This document discusses various concepts related to skill acquisition and motor learning in sports. It begins by defining key terms like skill, ability, technique and motor programs. It then covers different types and classifications of skills. The relationship between skill, ability and technique is explained. Various models of information processing and memory are described. Factors that determine response time and methods to improve memory are discussed. Open and closed loop theories of motor programs are compared.

1. The characteristicsand classificationof Skill 5.1
 What is a skill?
 Classification of skill
 Motor Skills in sports
 What is ability?
 What is Technique?
Information Processing
 Describe a simple model of information processing
 Describe Welford's model of information processing
 Outline the components associated with sensory output
 Explain the signal-detection process
 Distinguish between the characteristics of short-term sensory store, short-term memory and
long-term memory.
 Compare different methods of memory improvement.
 Describe a motor program.

2. What is a skill?
⦿ Skill is an athlete's ability to choose and
perform the right techniques at the right
time, successfully, regularly and with a
minimum of effort.
⦿ Athletes use their skill to achieve athletic
objectives e.g. sprinting a 10.0 second 100
metres. Skill is acquired and therefore has
to be learned.

3. Types of skills
⦿ Cognitive - involves thought processes
⦿ Perceptual - involves interpretation of information
⦿ Motor - involves movement
⦿ Psychologists have categorised human behaviour into three
broad domains:
⦿ Cognitive skill (knowing) - know and understand the vital
aspects of the sport
⦿ Affective behaviour (feeling) - success at the sport depends on
mental attitude and developing psychological skills to cope
with stress
⦿ Psychomotor skill (doing) - excellence in sport requires the
execution of precise, fluent and effective movement patterns
which require the combination of perceptual and motor skills
⦿

7. What is Technique?
⦿ Techniques are the basic movements of any sport
or event.
⦿ e.g. a block start in a 100 metre race is a
technique. We combine a number of techniques
into a pattern of movement e.g. triple jump -
running and then the hop, step and jump phases

8. Characteristics of Technique
⦿ Theoretical Model complete in itself
⦿ Technique is dynamic and changes with time
,practice and new scientific innovations
⦿ Developed through practice
⦿ Help of gadgets the technique can be objectified
⦿ Rules & regulations of a sport affect further
development of technique
⦿ Acquisition of technique depends on level of
motor components, especially the quality of
coordination.

9. Technique – Skill & Style
⦿ Technique is a scientific and economical
method to attain high sports performance .
⦿Theoretical Model
⦿ Technique is defined as motor procedure for
tackling a motor task. Technique or Motor
procedure which should be followed to tackle
a certain motor task.
⦿ Models of technique are based on the actual
motor procedures followed by the top level
sports men.

10. Technique Model
Procedure
Style A Style B Style C Style D

12. Four Basic Consideration
s…….
Step1- In each sport certain tasks have to be fulfilled
or tackled during competitions. The best motor
procedure for completing the tasks needs to be
performed .
Step-2- After determining the technique or motor
procedure –actual Motor action to be performed
Step-3 Ways and means by which motor
coordination is refined and perfected
Step -4 Ways and means of organizing and
implementing technique training so that learning
takes place faster

13. What is ability?
⦿Ability refers to a general train or capacity of the individual that is
related to the performance and performance potential of a variety of
skills or tasks
Perceptual Abilities
Way in which we notice significant things that are happening around
us and how quickly and effectively we make decisions about how to
deal with them.
For example it is the way in which:
1. You make sense of the information you receive from the
environment ie. to perceive it, interpret it and identify elements in it
which are important, for eg. whether the ball is spinning or not, what
the flight path of the shuttle is, whether there is a gap in the defence
which can be exploited.
2. Recognition and interpretation relies on previous experience and
memory of that experience.
3. Decision making decide what to do - muscles then need to carry
out the required movement.

14. Motor abilities (movement and
performance)
Personal characteristics or enduring traits
which, affect an individual’s output
Perceptual-motor or Psychomotor
abilities - a combination of perceptual
and motor abilities
Capability to process, interpret and use
sensory stimuli for performing a task.
.

15. Distinguish between Fleishman's physical proficiency abilities (physical
factors) and perceptual motor abilities (psychomotor factors)
Fleishman’s Physical Proficiency
(Gross Motor)Abilities - Health related
· Extent flexibility
· Dynamic flexibility
· Explosive strength
· Static strength
· Dynamic strength
· Trunk strength
· Gross body co-ordination
· Gross body equilibrium
· Stamina
Fleishman’s Perceptual Motor
(psychomotor) Abilities - Skill
related
 Reaction time
 Response orientation
 Speed of movement
 Finger dexterity
 Manual dexterity
Response integration

16. ⦿ Relationship between skill, ability
and technique
SKILL = ABILITY + TECHNIQUE

17. FRAMEWORK OF MOTOR SKILLS FOR DEVELOPMENTAL LEVELS
Body Management Competence
Fundamental Skills
Specialized Skills

18. Discuss the relationship between a skilled
and a novice performer.
consistency
 Skilled: would be very consistent as they are an expert (autonomous) in their
sport
 Novice: would have many errors and not yet be consistent as they are still in
the learning (cognitive or associative) stage
accuracy
 Skilled: more likely to be accurate, for the same reasons as above.
 Novice: less accurate in their performance as they are less consistent and
skilled.
control
 Skilled: will have more control in their movements as they have stored
muscle memory from completing the action so many times.
 Novice: will have less control, comes with lack of consistency and accuracy,
as they have not had great time for practice.

