Therefore for closed skills one should do a fixed practice, this involves repetition of a skill, allowing the motor sequence to become perfected and therefore the movement will become automatic. This is an ideal way of practicing a serve in tennis. For open skills a variable practice should be used as this allows the learner to practice in a number of different environments, and therefore develop skills to adapt to these situations. This will help to prepare the athlete for different situations they might find themselves in a game.
Serial/discrete skills are those made up of a number of parts. These can be practiced as separate parts, then put together e.g. a gymnastic floor routine. The handstands, cartwheels and flips can be mastered, and then made into a tumble.
As I mentioned earlier, the type of learner effects the development of skill. Effective learning involves keeping the learner motivated, promoting enjoyment and encouraging achievement. There are 2 main ways teaching groups; command style and discovery style. Command style involves the teacher instructing the learners and they copy the teacher’s actions, this gives clear information, allows the teacher to monitor safety and is an easy way of demonstrating a skill. The disadvantages are the teacher has little opportunity for the teacher to give individual feedback, and the learners wont learn to think for themselves. The discovery style is the pupil being taught by the teacher giving clues and the pupil therefore working out how to perform the skill themselves. This enhances the self-confidence of the learners, but the disadvantages are it is time consuming and needs to be adjusted for each student’s ability.
If the learner was fit, motivated and experienced then they would need positive and negative feedback. This type of athlete would benefit from massed practice sessions were they would have no recovery and test their skills under fatigued conditions, like they would be in a game situation. Experienced performers will then act on intrinsic feedback to improve their performance. An example of this would be a tennis practice where the coach throws balls into different areas of the court and the player is forced to play different types of shot.
If the learner was less experienced then more positive feedback would be needed to keep the athlete motivated. This learner would benefit more from a distributed practice, were the practice is split up into sections. Here the performer is given rest between sessions were the next practice is explained, and extrinsic feedback can be given.
Ability can be improved by practices, but not improved to any significant degree. For example a tennis player would be able to improve their shoulder flexibility by stretching.
Technique can be improved by coaching and using pure-part, whole-part-whole or progressive-part learning. Guidance can be given visually, verbally or manually, or a mixture of these. Pure-part learning is learning, practicing then perfecting separate parts of a skill, then putting it together. For example in tennis the serve is made up of a toss, pulling the racket back, the strike, and then the follow through. The techniques would be taught separately, and then put together to form the serve. Whole-part-whole learning is similar to the pure-part method, but an introduction is given before breaking down the skill. Progressive-part learning lets the athlete have initial experience of the skill, and the learner progressively performs more parts of the skill together to eventually do the whole skill.
Technique also needs encouragement in the form of feedback. Beginners need a lot of positive feedback, so that they know what to repeat and this also helps to keep them motivated and build their confidence. The feedback also needs to explain what was good about the performance, for example the tennis serve was good because the technique was good as the throw up was the correct height, the preparation was correct and the strike was good as you reached up high. More experienced athletes’ benefit more from negative feedback as this helps them improve their weaknesses and keeps them motivated. Too much negative feedback can lead to de-motivation though.
From researching this I have found that there is a clear relationship between all 3 components:
Skill = ability x technique
However, were as skill and technique can be taught, ability is something that you inherit from your parents, and though you can improve on it, if your not born with it you will never have it. Therefore, if a child is born with little flexibility they aren’t likely to become an elite pole-vaulter. By looking at the equation we can assume that elite performers must have been born with ability, then develop their technique, so they can perform their skills at such a high level. From reading Kelly Holmes’ autobiography, she proves the equation true, as she was born with natural talent, which she discovered at Primary school age, then started training, where she improved technique, then developed her skill, which allowed her to win 2 gold medals.
Skills and techniques can be improved with training, the training methods used will vary whether the skill is open or closed, and the type of coaching being used, and whether the coach is teaching an individual or a group.
Of course some nations will be better at some sports than others, because of their resources. For example, Switzerland has mountains and snow in winter, so it is not a surprise that they have lots of good skiers. Since England rarely gets snow, we are immediately put at a disadvantage, and a child might be born with natural ability, but never know, because they wouldn’t have the opportunity to try skiing.
The body type will also affect an athlete. For example, an endomorph wouldn’t run a marathon, as it would be extremely challenging, and they probably wouldn’t have enough determination to do it.
Bibliography
Sport and PE by Kevin Wesson
Applying Psychology to Sport by Barbara Woods
Advanced PE for Edexcel by Frank Galligan
Focused for Tennis by Karl Slaikeu
The Young Athletes Handbook by Youth Sports Trust
Netball Steps to Success by Wilma Shakespear
Kelly Holmes black white and gold by Kelly Holmes
