The Classification and Teaching of Movement skills. Review the classification of skill to include the differences between individual, coactive and interactive skills.

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Unit 2: Task 1 – The Classification and Teaching of Movement skills

Review the classification of skill to include the differences between individual, coactive and interactive skills.

Skill is defined by Welford as “an organised co-ordinated activity in relation to an object or situation which involves a whole chain of sensory, central and motor mechanisms” (Advanced PE for Edexcel, 2000). So a skill is a learned activity which is affected by the athlete’s ability to choose and perform the right technique at the right time, regularly, with the minimum of effort to achieve a specific goal. Skills are divided into four main areas; cognitive (intellectual) skill, perceptual skill, motor skills and perceptual motor skills. Cognitive skills require thought processes, like when a football player shows intelligence when they select a particular skill to be used in a particular situation. Perceptual skill involves interpretation of presented information, this could be in a team game e.g. netball the player has to assess the position of the opponents and the players on the same team will have to decide where to pass the ball and how hard to pass it. Motor skill involves movement and muscle control, a hockey player shows a good technical movement when s/he performs a skilful pass. Perceptual motor skill involves the thought, interpretation and movement of skills; they are often skills such as throwing, catching and running and relate to most movements in a sporting context.

There are many theories concerning classification of skill and by classifying skill it can help to identify appropriate teaching and coaching strategies. In 1989 Singer and Stalling classified skill; Singer in terms of “bodily involvement, duration of movement, pacing conditions, cognitive involvement and feedback availability”; and Stalling by “continuity, coherence, pacing, environmental conditions and intrinsic feedback.” A classification system has been created which considers seven elements which Singer and Stalling identified; body (muscular) involvement, environmental requirements, continuity, pacing, difficulty, organisation and interaction. Each of these elements can be put on a scale or continuum which enables skills to be classified by their different characteristics to a greater or lesser extent.

The interaction continuum is individual, coactive and interactive skills which are performed in relation to people and encompasses all the other continua. An individual skill is one that is performed in isolation e.g. a driving competition. A coactive skill involves being performed with others but without direct contract e.g. 100m sprint race or a single tennis match. Whereas interactive skills are performed when other performers are directly involved, it is usually team game such as rugby.

Knapp classified skill into an environmental continuum of open and closed skill. An open skill is one that is directly influenced by the environment it is performed in, so movements have to be continually adapted. A closed skill takes place in a stable, predictable environment so there is no outside physical influence acting on it. A teacher or coach may find it easier to teach more complex activities such as netball to beginners by breaking the whole game down into a series of more closed skills. Where the beginner does not have to make lots of decisions (perceptual requirement) ...

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The table below gives examples of individual, coactive and interactive skills linked with the closed and open continuum.

The pacing continuum refers to the timing and movements and is linked closely with the open and closed continuum. Self-paced skill “involves proaction by the performer” (Advanced Physical Education and Sport 2000) and so the performer controls the rate at which the skill is executed. They are usually closed skills. While externally paced skills is where “the environment (including opponent) controls the rate of performing the skill” (Advanced Physical Education and Sport 2000). These are usually open skills. The table below gives examples of individual, coactive and interactive skills linked with the pacing continuum.

The continuity continuum relies on how well defined the beginning and the end of the skill are. A discrete skill is brief, well defined with a clear beginning and end. It can be taken out of a sport and practised in isolation. While a serial skill is a group of discrete skills put together to make an integrated movement. Finally a continuous skill has no obvious beginning and end and it is suggested that “the end of one cycle of movement is the beginning of the next” (Advanced Physical Education and Sport, 2000). The table below gives examples of individual, coactive and interactive skills linked with the discrete, serial and continuous continuum.

The body involvement continuum is concerned with the precision of movement. Gross skills involve large muscle groups being used. Fine skills involve intricate movement using small muscle groups. It is precise and requires good hand eye co-ordination. The use of this classification would have practical use in rehabilitation, training programmes within special education and also be useful in infant and primary education. It could help to identify the levels and types of fitness and preparation needed for certain skills and activities. The table below gives examples of individual, coactive and interactive skills linked with the gross and fine continuum.

The organisation continuum refers to highly and lowly organised skills. A highly organised skill is one that can’t be broken into subrountines as they are so closely integrated that it is difficult to separate them. A Skill in gymnastics such as a handstand is a highly organised skill as if it was not practised as a whole the movement dynamics would be destroyed. A low organisation skill is often made up of subroutines and tends to be discrete and can be practised separately and then put back into the whole skill. Swimming strokes are often examples of low organised skill for example in front crawl the breathing can be practised separately from the swimming stroke and then added back into the whole stroke. However a highly organised skill would not always be the same each time as if would depend on the teacher or coach’s decision. If there was a danger to the person performing the skill or the teacher felt that the skill was too complex it would no longer be a highly organised skill and would have to be broken down to the low organised skill.

The difficulty continuum is divided into two areas, complex and simple. A complex skill is one where the performer has to think about it, consciously control it and make decisions about its execution. When learning a complex skill it is often broken down into section such as in a basketball layoff. Whereas a simple skill is a basic pattern of movement requiring little decision making and with minimum conscious control. An example is sprinting, just because it is simple skill it does not mean that it is easy to run 100m in 10 seconds.

In 1963 Knapp defined skill as “the learned ability to bring about pre-determined results with maximum certainty; often with the minimum outlay of time or energy or both”. It is difficult to classify skills as they are so varied. However by using a continuum or scale for the different elements of skills a system of classification has been established. This enables all aspects of the skill to be included somewhere on the scale. The example below shows how a sport uses different degree of each of the continuum of skill.

Triple Jump

Individual Coactive Interactive

This example also shows that all the continuum apart for individual, coactive and interactive have a scale of fitting into the continuum. With individual, coactive and interactive the sport is one of the three and does not fit in-between. So when deciding how a sport or a skill in a sport fits a continuum all of them should be looked at. Classification of skill is defined as “the process of grouping similar skills together and giving them a generic label.” (physical education and the study of sport, 2000). This helps teachers and coaches decide on the right type of teaching styles to optimise the athlete’s performance. It is particularly important for elite performers as only a small difference in technique or tactics can make the difference between winning or loosing.

Bibliography

Advanced PE for Edexcel by Galligan, Maskery, Spence, Howe, Barry, Ruston and Crawford
Advanced Physical Education and Sport by Honeybourne, Hill and Moors
Physical Education and the Study of Sport by Davis, Bull, Roscoe and Roscoe
Sport and PE – a Complete Guide to Advanced Level Study by Wesson, Wiggins, Thompson and Hartigan