classification of skill

                                                                                                                                   

This is an example of how sports can be placed along a continuum.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Now I am going to compare and contrast the 3 different types of skill, which are; individual, co-active and interactive. An example of an individual sport is gymnastics. In this event, you may around other competitors, but you are not competing at the same time as them and they cannot physically affect your performance but they can psychologically, to a small extent. These skills can be pre-learned in practice as they do not change in a competitive situation.    

 100m sprint is an example of a co-active sport. This is when you compete at the same time as your fellow competitors but you do not come into physical contact with them and they can not physically affect your performance, but just like in gymnastics they can psychologically for example; you are more likely to get a personnel best if you are in a field of fast athletes. To a certain extent this skill also be pre-learned, as the movement patterns do not change form practice to competitive situations.  

Lastly, an example of an interactive sport is hockey. In hockey you come into physical contact with your competitors. The closer you come into contact, the more they can affect your performance, as your performance is mainly affected by how well your competitor plays and how well they allow you to play. For example in Rugby there is a lot of physical contract, which will obviously affect your performance more than in you were playing hockey as there is less contact, it also depends on how closely you are being marked. And as in an individual and a co-active sport your competitor can affect your performance psychologically.  

 

So we can see that individual, co-active and interactive performance can be affected psychologically, as your competitor may try to “psych” you out, by giving you strange looks, whispering behind your back or by calling you names.

This is a diagram to show how different sports can be classified according to the amount of interaction.

Gymnastics                        100m Sprint                        Hockey

Individual                        Co-active                        Interactive

Figure Skating                        800metres                        Rugby    

The next problem we come across is; “why do we classify skill?” The classification of skill is very important, as the classification of skill plays a big part for teachers and coaches, as it helps them decide the most effective way to teach their pupils. Knowing that skills cannot be neatly classified we then place them into a continuum, depending on their characteristics.

There are many ways we can classify skill and by using a system based on cognitive, perceptual, motor and psycho- motor skills and what factors affect each skill. Individual, co-active and interactive skills are placed in the discrete, serial and continuous skills continuum. As a discrete skill means it has a clear beginning and end, which is Hockey. A serial is a group of discrete skills strung together to make a new and complex movement for example; the triple jump. And a continuous skill has no obvious beginning or end, for example; Gymnastics.

Interactive and co-active skills can also be placed in an open continuum as you continually have to change your skills and tactics in order to suit the environment you are playing in. For example; when you are playing a hockey match, the weather can sometimes affect your performance, because if it is raining it will be harder to see the ball. An Individual skill can also be placed into a closed continuum, as the environment around does not change, so the skills that are needed are fixed.  

Now we know how to classify skills based on their characteristics and the factors that affect them. And we have but them into a continuum which makes it easy for teachers and coaches, to be able to teach their pupils in an effective way. For example we know it is easier to teach an individual skill as it is in a fixed environment. And we know that teaching an interactive and co-active skill, is much harder as it is in an open environment. A coach can therefore decide what type of skills they should teach and how to teach them depending on the stage of learning of a pupil. For example a beginner may be taught to dribble a hockey ball, in a closed environment without an opponent, then they would be taught to do it in a timed environment and finally in an open environment with an opponent.  

In conclusion I have compared and contrasted the many different types of skills their is and how we can classify them in the most effective way, so they are easier to teach and I think the best way is to place them into continuums based on the factors that affect them and their characteristics. This way, allows us to see which skills are easier to teach, depending on the stage of learning. For example; individual skills are easier to teach as they are in a fixed environment.                                               

 

A continuum is a continuous series of skills that blend in with each other so gradually that it is impossible to say were one ends and the other begins.