Skill and Ability in Physical Education
Skill and Ability
Lesson Objectives
- Define the terms 'skill' and 'ability'.
- Describe the difference between skill and ability.
- Show an awareness of mastering an ability despite adversity, exemplified by the Paralympics.
Definitions
- Skill: A learned and practiced ability that brings about the result with maximum certainty and efficiency.
- Ability: Qualities and characteristics a person is born with, such as speed, agility, coordination, flexibility, balance, and reaction time, that allow a person to learn or acquire skills.
Key Factors Affecting Skill Level
- Age and maturity
- Facilities
- Environment
- Teaching and coaching
- Motivation
- Anxiety
- Culture
- Arousal conditions
- Explanation: For each of the factors identified, explain using an example from sport. For example, motivation can affect how much practice someone does.
- Identify the six main characteristics of a skilled performance.
- Explain the role and importance of these characteristics in different sports.
- Use these characteristics as a focus for coaching/training and improvement.
Types of Skill
- Gross skills: How we move.
- Cognitive skills: How we think and make decisions.
- Perceptual skills: How we visualise and anticipate things.
Skill Classification
- Identify different types of skills: basic/complex, fine/gross, open/closed.
- Understand how we can apply this to a continuum.
- Justify the choices of these skills with sporting examples.
Skill Classifications Continuum
- Basic Skills: Simple skills such as throwing, catching, hitting a ball, and running.
- Complex Skills: More difficult skills that require a higher level of coordination and concentration.
- Open Skills: Skills that are affected by the environment; the performer has to react and adjust to the situation, which is constantly changing.
- Closed Skills: Skills that are not affected by the environment or the performers within.
- Fine Skills: Precise movements that require high levels of accuracy and technique; often small movements using small muscle groups such as in the fingers.
- Gross Skills: Movements that use large muscle groups to produce big powerful movements; usually performed by the arms and legs.
Examples of Skills
- Skills from one of your 4 chosen sports make sure you have a good mix of easy and challenging skills and breakdown skills in to their components.
- E.g. Basketball – dribbling, performing a crossover, dribbling through the legs etc.