Discuss the differences between skill, ability and technique and explain how you would structure practices to enhance these components of fitness
Daniel Hanfling Perriton
MPW
D3
Discuss the differences between skill, ability and technique and explain how you would structure practices to enhance these components of fitness
In the sporting world, the question, “what is the difference between skill, ability and technique?” is often asked. This essay investigates what defines these three terms and also how they can be improved over time by practice using sporting examples. Therefore this essay will include:
- A definition of skill, ability and technique and how they are different.
- Defining different types of skill.
- The relationship between the three.
- Which is the best way to improve them?
- What effects learning.
- How individuals at each stage should be taught.
- A conclusion rounding up the points made.
“The behaviour which tends to eliminate the discrepancy between intention and performance.” (Oldfield, 1996). This is one of many ways of viewing what skill is. Skill is acquired and must be learned and can be continually developed over time.
Ability, on the other hand, is a genetically determined characteristic often inherited from parents or developed through maturation and experience. Examples of these characteristics include good coordination, balance and speed of reactions.
Thirdly, technique can be defined as the basic movements of any sport or event required to perform successfully for example, a tennis serve.
In order to fully understand the differences between these three areas of sporting performance they will be considered in more detail.
The characteristic of a skilled performance is: “The learned ability to bring about pre determined results with maximum certainty and often with the minimum outlay of time energy or both.”(Knapp, 1977). Thus a skilled performer can achieve his/her goals consistently. The acquisition of a skill can be classified in three different stages: Cognitive, Associative and Autonomous. Fitts and Posner, who came up with the idea that everybody develops at a different rate, put this theory forward. Cognitive is the first stage of learning. It is when the skill has just been learned and you must use your intellectual understanding to carry the task out. Associative skills are when movements begin to be more controlled without thinking about the process as much. It is at this time that the performer senses and interprets the right way of carrying out the skill. Autonomous skills are those in which movement become automatic. Sporting skills have a wide diversity of classifications: Open/Closed, Gross/Fine, Discrete/Continuous, Self-paced/ Externally-paced. Each of these elements can be thought of as a continuum (Barbara Knapp), meaning that there are two ends and there is a gradual change from one end to another. As an example, open skills are those in which the action is constantly being varied according to what is happening around the performer (football pass – spin, speed), whereas closed skills are movements which can be followed with little or no affect from the environment (throwing darts).