19. learned
 Skilled: they will be knowledgable on their sport and technique
 Novice: may need assistance in understanding correct technique
efficiency
 Skilled: will be able to achieve desired goal much quicker than a novice player
 Novice: will take a long time to reach desired goal
goal-directed
 Skilled: will know exactly what they want to produce and what steps are
needed to get there
 Novice: may know what they want to achieve but not the steps to get there
fluency
 Skilled: difficult skills will look effortless and smooth
 Novice: will look erratic and uncontrolled

21. Information Processing
Describe a simple model of
information processing
In response to input stimuli, the
performer perceives the stimulus, and
recounts by executing an appropriate
output, after their brain goes through
the decision
making process. Feedback is then
often given, so that the response can
be altered to be made better if
necessary.
Example: A penalty kick is about to
take place, the goalie observes the
angle of the kicker (input), makes a
decision on where to dive (decision
making) and follows with a diving
movement (output). Terminal feedback
on the movement is applied for the
next shot.

22. Describe Welford's model of information processing

23. sense organs
perception
short-term memory
long term memory
decision making
effector control
feedback

24. Outline the components associated with sensory output
The information is taken in through the senses prior to a decision being made
in three main ways. These are:
 what we see (vision)
 what we hear (auditory)
 what we sense (proprioception)
Vision:
 seeing the ball or the opponent; for eg, picking up the flight of the shuttle cock
coming over the net in badminton
Audition
 hearing the call of a team-mate or the sound of the ball on the racket
Proprioception:
 Proprioceptors are located on the nerves, muscles, tendons, joints and inner
ear, which provide intrinsic (internal) information about the movement and
balance of the body during the performance. The three components of
proprioception are: (1) touch, (2) equilibrium (balance) and (3)
Kinaesthesis

25. Touch – is our tactile sense, it detects pressure,
pain, temperature. It's used in many sports. Eg
The feel of the ball in the hands or the tense
feel of the tennis racket in the hand as you hit a
return.
Exteroceptors: Exteroceptors provide
information about the external environment,
like touch, pressure, temperature, light, sound,
taste, smell etc. Sometimes receptors sensing
light, sound and smell, which provide
information about the distant environment,
have been called telereceptors.
Introceptors:
Pass information from within the body’s
internal organs such as the heart and lungs to
the brain via the nervous system. This helps to
regulate the various functions of the body and
cater for the changing demands placed upon
it. Kinaesthetic
information or Proprioception (body
awareness) - the inner sense within the
muscles, tendons and joints, which gives
automatic internal information about the
position of joints and the tension in the
muscles.

26. Proprioceptors: Proprioceptors provide information about the position and
posture of our body in space. They sense stimuli from the muscles, tendons and
the joints as well from the vestibular apparatus.
Equilibrium – the balance needed before
hitting a serve or the balance used in the
skillful performance of a gymnast on the
balance.
Kinaesthesis - the inner sense within the
muscles, tendons and joints, which gives
automatic internal information about the
position of joints and the tension in the
muscles. A javelin thrower would know,
without looking, that the arm is fully
extended and that the elbow is ‘locked’
before he throws.

27. Explain the signal-detection process
Brain identifies that a stimulus is present. It often detects more stimuli than we are
aware of. If we attend to that information even briefly, then it is passed further
through the process
Perception is the process by which the brain interprets and makes sense of the
information it is receiving from the sensory organs
 Detection: identification of the stimulus
 Comparison: gathered stimuli compared to memory stores
 Recognition: the stimuli is matched to one stored in the memory
Sporting example: Returning a tennis serve
Detection: the ball is tossed above the head rather than slightly in front, stimulus
ranges from spin and flight path of the ball. These important stimuli stand out from
background noise of irrelevant detail through selective attention
Comparison: the stimulus is passed through the memory and compared with
similar codes stored in the memory such as a previous serve from the same
opponent in the match
Recognition: occurs when the code of incoming information matches a code
stored in the long term memory. Early signal detection detects the type of service
before the action takes place. Utilizing selective attention and using past
experiences improves signal detection.

28. Distinguish between the characteristics of short-term sensory store, short-
term memory and long-term memory.
Short term sensory store, or sensory information store is the brain picking up on visual stimuli in
tenths of seconds. The brain can pick up and understand the complete image in a quarter of a second
and has an unlimited capacity of understanding sensory stimulation. Short term memory however,
has a duration of seconds to minutes, but has a limited capacity of only 5-7 pieces of information that
can be comprehended in the short term store. When retrieving from your short term memory, before
information is transferred into the long term memory, the brain only receives direct access to
interpretations of the information.

