Aquisition of skill revision

Skill

A skill is something that you learn, the ability to do something repeatedly to a high standard.General sports skills can be used in all different sports E.g. Running, catching, throwing, jumping.Specific skills are related to that actual sport or activity E.g 100m comes from the general skill of running.

Characteristics of a skillful performance:Balance, spacial awareness, accuracy, consistency/repetition, timing, control / precision, aesthetically pleasing, practice, make it look effortless, fluent, graceful

Three types of skill:1. Cognitive (thinking about it)2. Perceptual (interpreting information from the environment)3. Motor (involves physical movement and muscular control, doing it)

Classifying skill - Putting skill into a group, need to know the 6 continuum's.Muscular involvementGross -------------E.G------------------------------------------------------E.G----------------- Fine Large muscle groups used                                                           Small muscle groups usedE.G javelin                                                                                  E.G spin bowl in cricketEnvironmental Open ---------E.G----------------------------------------------------------------------------E.G----------- ClosedAffected by the environment                                                         Not affected by the environment E.G Pass in rugby                                                                       E.G A vault in gymnastics Continuity Discrete ---------E.G-------------------------------Serial----E.G-----------------------------------------E.G----Continuous A skill that has a definite        "Sub routines" a skill that contains                A skill that you can repeatstart and finish.                       lots of sub routines.                                    over and over again.E.G a throw in in football          E.G dance routine                                      E.G running actionPacing Self paced ------------E.G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------E.G-----------Externally pacedDoing it at your own speed                                                                                The speed of the skill is determined by other factorsE.G A tennis serve                                                                                            E.G Saving a penalty in footballDifficulty Simple --------------E.G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------E.G-----------ComplexLittle info to process, not much to learn                                                               Requires concentration, lots of decisions to be made, many subroutines, timing/speed are crucialE.G Running                                                                                                     E.G Somersault.  Organisational Low ------------E.G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------E.G------------------HighMade up of sub routines, easily separated,                                                        Sub routines are closely linked, very difficult to separate,usually practiced as a whole.can be practiced alone then put together to                                                        E.G Golf swing perform the whole skill well.  E.G Gymnastics sequences

Types/methods of Practices depending on the skill classification (Used to teach or coach a skill NOT practice to get better):1. Part practice - a skill low in organisation can be broken down into sub-routines to reduce is complexityE.G - Tennis can be broken down into grip, stance, back swing, ball toss, contact and follow through.Advantages - Reduces complexity, gains confidence and reduces fear.Disadvantages - Can take longer than other methods, transferring the parts back into the whole skill can sometimes be difficult.2. Whole practice - ideally a skill should be taught as a whole. Skills that are high in organisation and low in complexity are usually taught by this method. E.G - Cycling because it is difficult to break down Advantages - Learner can develop a kinaesthetic feel for the skill, quicker than using part practice. Disadvantages - Not suitable for complex or dangerous.3. Whole - Part - Whole - this involves the learner trying the whole skill first. By doing this they get a feel for the skill and then can practice the parts they struggle with and put them back into the whole skill.E.G - Tennis serve, can try a whole serve and the coach identifies the weakness so they can practice it and put it back into the whole skill.Advantages  - Get a feel for the skill and the flow of it. Quicker as only the weak parts of the skill are practiced. Disadvantages - Not suitable for skills which are high organised as they can't be broken down easily. Not suitable for skills which are dangerous.4. Progressive part - In this method parts of a complex skill are practiced in isolation. they are then linked together to form longer parts before finally combining them into a whole skill.E.G - Triple jump, gymnastics floor routine.Advantages - Reduces information load, helps the flow of the skill, helps the transfer of skills into the whole routineDisadvantages - Not suitable for simple skills, could become frustrating for the performer if they have difficulty with one part of the skill and are stuck on it for a long time.

Types/methods of practice and their effect on learning skills (These are used when the learner knows the skills and are trying to get better NOT to learn the skill):1. Massed practice - This is when the learners practice continuously at a skill without any breaks or rest intervals. Usually long sessions. Advantages - Suitable for simple, discrete skills of short duration, simulates performance conditions when there is an element of fatigue.Disadvantages - Beginners can be affected by lack of concentration and fatigue, causes fatigue and demotivation which leads to poor performance and learning.E.G - a basketball player practicing their shooting by doing drills of 10 shots.2. Distributed practice - This is when the session whether it be being taught or coached has breaks in it. They allow time for recovery and to evaluate performance/give feedback.Advantages - Good for beginners and learners with low levels of motivation and low levels of fitness, maintains motivation and good for complex and potentially dangerous skillsE.G - Can be used for ALL skills and seen as the most effective method of practice. 3. Fixed practice - This is when you repeat the same thing in the same environment over and over again. The movement becomes habitual.Advantages - Most suitable method of practice for closed skills, it allows 'overloading' to take place, good for all levels of learner. Uses skill drillsE.G - Gymnasts practice vaults over with same apparatus with the same run up 4. Varied practice - This is where the skill is practiced in many different environments. It is most suitable for open skills.Advantages - Develops the learners perceptual and decision making skills. Performer is able to adapt the skill to suit the environment.Disadvantages - The practice conditions must be as realistic as possible, difficult to use this method of practice for closed skills. E.G - A 4 Vs 5 passing game in football in which passing skills, support and positional play will improve in an environment which is realistic.5. Mental practice / mental rehearsal - This is when the performer goes through the skill in their head without actually doing the skill. It is sometimes called imagery. Advantages - Experienced performers use it for emotional control and to establish optimum levels of arousal, reduces anxiety, increases confidence, helps to focus on winning and being successful.Disadvantages - It shouldn't be used on its own as a means of practice, suitable in conjunction with physical practiceE.G - Before doing a pole vault the performer will go through the routine in his mind by creating a mental picture of each stage of the vault.

