Skill and Ability

Skill and Ability

1. skill

   • "a learned ability to bring about a pre-determined result with maximum certainty and efficiency"
   • it is learned, you are not born with it
   • basic or complex
     • basic
       • we learn these first in life, and do them most
         • walking
         • running
         • standing
         • transfer easily between sports
         • we need basic skills for complex ones
     • complex
       • more difficult
       • very specific
       • more coordination and control
       • tend to be specific to one sport
         • swimming is not transferable to another sport
   • classification of skills
     • gross and fine
       • gross
         • large muscle movements
         • not very precise
         • include many fundamental movement patterns
         • e.g. shot putt
       • fine
         • intricate precise movements
         • small muscle groups
         • high levels of hand eye coordination
     • open and closed
       • open
         • e.g. football, netball, hockey
         • environment constantly changes
           • movements continuously get adapted
         • predominantly perceptual and externally paced
       • closed
         • used in a predictable environment
         • performer knows exactly what to do
           • movements follow set patterns
           • self paced
         • skills not affected by the environment
         • clear start and end to skill
         • e.g. free throw in basketball
     • discrete and continuous
       • discrete
         • brief
         • well defined
         • single specific skills
           • make up the actions
         • e.g. baseball
           • throwing and batting
       • continuous
         • no obvious start or end
         • skill is repeated like a cycle
         • skills can be stopped at any moment
         • e.g. swimming
     • self and externally paced
       • self
         • initiated by the performer
       • externally
         • timing is not controlled by the performer

2. ability

   • "seen as innate and genetically determined"
   • types of ability
     • perceptual
       • processing information related to movement; putting decision into an action
     • psychomotor
       • the ability to sense and interpret information
     • Gross motor
       • Innate characteristics for performing large muscle group movement
   • E.Fleishman - motor abilities are relatively enduring trials which are genetically stable qualities or factors that help a person carry out a particular task