CHAPTER 3
Categories of sports skills
ACQUISITION OF SPORT SKILL
• Understanding on how knowledge
about movement in sport is organized
and how human movement studies
relates to other disciplines.
• The process of learning a skill, either
by being taught or by observation.
MOTOR CONTROL
• Understanding the process
responsible for the acquisition,
performance, and retention of motor
skills. (movement)
• Motor skills are those goal directed
actions that require movement of he
whole body, a limb, or a muscle in
order to be successfully performed.
CATEGORIES OF SPORT SKILLS
• What is a skill?
• Skill is an athlete’s ability to
choose and perform the right
technique at the right time,
successfully, regularly, and with
a minimum of effort.
SKILL CLASSIFICATION
• There is a large range of sporting
activities each requiring a set of
skills.
• Skills have many characteristics
that can change in different
situations, which makes
classifying them difficult.
• Accepting that skills cannot be
neatly labeled, we place them on
a continuum.
• Skill classification systems are
based on the view that motor
skills are affected by three
factors:
how precise a movement is
whether the movement has a
definite beginning and end
whether the environment affects
the performance of the skill
THE STUDY OF MOTOR SKILLS: MOTOR
LEARNING, CONTROL, AND DEVELOPMENT
• Motor skills require body, head, and/or
limb movement to achieve its goal
• Motor learning involves the study of:
• Acquisition of new skills
• Performance enhancement of well-learned
skills
• Reacquisition of skills following injury,
disease, etc.
THE STUDY OF MOTOR SKILLS:
(CONT.)
• Motor control involves the study of:
• How the neuromuscular system
functions to enable coordinated
movement
• While learning a new skill
• While performing a well-learned skill
• Motor development involves the study of:
• Human development from infancy to
old age
• Issues related to either motor learning or
motor control
WAYS TO CLASSIFY MOTOR SKILLS
• Identify skill characteristics that are similar
• Divide into two categories, which represent extreme
ends of a continuum
• One dimensional systems
• Size of primary musculature required; precision of movement
• Nature of movement organization; Specificity of where actions
begin or end
• Predictability/ Stability of the environment
PRECISION OF MOVEMENT
• Fine motor skill
• Involving very precise movements normally accomplished using smaller
musculature
• Gross motor skill
• Places less emphasis on precision and is typically the result of multi-limb
movements
Fine Gross
NATURE OF MOVEMENT ORGANIZATION
• Discrete
• Beginning and end points are clearly defined
• Serial
• Composed of a number of discrete skills whose integrated performance is crucial
for goal achievement
• Continuous
• Beginning and ending points are arbitrary
OPEN/CLOSED
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
• Closed skill
• Environmental context is stable & predictable (does not change from trial to trial)
• Consistency is the objective
• Technique refinement is emphasized
• Open skill
• Performer must adapt performance to the ever changing environment
• Practice should emphasize responding to the changing demands
Closed Open
CLASSIFY THE FOLLOWING MOTOR
SKILLS
CLOSED………………….TO……………….OPEN
PredictableSemi-Predictable Unpredictable
• Walking a tightrope
• Mowing the lawn
• Downhill skiing
• Swimming in a pool
• Playing a video game
• Typing
• Crossing the street
GENTILE’S MULTIDIMENSIONAL
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
• Environmental demands
• Regulatory conditions
• Environmental factors that specify the movement characteristics
necessary to successfully perform a skill
1. Is the environmental context stable or in motion?
1. Swimming in an empty pool lane vs. playing water polo
2. From trial to trial, do the regulatory conditions remain fixed or do they
change?
1. Does a pitched ball come in high and inside, then low and away? Or down
the middle with a pitching machine?
1. SIZE OF PRIMARY
MUSCULATURE REQUIRED
• The benefit of a continuum approach to skill
classification
• Some motor skills involve both types to achieve the action goal and would be located
between the two points
THE GROSS AND FINE CONTINUUM
THIS CONTINUUM IS CONCERNED WITH THE
PRECISION OF MOVEMENT
• Gross skills:
• involve large muscle movements, where the
major muscle groups are involved. The
movements are not very precise, and include
many fundamental movement patterns such
as walking, running and jumping. The shot
putt is an example of a primarily gross skill.
CONT…
• Fine skills:
• involve intricate movements using small
muscle groups, tend to be precise and
generally involve high levels of hand-eye
coordination. A snooker shot or playing the
piano are examples fine skills
THE OPEN AND CLOSED
CONTINUUM
• This continuum is concerned with
the effects of the environment on
skills - Barbara Knapp's open and
closed skills also known as open
and closed loop control.
