What is ability?.
For it to be possible to perform a skill in any sport, the ability to carry out the necessary training or practice is required. In general, people are born with abilities (innate) or they are developed early in life; which explains why so many of today's sporting successes started at an early age e.g. Tiger Woods picked up his first golf club when he was three years old.
"Abilities are often seen as the building blocks of sport." (Galligan et al 2000) UcQ2WcOmu Visit UcQ2WcOmu
This quote from the 'Advanced PE' textbook shows how without the basic ability, skills learnt will never develop fully. An example of a specific ability in relation to football is speed and balance. These are fundamental to the sport and the basic ability of players to move quickly and control themselves whilst doing so are worked on at every training session.
"Motor abilities are innate inherited traits that determine an individual's co-ordination, balance, skill and speed of reaction." (R. Arnot et al 2000)
What is technique?
The difference between skill and ability is that a skill can be taught and changed and ability is something that cannot be taught. However within the correct learning environment it is possible to develop the innate skills. To complete a particular skill Technique is needed as well as the ability. Technique is often confused with skill but there is a clear difference. Skill is the performance of an action, whereas technique is how the action is performed. The method of performing the action is important because an effective technique means more success in achieving any goal. For example, when shooting in football, striking the ball just above centre with the laces of the boot and head over the ball is a technique used to give maximum power and keep the ball down and on target. The link between the three terms is now clear. For a skill to be performed successfully, Ability is needed as well as an effective, reliable technique.
How are they linked together?.
It is said that:
SKILL = ABILITY + TECHNIQUE
This simple equation can be explained that in order to perform a particular skill in sport, we must learn the required technique. In order to learn the technique fully, we must have the necessary abilities.
When relating this theory to a named example: Swimming the concept should become clearer. dg.
As you can see, in order to be successful within the skill of front crawl, you would have to have the basic ability of strength & speed within water that over time could be enhanced as other things progress. For example Fitness. The standard at which this skill is then performed would vary depending on the techniques that are looked at and further more practised. For front crawl, things that would ensure a steady progression in the level of performance would be the technique of under water breathing, streamlining and positioning of the arms and legs during the stroke. Once the techniques that are involved within the given skill are properly established and a gradual build up in overall fitness was seen, this skill would eventually be performed at a very high level. ac;
How does practise make perfect?!
The phrase most commonly used when speaking, specifically about practising is that "Practise makes perfect." The theory behind the idea that ' practice makes perfect' is that the frequent repetition of that movement involving the same nerve and muscle activity, again and again, establishes the movement pattern. The greater the repetition the more firmly established the movement pattern should be. If however the movement pattern is inappropriate for the learner, either in relation to their current age or level of ability, (e.g. if they are only 5 years old the adult movement for that skill is inappropriate) they will not achieve it. If the movement pattern that they are repeating is incorrect in relation to the specific objective that they are trying to achieve, e.g. the underwater pathway of the hand in front crawl, it will not bring about the desired change in performance. If the learner is required to do the practice for so long that they become physically fatigued or for so long without feedback on their performance and further stimulation and refocusing of their attention, the quality will deteriorate and they will be repeating incorrect and undesirable movements. In such situations it could therefore be argued that practice does not in fact make 'perfect' but it might well make 'permanent' i.e. it might make the wrong movement more firmly established.
I believe this to be true however the way in which the training sessions are structured and undertaken play a key role in whether or the skill will actually become perfect. I believe that the most important time for a skill to become perfect is when the skill is beginning undertaken for the very first time. Once these basic skills are repeated continuously, the learner will have created a movement pattern that will be within their brain permanently.
However, there are circumstances to suggest that "practise does not make perfect." If a person does not have the ability needed to undertake a given skill using a range of techniques then no matter how much practise they have, the skill will not become perfect. Also another circumstance might be that the learner has incorrectly learnt a specific technique needed for a given skill. When trying to change this, practising becomes very hard as trying to change the original incorrect movement pattern is very hard and therefore, if the correct technique's movement pattern cannot be learnt then no matter how much he learner practises the technique for the skill will not become perfect.