A level Physical Education AQA A level Physical Education Paper 1 Skill acquisition:

Brain Workout Lets get those brain cells working!! Write your name in the air with one hand. Try it with the other hand. Stand facing a partner and write out a word backwards for so that they can read it. Can they guess the word?

NEW TOPIC!! Today we are starting a new section of the A level syllabus, Skill Acquisition. Skill Acquisition looks at how we learn things and how we are then able to reproduce them. This could include sounds, movements or anything else that humans are able to produce. We have had to learn nearly everything we now do. New born babies can't do much at all!

Lesson Aims To be able to give a definition of "skill". To recognize the three types of skill commonly used in sports. To understand that skill can be classified using continua. To attempt to identify and classify skills used in sporting activities.

Characteristics and definitions of skill Ability can be defined as a personal attribute or quality intrinsically known to a performer. E.g. The ability to balance is common to all able bodied people. A skill combines various different abilities of the performer to create an action. The action has to be learned by a performer to address a particular situation. E.g. Every able bodied person is not able to perform a handstand, but it is a skill they can learn as they have the ability to balance. (Hodges and Williams 2012)

Types of skill in sport There are three main types of skill in sport. Cognitive Perceptual Psychomotor Cognitive skills are the thinking skills. They are used in decision making and problem solving. E.g. Deciding whether to pass or shoot. Perceptual skills are used to interpret information gathered through your senses to guide your actions. E.g. Riding a bike, using visual feedback to judge the distance to a corner and turn at the correct moment. Psychomotor (motor) skills are used by your brain to control physical movements. E.g. Making your legs move in the appropriate pattern to walk.

Classification of skill Trying to classify or group motor skill in sport is an inexact science, because one motor skill involves interlinking many factors. A good way to classify a skill is by judging it against several narrow criteria. We will look at a few of these. open – closed discrete – serial – continuous gross – fine self paced – externally paced

Open - Closed This classification concerns the environment in which a skill is performed. An open skill is performed in an environment with changing factors e.g. passing to a team mate in football. This skill is directly affected by changing factors such as the movement of the ball, the movement of your team mate, the surface of the pitch, wind and other weather, positions of opposing players etc. A closed skill is one in which external factors do not change e.g. throwing a dart. The position of the board, type of dart etc. are all fixed and will not vary from one throw to the next.

Discrete – Serial – Continuous Discreet skills have a definite beginning and a definite end e.g. a handstand. Start balanced on feet, end balanced on hands. Serial skills are discreet skills linked together e.g. a triple jump links a hop, a step and a jump. Continuous skills cannot be easily broken down into discreet skills as they must be performed continually e.g. pedalling a bike.

Gross - Fine This classification is based on the size and accuracy of movements. Gross skills involve big movements such as the leg and arm movements found in running. Fine skills involve precise, usually smaller movements such as the fine adjustments of the wrist when aiming a putt in golf.

Self Paced - Externally Paced The timing or pacing of a skill can be classified according to where the control of the pace lies. Self paced skills are under the control of the performer. E.g. throwing a javelin. Externally paced skills are dictated to by the surrounding environment. E.g. timing a rugby tackle correctly to hit a moving opponent.

High Organised – Low Organised How easily can skills be broken down into parts? Low Organised skill – a skill easily broken into parts e.g front crawl in swimming High Organised Skill – a skill that is not easily broken into parts e.g a mid air volley in football

Complex - Simple How difficult is it to process the information required to carry out the skills? Simple skill – a skill that requires few decisions eg a forward roll Complex skill – a skill that requires multiple decisions using large amounts of information eg dribbling in hockey

Pick up a rolling cricket ball Continua As you have probably already realised skills rarely fit neatly into one of these criteria, they usually have a combination of both/all the features of the criteria. To really classify skill, the criteria have to be viewed as a continuum which the skill sits on. The dart throw mentioned earlier as a closed skill could still be affected by background noise, so has small elements of open skill while being predominantly a closed skill. Here you can see how some different skills fit onto the open closed continuum. Open Closed football pass dart throw Pick up a rolling cricket ball unless it hits a bump

Enough theory ... exam time!! Take a "Sporting Skills" hand out. There are four different sporting skills shown being performed. We are going to examine them in detail. For each one: Name the skill. Identify the type(s) of skill being used. List as many abilities as possible the athlete might be drawing on to complete the skill. Classify the skill using each of the four continua we have covered today. Justify you answers with a short explanation. (Sorry you are past GCSE now). Working together and discussing answers is fine but please produce your own set of answers. You will need them for exam revision. Any you don't finish in this lesson please finish at home.