Unit 3 AOS1 - Skill Acquisition

Fundamental movement skills

Stability, locomotor, manipulative skills

Stability skills

involve balance and control of the body

Locomotor skills

enable movement through space such as walking, running and jumping

Manipulative skills

involving the control of an object such as throwing, catching, striking and kicking

Predictability of the environment

Open or closed

Open

High inter trial variability

Unpredictable environment

Externally paced

Closed

Low inter trial variability

Predictable environment

Self paced

Precision of movement

Gross or fine

Gross

Involve large muscle groups

Fine

involve small muscle groups where precision and accuracy are important

Type of movements

discrete, serial and continuous

Discrete movement

definite beginning and end

Serial movement

a number of discrete skills formed in a sequence

Continuous movement

no definite beginning and end

Type of practice

Part and whole

Part practice

When a skill is broken down into smaller segments and practiced individually

Useful for beginners to concentrate on specific components to build competence before performing the skills as a whole

Best for learning skills that are high in complexity and low in organisation

Whole practice

Practicing the skill in its entirety

Maintains the natural timing and movement dynamics of the skill

More effective for more skilled learners

Best for learning skills that are low in complexity but high in organisation

Distribution of practice

‘Melbourne Demons‘

Massed or Distributed

Massed practice

Involves less frequent training sessions during the week that last for a longer period of time or a larger block of time during a single session

Distributed practice

Shorter but more frequent training sessions where more time is also allocated to rest between tasks which allowed individuals to reflect on feedback and hence improve their performance

Suitable when

• the athlete is learning a new skill

• the skill is complex

• the task seems boring

• the skill is physically demanding

• task is continuous and complex

Which type of distribution of practice would be recommended for someone in the autonomous stage within a session and why?

Massed practice as it is continuous practice with little rest which is useful for autonomous learners more than cognitive learners because it requires a higher level of motivation to continue training for longer periods

Which type of distribution of practice would be recommended for someone in the cognitive stage within a session and why?

Distributed practice because it breaks the session into parts with rest breaks for the coach to give more feedback and hence improves performance.

Variability of practice

‘Bread rolls‘

Blocked or random

Blocked practice

Involves practicing the same skill continuously without changing to a different task which is suitable when an athlete is in cognitive stage and fatigue and a loss of motivation are disadvantages

Random practice

Involves varied sequencing of different motor skills in the same training sessions where the learner alternates between two or more skills in a practice drill to produce better long term results as the athlete has to think through the sequence of skills.

Benefits of random practice:

• replicates a game

• allows for greater transfer of skill to game

• allows for greater retention of skills

What distribution of practice is best for discrete skills

Massed practice

What distribution of practice is best for continuous skills

Distributed practice

Role of feedback

• Motivate to improve

• Highlight errors

• Encourages appropriate correction

• Positive reinforcement when correct

Augmented/external feedback

• Knowledge of results

• Knowledge of performance

Knowledge of results

Feedback about the result or outcome of performance

Knowledge of performance

Feedback about the process that led to the outcome

Intrinsic/internal feedback

• Visual

• Auditory

• Proprioception

• Touch

Proprioception

knowing the position your body needs to be in to execute a good movement

Why is feedback important

• Motivation

• Fix errors

• Reinforcement

Stages of learning

Cognitive, associative, autonomous

Cognitive stage of learning

Beginner stage

• cannot detect own errors

• cannot correct own errors

• developing basic movement patterns

• Improvement is usually rapid

Associative stage of learning

• Can demonstrate basic movement patterns

• Refining skill

• Practice stage

• Can detect some own errors

• can start to correct some own errors

Autonomous stage of learning

• Skills performed automatically

• Can detect and correct all errors

• Focuses on strategies and tactics

• Refined skills

• Can perform complex skills

Sociocultural factors that affect skill development

• Family support networks

• Peer groups

• Cultural norms

• Role models

• Societal expectations

• Culture of a sport club and access to high quality coaching

• Gender

Major influences on movement

• Gender

• Socioeconomic status

• Local community

• Family

• Cultural Norms

• Peers

Theories of skill acquisition

Linear or non-linear

Styles of coaching

Direct or constraints

Direct approach to coaching

Learning through instruction received from coach/Instructor directed

+

Good if not much time to teach skills

Benefical for cognitive stage learner so they can learn skills in isolation

-

Can be boring and less transfer of skills to game

Constraints based approach to coaching

Learner directed where learning is done through minor, modified games learning game sense

+

Good transfer of skills to game

Greater depth of understanding of skill

Greater retention of learning

Less likely to breakdown under pressure

-

Harder to set up

Skills may lack technical refinement

Individual constraint

Characteristics of the learner, including structural (height, weight) and functional (motivation, confidence)

E.g. A taller person may find basketball shooting easier

Task constraint

Specific requirements of the activity such as rules. equipments, goals and space are adapated

E.g. Using a smaller ball for beginners in soccer

Environmental constraints

External factors like weather, surface type, and social influences (family, peers)

E.g. Wet weather affects movement on a football field

Explain how individual, task and environmental constraints interrelate to influence performance in physical activities?

Constraints interrelate dynamically, affecting performance in the interaction of all three, not only one alone.

For example, a motivated player adapts to new rules even in poor weather.