Introduction to categories of sport skill and sport skill classification

1. Introduction to Categories of
Sport Skill and Sport Skill
Classification
Topic 1

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Cont…
 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. Terms Related to Motor Skills: Skills,
Actions, and Movement
 Skills - Tasks or activities that have specific goals to
achieve (action goals)
 Motor skills vs. cognitive skills
 “Actions” – Term often used as synonymous with the
term “motor skills”
 Movements – Behavioral characteristics of a specific
limb or a combination of limbs

10. SKILLS, ACTION AND
MOVEMENT
 Skills is an action or task that has a specific goal
to achieve; an indicator of quality of performance.
 It includes a motor skill ; a skill that requires
voluntarily body / or limb movement to achieve its
goal.
 Actions are goal directed activities that consist of
body, head, and/or limb movement.
 Movement indicates behavioral characteristic of
the body, the head, and/ or a specific limb or
combination of limbs.
 This means that movement are the component
parts of motor skills and actions.

11. One-Dimension
Classification Systems, cont’d
Three motor skill classifications that use one-dimension
approaches
1. Size of primary musculature required
2. Specificity of where actions begin or end
3. Stability of the environment context

12. Skill Definition
Skill is the “learned ability to bring about predetermined results with a
maximum of certainty, often with a minimum outlay of time or energy, or both”
– Knapp
Skill Categories
There are 3 basic categories of skills;
1. Cognitive skills involving primarily the brain
eg reading, analysing a problem.
2. Perceptual skills involving how an individual
interprets stimuli eg two players receive the
same information from the environment but
interpret it differently. Correct interpretation of
stimuli improves performance.
3. Motor skills involving physical movement
eg catching, throwing, running.

13. 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

14. 2. Specificity of Where Actions Begin
or End
 Two main categories:
 Discrete motor skills - specified beginning and end points,
usually require a simple movement
 e.g. flipping a light switch
 Continuous motor skills - arbitrary beginning and end
points; usually involve repetitive movements
 e.g. steering a car
 Combination category: Serial motor skills
 Involve a continuous series of discrete skills
 e.g. shifting gears in a stick shift automobile

15. 3. Stability of the
Environmental Context
 Two main concepts:
 Closed motor skills – involve a stationary supporting
surface, object, and/or other people; performer
determines when to begin the action
 e.g. picking up a cup while seated at a table
 Open motor skill – involve supporting surface, object,
and/or other people in motion; environment features
determines when to begin the action
 e.g. catching a thrown ball

16. 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.

17. 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

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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

27. 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.

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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 of the block
by the Brazilian player
is determined by the
movements and
actions of the spiker
Internally paced skill
The timing of the start
of the shot is
determined by the
player
www.flickr.com/photos/26298797@N07/2682841589/

31. 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.

32. 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

33. 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.