Task two
Classify a Variety of different types of skill
Gross skills: gross skills involve large muscle movements, the major muscle groups are involved to produce a flowing movement. These movements are not very precise, and include many basic movements such as running jumping and even walking. The shot putt is a good example of a gross motor skill.
Fine skills: fine skills involve precise intricate movements using small muscle groups. They tend to be precise and in general involve high levels of hand-eye co-ordination. In sport a good example of a fine motor skill would be a Darts throw, out of sport a person playing a guitar is a great example.
Internally paced or self-paced skills: the performer controls the rate at which the skill is executed. These skills are usually closed skills. An example of this is the javelin throw, or discus.
Externally paced skills: these skills are the environment, which may include opponents. Other factors and people control the rate of performing the skill. The performer must pay attention to external activities to in order to control there of movement. These skills involve reaction, and are usually open skills. For example in ball games the performer must time their actions with the actions of other players and the ball.
Open skills: in sports such as rugby, football, and cricket open skills are primarily used. These sports involve a majority of open skills because the sporting environment is constantly changing and so the athlete’s movements have to be continually changed and adapted. Therefore the skills are mostly perceptual. The skill is also externally paced, for example a cricket bowler bowling.
Closed skills. These skills take place in a closed, predictable and more stable environment than open skills. In this skill the performer knows exactly what to do and when. So the surrounding environment does not vastly affect these skills. Closed skill movements follow set patterns and have a clear beginning and end. The skills are self-paced, for example a penalty kick in football, or tennis serve.
Discrete skills: these are brief, well-defined movements that have a clear beginning and end. Discrete skills are single, specific skills. They make up the actions involved in a multitude of sports that involve hitting and throwing. For example a snooker shot.
Serial Skills: these are a group discrete skills strung together to make a different more complex movement. An example of this the movement involved in a javelin throw.
Continuous skills: these skills have no clear beginning or end. The end of one set of movements is the beginning of the next, and it is repeated like a cycle of skills. These skills could be stopped at any stage during the skill. Some examples of continuous skills are Swimming, Running, and cycling.
Task three
Differentiate between skills and abilities and there relationship with each other
Relationship between skill, ability and technique
SKILL = ABILITY + TECHNIQUE
What is ability?
“Ability is the make up of an athlete which we inherit from our parents. Abilities underpin and contribute to skills. 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. At the present time there is no definitive list of psychomotor abilities.”
Taken from
So the relation between skill and ability are clear, we are all born with varying amounts of raw ability, and it is these abilities which we build our skills upon. So basically if a person was born with a lot of natural strength then building muscle around this ability is to build up our skill level.
In 1982 L M Stallings identified the below as natural psychomotor abilities:
- Muscular power and endurance
- Flexibility
- Balance
- Co-ordination
- Differential relaxation (selective adjustment of muscle tension).
Task 4
Distinguish between learning and performance
Learning is a fundamental of being able to perform any movement, from having the first steps of a child to modelling a finely tuned athletic movement we are learning through out our lives. The environment we are competing in also determines how we learn, an athlete who learns his skills in a competitive situation will perform better in competitions. Unlike an athlete who practices soundly but come to a competition and collapses because of the pressure involved in competing.
Learning is the ability to take new information on board, performance is translating this information from practice and applying the motion in performance.
