Movement Skills, Stages of Learning, Skill Development, Coaching, Practice, Feedback and Psychological skills

Classification of Movement Skills

Skill: Ability to do something well. Motor skills are voluntary, goal-directed activities learned through practice.
Fundamental Movement Skills: Core skills forming the basis for complex sport-specific skills (e.g., balancing, throwing).
Sport-Specific Skills: Movement patterns specific to particular sports, involving similar muscle groups and motions (e.g., javelin throwing).
Open Skills: Externally paced, high variability, unpredictable environments requiring adaptation (e.g., receiving a tennis serve).
Closed Skills: Internally paced, low variability, predictable environments with limited interruptions (e.g., golf swing in calm weather).
Gross Skills: Use large muscle groups, involving whole body movements (e.g., running, swimming).
Fine Skills: Use small muscle groups, involving precise movements (e.g., shooting marbles).
Discrete Skills: Have a clear beginning and end point (e.g., somersault).
Serial Skills: Combination of discrete skills in a sequence (e.g., gymnastics floor routine).
Continuous Skills: No distinct beginning or end point (e.g., walking, running).

Cognitive Stage: Beginner stage focused on understanding the skill. Best learning occurs through demonstrations, with common mistakes.
- Coaching: Simple, frequent feedback; explicit instructions; skill demonstration.
Associative Stage: Refinement through practice, focusing on movement patterns. Errors less frequent. This is typically the longest stage.
- Coaching: Design practice for decision-making; help identify cues; support error correction; specific feedback.
Autonomous Stage: Skilled performance is automatic, focusing on tactics and strategies. Learners can detect and correct their own errors.
- Coaching: High-quality practice sessions simulating competition; precise feedback; motivation to improve.

Factors include family support, socioeconomic status, cultural traditions, peers, and gender.
Family: Provides logistical and financial support, encourages involvement, and shapes values.
Cultural Norms: Different sports are identified with different nationalities (e.g., Canada - Ice Hockey).
Beliefs: Cultural, religious, and political beliefs can influence participation (e.g., restrictions in women’s sports).
Peers: Influence the sports and activities children engage in.
Gender: Activities often align with stereotypical views of masculinity.
Socioeconomic Status: Income, occupation, and education levels affect access to resources.

Direct Coaching: Traditional, structured approach with explicit steps, better for cognitive learners. Skill/drill-based, with limited decision-making for learners.
- Advantages: Quick organization, maximizes practice time, facilitates rapid early learning.
- Disadvantages: Less automatic skill execution, breakdown under pressure, limited adaptability.
Constraints-Based Coaching: Encourages learners to discover techniques and tactics through games-based scenarios, with less direct instruction.

Linear Theory: Skill acquisition progresses linearly from basic to complex movements with minimal variability (associated with direct instruction).
Non-Linear Theory: Emphasizes exploratory behaviors and individualized skills through interactions between the individual, task, and environment.

Constraints influence learning, participation, and performance.
Individual Constraints: Body type, fitness, mental aptitude (least likely to be modified).
Environmental Constraints: Location, weather, cultural norms, societal expectations.
Task Constraints: Rules, equipment, pitch size, player numbers (most likely to be modified).

Effective Practice: Design tasks for a reasonable amount of success, progressively increasing difficulty.
Part Practice: Breaking skills into smaller parts (e.g., tennis serve).
Whole Practice: Practicing the entire skill, preferred when proficient and the skill is simple.
Massed Practice: Fewer, longer practice sessions.
Distributed Practice: More frequent, shorter sessions with rest periods.
Practice Variability: Practicing various skills and conditions.
Blocked Practice: Repetitive practice of the same skill under the same conditions (effective in early stages).
Random Practice: High variability, rehearsing a variety of skills in the same session.

Feedback: Information a learner receives about skill performance.
Intrinsic Feedback: Information from sensory systems (visual, proprioception, cutaneous).
Augmented Feedback: Information from an external source (e.g., coach).
Knowledge of Performance: Feedback on how a skill is performed.
Knowledge of Results: Information about the outcome of skill performance.
Qualitative Feedback: General, less technical feedback.
Quantitative Feedback: Precise, numeric feedback.
Frequency of Feedback: How often feedback is provided.

Confidence: Belief in the ability to execute a task successfully.
* Strategies to build confidence: Hard work in practice, positive self-talk, visualization, achievable goals, supportive environment.
Motivation: Driving force behind achieving goals.
* Goal Setting: Specific, Measurable, Accepted, Realistic, Timeframed, Exciting, Recorded.
Intrinsic Motivation: Comes from within.
Extrinsic Motivation: Comes from an external source.
Arousal: Degree of activation experienced.
* Optimal arousal theory: Performance is best within an athlete's optimum functioning zone.
* Techniques to decrease arousal: Progressive muscle relaxation, controlled breathing, meditation, biofeedback, stress inoculation training.
* Techniques to increase arousal: Elevated breathing rate, acting energetic, positive self-talk, energizing imagery, music, pre-competition workout.
Concentration: The mental ability to focus on the task while ignoring distractions.
Techniques to improve concentration and attention: Centred or controlled breathing, Mental imagery & rehearsal (visualization)