Skill engages the knowledge of when to apply a particular technique and involves judgment and decision making. The link between the three components is that without ability you will not be able to develop technique, and without technique you will not be able to generate skill. I believe that one of the most important factors to enhance these components of fitness is progressive practice.
As I mentioned early, to enhance and improve ability is generally considered unattainable because of it being innate. However although not necessary improving the ability, it can be endorsed by testing it to see if it holds true in increasingly difficult situations. For example, I have chosen to look at one particular skill, which is a ‘push pass’ in hockey. Firstly for a push pass to be successful then it the player must have the initial innate ability to be able to perform one. This ability includes components such as balance and co-ordination and agility. To enhance the ability of ‘balance’ then a practice would be structured, testing the players balance and making it increasingly difficult. This could be done by balancing on a bench over periods of time and following this pattern:
- jumping
- one foot
- the other foot
- hopping
- one foot, eyes closed
Then turn the bench upside down so you are balancing on a thinner width, and repeat the pattern. This could be made even more difficult by raising the bench off then ground and so on. To enhance agility and co-ordination a practice involving rope ladders could be used. In this drill the players have to run through the ladder and try to lift their knees as high as possible, as well as pump the arms up and down. They have to place one foot in each of the ladder rungs. The difficulty can be increase by introducing progressively different footwork combinations, such as two feet in each rung and so on. The outcome may be that the actual ability to balance and of agility has not increased or improved but the athlete will be pushing their abilities to the limit and perhaps expanding their capability to control them.
Enhancing technique on the other hand will result in a much more obvious and apparent improvements. Technique is vital because it trains the brain and body in certain patterns that will be needed for a certain skill. Ability allows for this to happen. It's important to learn the correct techniques, practice them and use them during the game as it ensures a long-term involvement in the sport, development as a player, avoidance of bad habits and prevention of injuries. Many sports have "risky" elements such as tackling, jumping, landing, stopping, catching, twisting and equipment such as sticks, bats and rackets. The correct technique helps control these risks as well as allow the athlete to develop skill successfully. In my example, the technique of a push pass can be broken down into parts and worked on individually which will result in an overall improvement of the skill. It is the role of the coach to ensure the player knows the physical steps of push a hockey ball. The steps broken down are:
- Your hands should be approximately 30cm apart with the left hand near the top of the stick and the right hand further down.
- Keep your eyes on the ball.
- Keep your feet apart and your knees slightly bent.
- Make sure your back foot is roughly in line with the ball.
- The ball should start near the back foot.
- Keep your stick on the ball.
- Transfer your weight onto the front foot and push the ball forward with the stick.
- Keep your posture low and extend your right arm out as far as possible.
- For extra speed remember to follow through strongly with your stick. The stick should finish pointing towards the direction of the pass.
Practices here can be used to work on the technique of individual part of the pass, such as accuracy, speed, body position and disguise. The best way to measure how successful a skill after mastering the correct technique is to put it up against opposition and analyze the outcome. Nevertheless, it is important to be progressive and begin with conditioned practices and opposition. A practice to enhance body position would be by creating a small drills circuit that involves side stepping and reaching down low to touch cones or lines and rapid changes of direction. Regular practice in this field means that the muscles will become conditioned to this position making this crucial part of the pass to come naturally to the player when they make the decision to give a push pass. The other aspects of the pass, accuracy, speed and disguise can be enhance by progressive practice perhaps begin with out opposition but including the pressure of time or space. With a reduction in space the accuracy of the pass will be highly important. So a practice perhaps involving 3-4 players could be to makes 20 passes in 4x4 meter box in 30 seconds to a different player on the move. This can then progress to the involvement of a passive defender and so on. As opposition comes into play, disguise will be important to ensure they pass is not anticipated by the defense, as more defenders are introduced the more important the disguise, pace and accuracy become for the players to be successful in making 20 passes. The idea of progressive practice creates a gradual build in technique development. As the situation become harder the technique is trained to deal with it so that it becomes instinctive and adroit.
Skills are developed only if the individual is allowed to practice the activity correctly and often. The degree of perfection will be related o the individual’s potential ability. It is that obvious skill is vital to becoming a successful sports person in any sport, therefore it is essential that it developed and enhance all the time. As I mentioned early, skill is affectively when to apply a certain technique to achieve a pre-determined result and it involve judgment and decision making. This must be practiced with conditioned opposition and then progressing to full competition, game like situations. Integration practices for skill progression would involve the enhancement of ability, technique and skill together through development games. Consequently an ideal progression in hockey for this particular skill would be to begin with 4 players against 1 defender in a given space with an objective of making 20 passes or scoring a goal after 10 passes. This would then progress to 3v1, then 2v1, then 2v2 and so on to even perhaps 3 defenders against 2 attackers. This structure will enhance the skill until the player makes it appear easy and effortless. Progressive practice and changes in drill environment allow the skill to become consistent, accurate and the player’s decision of when to use it automatic, exact and precise.
Word count: 1490
Bibliography:
Advanced PE for Edexcel – Frank Galligan, Collin Maskery, Jon Spence, Davis Howe, Tim Barry, Andy Ruston and Dee Crawford