CONT…
• Open skills: sports such as Netball, Football,
and Hockey usually involve open skills. This is
because the environment is constantly changing
and so movements have to be continually
adapted. Therefore, skills are predominantly
perceptual. The skill is mostly externally paced,
for example a pass in football.
CONT…
• Closed skills. These skills take place in a stable, predictable
environment and the performer knows exactly what to do
and when. Therefore, skills are not affected by the
environment and tend to be habitual.
• Movements follow set patterns and have a clear beginning
and end. The skills tend to be self-paced, for example a free
throw in Basketball, and serving in Squash or Tennis.
• Barbara Knapp suggests that skills can fit on a continuum
between open and closed.
THE EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL PACED CONTINUUM
• This continuum is concerned with the
timing of movements (and is often used
with the open-closed continuum) -
internal and external paced skills.
CONT…
• Internally paced or self-paced skills: the performer controls the
rate at which the skill is executed. These skills are usually closed
skills. i.e. javelin throw, discus.
CONT…
• Externally paced skills: the environment, which may include
opponents, controls the rate of performing the skill.
• The performer must pay attention to external events in order to
control his/her rate of movement.
• These skills involve reaction, and are usually open skills. i.e. in
ball games the performer must time his actions with the actions of
other players and the ball.
THE DISCRETE, SERIAL AND CONTINUOUS CONTINUUM
• Discrete skills are brief, well-defined actions that have a clear beginning
and end. They are single, specific skills, which make up the actions
involved in a variety of sports such as hitting and throwing. Hockey. i.e. a
penalty flick in.
CONT…
• Serial Skills are a group of discrete skills strung together to make a
new and complex movement. i.e. the sequence of skills for the triple
jump.
• Made up of a number of discrete skills which are put together in a certain
order eg changing gear on a manual car involves the production, in the
correct sequential order, of several discrete skills – clutch, gear shift,
accelerator.
• A sporting example of a serial skill is a floor routine in gymnastics where the
performer joins together many discrete skills to make up the routine.
CONT…
• Continuous skills have no obvious beginning
or end. The end of one cycle of movements is
the beginning of the next, and the skill is
repeated like a cycle. These skills could be
stopped at any moment during the performance
of the skill. i.e. Swimming, Running, Cycling.
• Do not have clear a clear beginning or ending
and it is impossible to define exactly where
the skill starts and where it stops . e.g. –
cycling, jogging
INDIVIDUAL, COACTIVE AND INTERACTIVE SKILLS
• Individual skills are those performed in isolation.
e.g. Figure Skating, high jump.
• Coactive skills are those performed at the same
time as others but without direct confrontation. e.g.
running, swimming.
• Interactive skills are those performed where other
performers are directly involved. e.g. rugby,
football, basketball, netball.
SIMPLE AND COMPLEX
SKILLS
• Simple skills are quickly learned, often by imitation of
the demonstration compared with complex skills which
require a longer learning and practice time.
• Simple skill – passing a ball to a team mate at training.
• A simple skill is one that is straightforward with very
few subsections to go through to perform the skill.
This skill also requires little concentration and
cognitive ability of the performer.
Simple skill
•No time pressure
•One cue only
•No opposition players
•Speed not important
•Accuracy important
CONT…
• A complex skill involves a large attention span
because they are complicated and are practiced
in training repeatedly to make it easier to
perform in competition.
• Complex skill – passing a ball to a team mate
in a game situation Complex skill
•Time pressure
•Many cues
•Many available responses
•Speed important
•Accuracy important
Classification Of Motor Skills
5. The Pacing Continuum
This continuum is based on how much control the performer has over the timing of
when the skill will occur.
Internally - paced or self – paced skills occur when the performer determines when
to start the skill eg a golf shot, diving off the board.
Externally paced skills occur when the performer produces a skill at a time
determined by an external source eg a sprint start, a block in volleyball.
Externally paced skill
The timing of the execution
Internally paced skill of the block by the
The timing of the start of the Brazilian player is
shot is determined by the player determined by the
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the spiker
LOW AND HIGH
ORGANIZATION
• A low organisation skill is very easy and
uncomplicated moves like riding a bike and the
phases that make the skill are usually discrete and
might be practiced separately to make your
technique better. Not as much attention needed.
CONT….
• A high organisation skill have a complex
amount of skill involved and you can
say that it is many skills closely linked
together to make this skill.
• They cannot be broken down and
practiced separately as they are linked
closely together. These require large
amounts of attention
SELF AND EXTERNALLY PACED SKILLS
• Self paced skills are those that are
instigated by the performer and
externally paced skills are those where
the timing of the performance of the
skill is not controlled by the performer,
but by an outside instigator.