Abilities:Innate/genetically determined - We are born with abilities determined by our genes we inherit from our parents.Stable and enduring - Abilities tend to remain unchanged but can be effected by our experiences and are developed my maturation.Support, under tie and underpin skills - Each skill usually needs us to have several supporting, underlying and underpinning abilities if we are going to be able to learn the skill effectively. Fleishman who carried out research into abilities identified two groups. Gross motor abilities - also referred to as physical proficiency abilities, usually involve movement and are related to physical fitness.  Pshychomotor abilities - Usually involves the processing of information, making decisions and putting these decisions in into actions. These actions are usually movements.

Fleishman identified 9 gross motor abilities:Dynamic strength - Exerting muscular force repeatedly over a period of time e.g press  ups.Static strength - The maximum strength that can be exerted against an external object e.g a plank.Explosive strength - Energy used effectively for a short burst of muscular effort e.g a vertical jump.Stamina - cardiovascular or muscular endurance.Extent flexibility - Flexing or stretching the trunk and back muscles.Dynamic flexibility - Being able to make several rapid flexing movements.Gross body co-ordination - The organisation of actions of several parts of the body whilst the body is moving.Trunk strength - The strength of the abdominal muscles.

Fleishman identified these physcomotor abilities:Multi-limb coordination - Being able to organise the movement of several limbs at one time.Response orientation - Choosing quickly the position in which an action should be made (as in reaction time).Reaction time - Being able to respond quickly to a stimulus.Speed of movement - Being able to make gross rapid movements.Finger dexterity - Being able to work with ting objects using your fingers.Manual dexterity - Being able to make accurate hand/arm movements involving objects at speed. Rate control - Being able to change the speed and direction of responses accurately.Aiming - Being able to aim accurately at small objects.

Types of guidance:There are four types of guidance, visual, verbal, manual and mechanical. Visual guidance:Particularly successful in the cognitive phase of learning. Vision is the dominant sense and we learn through imitation making visual guidance important. Demonstrations are a good way of putting across the information but the demonstrations must not be too long and must be accurate. Some drawbacks are that some skills are too complicated to learn via visual guidance alone and demonstrations may not grasp the attention of the performer.Verbal guidance:It is a frequently used method and used in conjunction with visual guidance to put a coaches point across. The verbal guidance must be clear and concise so the performer can understand and remember it, e.g telling a performer about strategies and tactics. Some drawbacks are that the information given has to be limited and some difficult skills are hard to describe effectively. Manual Guidance:This involves the coach physically manipulating the body of a performer through the correct pattern of movement. This could be guiding the arm through a forehand shot in tennis.Mechanical Guidance:This involves using equipment to help support the performer shape the skill. An example of this would be using a swimming float to allow the performer to experience the spacial and timing aspects of the movement. Manual and mechanical guidance are most useful during the cognitive phase of learning as they allow the performer to gain a kinaesthetic feel for the movement and give confidence/reduce fear in skills which contain an element of fear. This type of guidance must be removed ASAP so the performer doesn't become reliant on it. Manual guidance is difficult with groups and mechanical guidance doesn't allow mistakes so performer doesn't learn to identify and eliminate own mistakes. 

The phases of learning:Cognitive - Beginner, no experience at all.This is the initial stage of learning where the performer is trying to create a mental picture of the skill. Demonstrations and verbal guidance are very important to give the performer an accurate mental picture. More complex the skill the longer it takes to learn and the coach must not overload information. The skill is practiced with trial and error and the coach will give extrinsic feed back when it is performed correctly. Allows kinaesthetic feeling to develop.E.G - The overhead clear in badminton will be demonstrated by a coach who will verbally explain the main coaching points. Associative phase:This is the second phase of learning, also known as the practice phase. SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEAVE THIS STAGE. This is a longer phase as performers being to eliminate errors and mistakes become less noticeable. Fundamentals of the skill are mastered and subroutines become more closely linked together. Learner concentrates of refining the skill and requires more developed feedback to improve.E.G - Performer now has a mental picture of the overhead clear and is hitting the shuttle high and far, the coach instructs the performer to refine the skill by aiming for the back line.Autonomous phase:The final phase of learning. After a lot of practice the learner will be able to execute the skill with little thought and can turn his attention to external factors such as subtle cues from the environment. Advanced stage of learning with the motor programme stored in the LTM. Less external feedback is needed as the performer can identify and correct their own mistakes.E.G - Performer can now play the over head clear with little thought and can now concentrate on the other players position on the court.  

What is learning?Learning is a recognisable change in behavior which is permanent.Learning is not a one off lucky performanceLearning is due to past experiences and practice

How might you judge if learning has taken place?Observe: behavior/performanceMeasure/testEvaluate

Healthy balanced lifestyle exam questionIt contributes to a healthy balanced lifestyle because the performer is practicing a skill and therefore partaking in physical activity which contributes to a HBL.

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