skills and skills acquisition

• Skill


  A learned or practised ability that brings about the result that you want to achieve with maximum certainty and efficiency
• Ability


  The qualities and characters a person is born with, that allow a person to learn or acquire skills
• Factors that can affect the skill level in a performer


  • Age and maturity
  • Arousal conditions
  • Facilities
  • Environment
  • Teaching and coaching
  • Anxiety
  • Motivation
  • Culture
• Characteristics of a skilled performer

  • Accuracy
  • Consistency
  • Fluency
  • Coordinated
  • Aesthetically pleasing
• Basic skills


  Simple skills such as throwing, catching, hitting a ball and running
• Complex skills


  More difficult skills that require a high level of coordination and concentration
• Closed skills


  Skills that are not affected by the environment or the performers within it
• Open skills


  Skills that are affected by the environment
• Fine skills


  Precise movements that require a high level of accuracy and technique
• Gross skills


  Movements that use large muscle groups to produce big, powerful movements
• Basic information-processing model


  1. Input

  2. Decision making

  3. Output

  4. Feedback
• Short term memory


  Holds a small amount of information
• Long term memory


  Thought to be unlimited
• Limited channel capacity


  A performer can only process a certain amount of information; too much information can cause confusion
• Single-channel hypothesis


  The brain can only deal with one stimulus at a time when receiving many stimuli from the environment
• Stages of learning


  • Cognitive stage
  • Associative stage
  • Autonomous stage
• Types of feedback


  • Extrinsic
  • Intrinsic
  • Knowledge of result
  • Knowledge of performance
• Types of guidance


  • Visual
  • Verbal
  • Mechanical
  • Manual
• Factors that can affect the skill level in a performer


  • Age and maturity
  • Arousal conditions
  • Facilities
  • Environment
  • Teaching and coaching
  • Anxiety
  • Motivation
  • Culture
• Age and maturity


  How young a person is can affect how good they become. Starting younger provides more time to become expert.
• Arousal conditions


  Low arousal level -> archery. High arousal -> football
• Facilities


  The kinds of facilities that are available and accessible will impact on the sports that are offered
• Environment


  Where you live will affect your choices
• Teaching and coaching


  The quality and provision of coaching available will affect the skill level
• Motivation


  Will influence the skills you choose and how well you master them
• Culture


  Background can impact the skills you learn
• Characteristics of a skilled performer in relation to actions in sports


  • Accuracy
  • Consistency
  • Fluency
  • Coordinated
  • Aesthetically pleasing
• Accuracy


  Being precise and without error
• Consistency


  Repeat skills again and again at a high level
• Fluency


  Smooth, linked and without hesitation
• Coordinated


  Move different parts of the body efficiently and with control
• Aesthetically pleasing


  A movement looks good, looks easy