Unit 3

• A skill can be defined as the ability to do something well
• Motor skill are defined as activities that require voluntary head, body and/or limb movement to achieve a goal
• Classifying movement skills:

  • movement precision
  • type of movement
  • predictability of the environment
• Classifying movement skills - Movement precision:

  • Gross motor skills -> involves recruitment of large muscles groups, there is a less emphasis on precision (Examples: running, swiming, weightlifting)
  • Fine motor skills -> involves recruitment of smaller muscles associated with precise movements (Examples: throwing a dart, writing, bouncing a ball before tennis serve)
• Classifying Movement skills - Movement precision:

  • Gross motor skills
  • Fine motor skills
• Gross motor skills: Involves recruitment of large muscle groups and there is less emphasis on precision
• Examples of gross motor skills:

  • Running
  • Swimming
  • Weight lifting
• Fine motor skills -> involves recruitment of smaller muscles associated with precise movements
• Examples of fine motor skills:

  • Throwing a dart
  • Writing
  • Bouncing a ball before a tennis serve
• Classifying movement skills - type of movement

  • Discrete motor skills -> have an obvious beginning and end
  • Serial motor skills -> a number of discrete motor skills performed in a sequence
  • Continous motot skills -> have no definite beginning or end - sometimes they are assigned
• Serial motor skills: A series of discrete motor skills that must be completed in the correct order to achieve success, e.g., serving a tennis ball, performing a gymnastics routine.
• Continuous motor skills: Do not have a clear beginning or end, e.g., running, swimming, dancing.
• Discrete motor skills: Have an obvious beginning and end, e.g., throwing a ball, jumping over a hurdle, netball pass, kick in soccer
• Classifying movement skills - predictability of the environment:

  • Closed motor skills (individual) -> skills where the performance environment is predictable and the skill is internally paced, the performer controls when/how they execute the skill (example: diving)
  • Open motor skills (group/team) -> performed in a less predictable environment and performance of a skill is impacted like the ball is moving, a loud crowd, weather. Conditions are constantly changing and the performer has limited, if any, control over their environment, like the opposition
• Classifying movement skills - type of movement:

  • Discrete motor skills,
  • Serial motor skills
  • Continuous motor skills
• Classifying movement skills - predictablilty of the environment:

  • closed motor skills
  • open motor skills
• Closed motor skill (individual) - skills where the performance environment is predictable and the skill is internally paced, the performer controls when/how they execute the skill
• Examples of closed motor skills:

  Diving - the diver determines the routine they will perform and when their dive will commence
• Open motor skills (group/team) - performed in a less predictable environment and performance of the skill is impacted, like the ball is moving, a loud crowd, weather. Conditions are constantly changing and the performer has limited, is any, control over their environment, like the opposition
• Examples of open motor skills include:

  • Basketball
  • Netball,
  • Football,
  • Rugby
  • White water kayaking
• Sometimes there can be a closed skill in an open sport - basketball free throw
• You need to close down a skill like you were teaching a beginner and then open the skill up as they progress and improve
• Fundamental movement skills (FMS): are the foundation skills that provide the basis for the development of more sport-specific movement skills.

  Examples: overhand throw relates to javelin, tennis serve and baseball pitch
• Fundamental movement skills are a foundation skills that provide the basis for the development of more sport-specific movement skills
• Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are classified as:

  • stability skills involving balance and control of the body,
  • Locomotor skills that enable us to move through space,
  • Manipulative skills involving control of objects,
• Stages of learning:

  • Cognitive stage (beginner)
  • Associative stage (intermediate)
  • Autonomous stage (advanced)
• Cognitive stage:

  • the performer is mentally trying to comprehend the movement requirement of the skill
  • Focus will be on movement and their performance will be inconsistent with stiff and unrelaxed movements which create many errors
  • Beginners are often aware of what is wrong, but are unsure of how to correct the problems. They may lack confidence but will show rapid improvemet
• Coaching the cognitve stage:

  • No more than 2 simple instructions at a time
  • Complex skills to be broken down into smaller parts
  • keep the envrionment
• Coaching the cognitive stage:

  • Provide plenty of demonstrations
  • strategies to keep motivation high
  • Positive and constructive feedback
• Associative stage:

  • focus shifts from 'what to do' to 'how to do it' and more consistent with less errors made,
  • Performer is beginning to refine their technique/movement pattern
  • Performer can starts to focus on external stimuli (positioning and opposition) rather the skill
  • The performer is niw abke to detect the cause of some errors and can develop strategies to eliminate them
• Not all performers will leave the associative stage
• Coaching the associate stage:

  • Regular feedback to refine skills and reduce chance of poor habits developing
  • Be exposed to more 'open' environments
• Autonomous stage (advanced):

  • The skill is largely automatic for the athlete
  • They no longer think about the skill, therefore, they focus on other things like calling different plays
  • They have developed anticipation
  • Performers detect their own errors and correct them
  • Good coaching - such as precise feedbacl is still relevent for performers in this stage
• Coaching the autonomous stage:

  • Practice using game like situations
  • Psychological skill traning to help cop with pressure
  • Practice which challenes the athlete to use higher order thinking
• Practice stratigies:

  • Practice must take into consideration the individual, the task and the environment
  • Practice alone cant guarantee the performer will improve
  • Breaking a skill down can be useful, especially for beginners who may become overwhelmes with a complex task
• Part practice is breaking down a skill into smaller segments
• Whole practice is practicing the skill in full
• Task complexity: if a skill compenents it may be appropriate to break it down
• Task organisation: refers to how dependent each segment is on the previous segment —> linking a series of events together
• To decide which practice method to use you must take into consideration the task complexity and task organisation