30. Discuss the relationship between selective attention and memory
and explain how it can be applied to a games player
Memory can be described as “the capacity that permits organisms to benefit
from their past experiences” (Tulving 1985). It is the skill of storing all
previous occurrences in the long term memory of the brain where retrieval is
permitted in future experiences. Selective attention however, is the type of
memory where you can only focus on one thing (no multitasking) (Welford
1968) or on two things that require different area of the brain (Wickens 1980).
Memory and selective attention play a role in the competitive play of sport,
where performers must recall and retrieve knowledge from the long-term
store of their memory, but utilize the skill of selective attention in order to only
recall the memories vital for the skill and performance being done in the
moment. Selective memory is used not only in sport, but in all parts of life as
a human can not possibly pay attention to everything in a ocean of
irrelevance and unimportance. In a touch game when performing an
attacking line move for example, you may remember all of the training you
have done on the skill and other variations of the move, but with the aid of
selective attention, you recall and only think about where you have to go, in
the position you are in and the situation you are in.

31. Compare different methods of memory improvement
Rehearsal: required to get information into LTM, and to increase the chances
of being able to recall that information.
coding: information associated with images can be recalled better with the
associations.
brevity: it is easier to remember short and specific details rather than long and
vague information.
clarity: if the information is clear and understood, it will be easier to remember
chunking: To some degree we do this automatically. It is literally a case of
chunking several pieces of information into one meaningful chunk, which takes
up less space in STM
organization: if the information is in a clear and logical format it makes it easier
for recall
association: semantic understanding increases recall
practice: same with rehearsal.

32. Define the term response time
Response time = reaction time + movement time
In sprinting:
Reaction time: is the amount of time between a stimulus and the first movement
initiated response to it. Does not include movement time. Eg. hearing the gun to
pushing against the blocks.
Movement time: is the time taken to complete the task after it has been initiated.
Begins when the body begins to move - not when then stimulus is applied - and
ends when the task is completed. Eg. pushing against the blocks to hitting the
tape.
Response time: total time from the presentation of stimulus to the completion of
the task. Eg. hearing the gun to hitting the tape.

33. Group variance - gender + age
Reaction time includes stimulus transmission, detection, recognition decision to
respond, nerve transmission time and initiation of action.
How to improve response time:
 Anticipation – reduce the time they take to respond to a stimulus
 Attention to preliminary movement
 Develop good signal detection (DCR process): cue and relevant cues
 Decision making
 Change in attention focus – selective attention
 Control anxiety
 Creating optimum levels of motivation
 Practice at a quicker pace
 Warm up
 Mental rehearsal – visually in mind.
Outline factors that determine response time

34. Evaluate the concept of the psychological refractory period (PRP
The task related to the first stimulus must be
fully carried out before the second response can
be made. The overlap is called the
psychological refractory

35. Describe a motor programme
A set of movements stored as a whole in the memory regardless of whether feedback
is available or not
A motor program is a set of movements that that is stored in the memory and can be
reproduced to create movements. Motor programs contain subroutines, which
breakdown the actions required in a sport. For example in touch, the action of doing
an A-Drive, can be broken down into subroutines, consisting of taking the touch,
placing the ball, stepping over the ball, and then picking up. As the skill level of the
performer increases, and the proficiency of the athlete does as well, the routines then
become subroutines, as they begin to make up more complex skills within the sport.
An example of this would be the A-Drive being then incorporated into a 42, where a
backdoor component is added.
 a whole plan (executive program/ motor program)
 subroutines
 coordination of subroutines
relegating executive programmes to subroutines

36. Compare motor programmes from both open and closed loop perspectives
Open Loop Theory
This theory states the following:
 Decisions are made in the brain
 Information for one movement is sent in a single
message
 The muscles receive the message, where they then
perform the movement.
 Feedback may or may not be available but it doesn't
control the action
This theory accounts well for fast continuous
movements (e.g. a golf swing), although it does not work
so well for slower movements which may involve reactions
and repositioning (such as a gymnast on the balance beam).

37. Closed Loop Theory
On the other hand, this theory explains slow
movements well but not fast movements.
 Decisions are made in the brain
 Information is sent to at different times
 Information is received by the muscles to initiate the
movement
 Feedback is always available and is necessary for
correction of movement patterns and to adjust to
changing needs.
Closed loop theory only works when the skill is done
enough times by the performer, so that their muscle memory
of the skill can be stored in the memory trace. When the
performer detects an error, they use the perceptual trace,
which is an immediate detection of the movement stored in
the short term memory, and compare it to their memory
trace. The differences between the two are then augmented
and the perceptual trace is changed to match the memory
trace and improve performance.

38. Outline the role of feedback in information processing models
intrinsic (self given) and extrinsic (given by others
eg. coach)
knowledge of results (was there a goal or was it
a miss) and knowledge of performance (correct
technique, improper technique)
positive (encouragement) and negative (un-
constructive)
concurrent (during the task itself) and terminal
(after task completion)
Outline the role of feedback with the learning process
reinforcement of learning
motivation
adaptation of performance
punishment