Acquiring Movements Skills

Classification of Movement Skills

Difficulty (Simple-Complex)

• = number of decisions you have to make
• Simple has few sub-routines
• Complex has many sub-routines

Pacing (Externally paced-Self paced)

• = the rate at which the skill is performed
• Self paced is when you initiate the movement
• Externally paced is when the environment determines the pace

Environmental influence (Open-Closed)

• = the influence of the environment on the skill

Continuity (Discrete-Serial-Continuity)

• = how well defined the beginning and end of the skill are
• Discrete= clear beginning and end. Can be repeated but must start from the beginning
• Serial= several discrete movements put together to make an integrated sequence of movements
• Continious= no clear beginning or end

Organisation (Low-High)

• = the way in which a skill is organised
• High organisation= Sub-routines that are difficult to seperate. Skill is fluent
• Low organisation= Split up into sub-routines that are easily identified

Muscular involement (Gross-Fine)

• = the precision of the movement
• Gross= large muscle groups, little regard for precision
• Fine= small muscle groups, intricate movements, involves accuracy and coordination

Methods of practice

Part practice

• =working on perfecting isolated sub-routines; once the sub-routines are perfected, they are put back together
• Advantages: good for beginners, good for dangerous skills, gives early success
• Disadvantages: takes a long time, learners lose kinaesthetic sense of the skill

Whole practice

• =the skill is learnt in its complete form without being broken down into sub-routines
• Advantages: good for skills that are high in organisation, allows the learner to get the flow and timing of the skill
• Disadvantage: can be demotivating, not suitable for complex or dangerous sports, too difficult for beginners

Whole-Part-Whole practice

• =learner tries the whole skill first to get the feel of the performance; teacher then identifies the weak parts of the skill and practices it in isolation; once the weak parts are perfected the whole skill is tried again
• Advantages: learner gets kinaesthetic feel for the skill, focus on weak areas
• Disadvantages: cannot be used for high organisation skills

Progressive practice

• =parts of complex skills are practiced in isolation, then linked together in larger parts before combining the whole skill
• Advantages: good for complex…