Review the classification of skills to include the differences between individual, coactive and interactive skills. Make reference to an individual, team and racket sport

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Review the classification of skills to include the differences between individual, coactive and interactive skills. Make reference to an individual, team and racket sport.

Before reviewing how skills can be classified I think it is important to realise and try to understand what skill consists off. Skill has to be performed on a regular basis and the action has to be a pre set result and not a fluke.

Skill can be placed into many different categories due to many interpretations of skill and so continuums are extremely important in classifying skills into the correct category. The only possible way that a skill can be placed into a category is by placing it along with a continuum which defines how much a skill favours one find of classification than another. An example of this would be when a bowl in cricket is spun it could be placed progressively along the gross and fine continuum because the bowl could be made a gross movement for a little pace but involve some fine movement for the spin, but the next bowl could be made more of a fine movement by concentrating more on the spin rather than the pace of the bowl. But the only disadvantages of the continuums is that one cannot place a skill definitely in one category or the other which means that there is some uncertainty among the classification of skill and this is one of the main reason why there are so many different definitions of what skill is due to different people having different ideas of what skill is.

Individual skills are those that the competitor performs alone, without physical presence of the opposition team being involved. Can you think of an example of a sport that consists of the opposition not being present? High jump is a prime example of this due to the fact that other competitors are in the same area but they do not perform at the same time and cannot physically affect the opponent’s performance, although they may use psychological pressure. Also figure skating is another prime example because competitors can largely distant themselves from one another even before and after the skater has ...

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Coactive skills are those that consist of competitors performing at the same time but they are not physically separated and also in which one competitor cannot physically reduce the skill of another performer. A hundred metre sprint would be a very good example of this due to people racing next to one another but not physically being able to reduce the other performer’s chances of winning. However there may be a psychological factor that can influence competitors. An example of this would be a hundred metre sprint event, your opponent speeds up and goes past you , this is then likely to have an impact on you to speed up yourself. Also another very good example of this skill would be swimming. Swimmers swim side by side but do not physically touch each over to condense the opponents’ chance of winning the race. So coactive skill is those performed at the same time as others but do not have direct confrontation.

Interactive skills are very different than the other two skills; this is a skill where you will perform the skill in direct confrontation with the opposition being able to change the outcome. This can affect an opponent’s performance due to the opposition being involved in the action being performed. There are interactions between the competitors and the extent to which the opponent can affect theirs player’s performance. To describe this skill you could take a football team as an example. When a player is receiving the ball and beginning to run with the ball at his feet another player from the opposition’s team can come in and tackle the player with the ball. Another similarity to this skill would be a rugby game when a rugby player throws the ball to another player the opposition can interact between the rugby balls and catch it before it reaches the opposition player. This would change the outcome of the ball been thrown and to go to another player. So this skill (interactive skill) is those performed where others are directly involved in the play.

A reference of an interactive skill with an individual sport would be wrestling due to two people wrestling each other and the outcome is down to yourself but the outcome can be changed due to your opponent be the better player. A reference of a coactive skill would be a hundred metre sprint where opponents cannot lower the chances of other performer’s chance of winning. An individual skill of an individual sport would be a somersault in gymnastics when you are performing on your own.

A coactive skill of a team sport would be a relay in athletes where you have a team of runners trying to better their opponents without contact. A team sport of an interactive skill would be a football match where players are trying to tackle each other to try and score a goal to win a game. An individual skill in a racket sport would be practising a serve in tennis in isolation to try and better the serve for when it comes to a competitive game. A coactive skill of a racket sport would be in a tennis match where to players are trying to better their shots to gain points from their opponents. An interactive skill in a racket sport would be a doubles match in badminton where two players are playing together to better their opponents in gaining points to win.

Rob

Davies