition.
They can repeat their performances – they can keep delivering high standard performances every time they play.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SKILL

Efficient: No waste of energy, the movement seems effortless
Coordinated: Flowing and fluent movement
Controlled: The performer has control over the movement
Good technique: The movement follows an accepted correct technical model
Consistent: Can be repeated correctly
Learned: Skill has been practiced until retained in long term memory
Predetermined: The performer has a goal
Aesthetic: The movement is pleasing and looks good.

Characteristics of Ability

Ability is something that we are born with, it is not learned it is innate. We inherit our abilities from our parents and abilities are basic building blocks that must be in place to become skilful. This means that we can develop our abilities to become more skilful .When a performer is trying to learn a skill/sporting activity he/she will use there innate qualities or characteristics in an organised and co-ordinated way to carry out the skill. It is almost correct to say that your quality of innate ability will determine your sporting success e.g if you do not possess speed and leg power you are not likely to excel in the long jump, but will better suited to compete in endurance based activities because When people watch a sporting activity they say “ he/she has great ability” but that is incorrect because they are watching skill not ability. A good sportsman may have different groups of abilities, abilities do not predict sporting success .

“Abilities can be essentially perceptual, essentially motor or a combination of both. Most abilities to do with action are a combination and are referred to as psychomotor abilities. Now there is no definitive list of psychomotor abilities.”

There are a number of definitions for ability here is a few that I have found:

“Ability is a function of both inheritance and experience , though it may be developed and extended with use it is not learned. Abilities underpin the performance of skills”(Bull, 1994)

“Stallings L M (1982 - Motor Learning from theory to Practice) identified the following psychomotor abilities: Muscular power and endurance, flexibility, balance, coordination and differential relaxation (selective adjustment of muscle tension).”

“Fleishman E A (1972 - The structure and measurement of psychomotor abilities.) identified the following nine psychomotor abilities (referred to as gross motor abilities): Extent flexibility, dynamic flexibility, explosive strength, static strength, dynamic strength, trunk strength, gross body coordination, gross body equilibrium and stamina.”

Classification of movement skills

The classification of movement skills is not clear or simple , to explain movement skills we use a skill continua that allows use to illustrate that all skills can have different characteristics some to a greater extent and some to a lesser extent depending on the situation that they are being performed in. “There is a large range of sporting activities each requiring a set of skills. Skills have many characteristics that can change in different situations, which makes classifying them difficult. Accepting that skills cannot be neatly labelled, we place them on a continuum.”

Below is a sliding scale which shows us the extent to which that skill matches certain criteria.

The gross and fine continuum:

GROSS FINE

Running wrist /finger

Action of a spin bowler

Gross: involve large muscle movements, little need for precision

and include many everyday skills such as walking, running and jumping. The shot putt is an example of a primarily gross skill.

Fine: more intricate movements using small muscle groups precision is vital. Accuracy/ hand eye co-ordination needed. A snooker shot or the wrist/ finger action of a spin bowler

The open and closed continuum:

OPEN CLOSED

Pass in football Tennis serve

Open: Sports such as Football ,Netball, Hockey usually involve open skills. The reason for this is that the environment is always changing therefore you are always adopting to new movement, this means that the skills are predominantly perceptual.

Closed: These are skills which are done in a stable, predictable environment. It is almost like a routine ,the environment is not interrupting and the skill tends to be habitual. The skill has a definite beginning and end and is self paced-the performer does it in his/her own time, e.g penalty in football

The continuity continuum:

DISCRETE SERIAL CONTINUOUS

Clear start Discrete actions linked No clear start and finish

and finish

Discrete: Well defined action which have a clear beginning and end.

They are single, specific skills, which make up the actions involved in a variety of sports such as hitting and throwing. Hockey. E.g a penalty flick in.

Serial: are a group of discrete skills strung together to make a new and complex movement. i.e. the sequence of skills for the triple jump.

Continuous: have no obvious beginning or end. The end of one cycle of movements is the beginning of the next, and the skill is repeated like a cycle. These skills could be stopped at any time during the performance of the skill. E.g Swimming, Running, Cycling.

The difficulty continuum:

COMPLEX SIMPLE

Gymnastics Running

Complex: A complex skill involves a lot of attention because they are complicated and are practiced in training repeatedly to make it easier to perform in competition.

Simple: A simple skill is one that is straightforward with very few subsections to go through to perform the skill. This skill also requires little concentration and cognitive ability of the performer.

The organisation continuum:

LOW HIGH

Cycling Summersault

Low: A low organisation skill is very easily done and does not require a lot of concentration. The phases of the skills are usually discrete skills it can be broken down into sub-routines to improve your technique.

High: A high organisation skill requires a lot of attention and it is a lot of skills closely linked together ,these skills cannot be broken down into sub-routines to be practiced individually

The pacing continuum:

SELF PACED EXTERNALLY PACED

Self paced skills are skills that are performed by the performer he controls the pace of the skill e.g golf swing.

externally paced skills are skills that are not controlled by the performer, he does not control the pace of the skill, e.g dive in swimming.

Executive motor programmes

An executive motor programme is a plan of the whole skill. It is stored in the long term memory and through feedback the plan is updated and modified each time a skill is performed. These executive motor programmes are made up of sub-routines which are performed individually and also described as mini skills. As the novice performer begins to become an expert performer these mini skills are performed almost without any thought and the execution of the skill will become fluent and appear to be automatic every time it is performed. If the performance is at this level the skill is said to be grooved or overlearned.

“for example a top level trampolinist can do a somersault automatically because the motor programme for that skill is stored in his/her long term memory. Due to it being well learned he does not require feedback about the skill therefore there is an open loop control. Closed loop control makes use of kinaesthetic feedback to tell the performer about slight adjustments which need to be made in order to make the skill successful. For example a child who is learning to balance in a headstand. Feedback is vital as a slight change of body position may cause imbalance and the skill becomes uncontrolled. In practice performers will be constantly moving from closed loop to open loop control to aid successful performances.”

Example of executive motor programme