PE - AOS 1

• Motor skills are defined by experts as 'a voluntary, goal-directed activity that we learn through practice and experience'
• Movement precision:

  • Gross motor skills - involve large muscle groups with less emphasis on precision (e.g., running, swimming)
  • Fine motor skills - involve small muscles for precise movements (e.g., bouncing a ball before serving in tennis)
• Types of movement:

  • Discrete motor skills have a clear beginning and end (e.g., kicking a ball)
  • Serial motor skills are performed in a sequence, a combination of discrete skills (e.g., gymnastics floor routine)
  • Continuous motor skills have no definite beginning or end (e.g., walking, running)
• Predictability of environment:

  • Closed motor skills: performer has the most control over the environment (e.g., indoor diving routine)
  • Open motor skills: performed in a less predictable environment with changing conditions (e.g., white-water rafting)
• Fundamental movement skills include stability skills, locomotor skills, and manipulative skills
• Stages of learning:

  • Cognitive stage: beginner comprehends the movement requirements
  • Associative stage: refining technique, making fewer errors
  • Autonomous stage: skill is automatic, attention can be directed elsewhere
• Practice strategies:

  • Part and whole practice:
  • Whole: practicing the entire skill
  • Part: breaking the skill into smaller 'subroutines' and practicing them individually
• Practice amount is crucial to learning, more practice leads to more improvement
• Practice distribution:

  • Distributed Practice: shorter, more frequent training sessions with more rest time between tasks
  • Massed practice: less frequent training sessions with longer duration and less rest time
• Practice variability:

  • Blocked practice: practicing the same skill in isolation for a set number of repetitions before moving on to the next task
  • Random practice: varied sequencing of different motor skills in the same training session
• Feedback types:

  • Intrinsic feedback: performers use their senses to assess performance (internal)
  • Augmented feedback: given from an external source during or after a performance
• Feedback frequency decreases as skills progress to develop the performer's error detection abilities
• Young people with better developed motor skills may find it easier to be active and engage in more physical activities
• Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) lay the foundations for the development of more complex sport-specific skills
• Development of motor skills is positively associated with participation in physical activities and performance
• In general, boys are better at object control and have higher perceived competence than girls
• Qualitative movement analysis principles are used to improve human movement and involve four main principles: Preparation, Observation, Evaluation, and Error correction
• Qualitative movement diagnosis (QMD) assesses human movement technique to provide appropriate intervention for performance improvement
• Qualitative assessments involve non-numeric assessment and are used by most Physical Education teachers and coaches in every practice
• Qualitative assessments are based on rich decision-making and knowledge of the skills and demands of the given physical activity or sport
• Qualitative assessments involve some measurement and relate to biomechanics and exercise physiology
• As part of the Qualitative Movement Diagnosis (QMD) process, a coach or teacher weighs up all possible reasons and decides on the most important factor to focus on for error correction
• Coaches need to develop an observation strategy by determining the specific purpose of the analysis
• Observations can be performed live and/or recorded digitally, with the main limitation being subjectivity in assessing the quality of a performance
• 'Evaluation' in qualitative movement analysis involves judging quality, determining value, and addressing problems by identifying the cause and solution
• Objective performance measures involve impartial measurement without bias, including measures of time and distance
• Subjective performance measures are influenced by the observer's personal judgement of skill or game, open to interpretation and opinion
• Test validity refers to the accuracy of a test in measuring what it is intended to, while test reliability is the ability to reproduce similar results in the same conditions
• Error correction in qualitative movement analysis involves identifying weaknesses and developing strategies using direct or constraints-based coaching approaches
• Direct coaching focuses on quality practice over quantity practice, where coaches make decisions on practice tasks and technique performance
• Constraints-based coaching involves an interaction between the individual and the environment, shaping the learner's movement patterns, understanding, and decision-making
• Constraints are boundaries that shape a learner's self-organizing movement patterns, understanding, and decision-making, categorized into individual, environmental, and task constraints
• Constraints-based coaching allows learners to have multiple potential solutions to performance problems and encourages a more natural way of learning movement skills
• Constraints-based coaching creates a high level of variability during practice and focuses on representative task design to match performance contexts
• Affordances in constraints-based coaching are opportunities for action based on individual capabilities, influencing decision-making in sports scenarios
• Coaches using a constraints-based approach need solid knowledge of specific sports, experience, and an understanding of individual constraints, strengths, and weaknesses
• Coaches should avoid forcing all players to use a single technique and allow athletes to solve problems in ways that suit their individual constraints
• Perceived competence is based on self-evaluation of one's effectiveness or capability in a specific context
• In the cognitive stage of learning, learners benefit from simple instructions, demonstrations, and a focus on fundamental movement skills to keep motivation high
• In the associative stage, learners need regular feedback, increased variability in practice, and refinement of skills to prevent poor habits