Acquisition and Performance of Sports Skills

Terry McMorris

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781118444665, 9781118444627
• eBook ISBN: 9781118444658
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Human Anatomy & Physiology
• Index: Biological Sciences

An extensive update of a successful textbook on skill acquisition for sport students. Praised for its clarity of writing style and presentation the new edition will be an essential buy for those needing a practical, sport-focused introduction to the theory and application of human motor skills.

1
Skill, Ability and Performance

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Learning objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• understand what is meant by the term ‘skill’
• be able to place skills into categories
• be able to analyse the factors underlying skilled performance
• understand what is meant by the term abilities
• understand the theories of ability
• understand the skill–ability interaction
• understand the basics of information processing theory
• understand the basics of ecological psychology (action systems and dynamical systems) theories.

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In the first part of this chapter, we examine what is meant by the term ‘skill’ and how we divide skills into different classifications. The reader is urged to consider the efficacy of these classifications and to question the value of their usage. The second part of the chapter examines ability. The use of the word ability can be misleading. Its use in everyday language compared to its usage in psychology can cause some confusion. Moreover, the reader may wish to question the whole concept of abilities, as defined by psychologists. In the third part of the chapter, we examine the inter-relationship between skill and ability. Finally, the chapter concludes with overviews of information processing theory and some of the ecological psychology theories of skilled performance.

The basis of the explanations of skill and ability used in this chapter are found in information processing theory. Some references to ecological theories are made. However, in general, ecological psychologists tend to use terms such as action and movement to describe skill. They are not concerned about classifications as such. They are interested in how the person’s genetic make-up affects their performance, but have little interest in trying to put labels on these factors.

Skill

There are many definitions concerning what we mean by skill. Fortunately most have several common features. It is generally accepted that skill is learned, consistent and specific to the task. Moreover, it is goal oriented, i.e. the person is aiming to achieve some specific outcome. This outcome can be quantitative, determined by the performance of a movement that can be measured objectively; or qualitative, measured by subjective judgement. Therefore, in this book we will use the following working definition of skill: skill is the consistent production of goal-oriented movements, which are learned and specific to the task.

In order to examine further the nature of skill, we can focus on each of the components, of our working definition, one at a time. First, skills are learned rather than innate. Although we often hear people say that someone is a ‘born’ footballer or tennis player, this is not correct. Even the very basic skills, such as walking, running, striking and jumping, need to be learned. Subsequent skills that we acquire, such as catching a ball, doing a somersault or hitting a tennis ball, are refinements of the basic skills and need to be learned. Moreover, we cannot say that we have acquired a skill until we can perform it consistently. We have all seen examples of ‘beginner’s luck’. The novice golfer who hits their first ever tee shot ‘straight down the middle’ often sees little more of the fairway in that first round of golf.

While I doubt that anyone would question the fact that we cannot say that we have acquired a skill until we can perform it consistently, I think that some readers may have difficulty in accepting that a skill must be learned. I know that many of my students have problems with this concept. It is my belief that the difficulty arises due to what we mean by learning. To most people learning a skill is explicit, i.e. we consciously set out to perform something that we have seen or are told to do. However, learning can also occur implicitly or subconsciously. We often acquire skills without instruction, by simply setting out to achieve a goal. This can be seen when babies learn to crawl in order to reach an object that they wish to touch. They have received no instruction but still manage to crawl. Implicit learning, however, does not only take place in early childhood, it can happen any time when we set out to achieve a goal (see Chapter 8). The key factor is that we can only achieve the goal by learning to carry out the movement.

Whether we learn a skill explicitly or implicitly, the skill is specific to the goal we are trying to achieve. In other words, each skill is unique. That does not mean that there will not be similarities between skills or that the ability to perform one skill will not make the acquisition of another skill easier. The uniqueness of skills can be seen by comparing skills that are very similar to one another. As an example, I will use the lofted pass and chip pass in soccer. Both are struck with the same part of the foot and in both instances the ball needs to be struck beneath the mid-point. In order to go in a straight line, it needs to be kicked along the central axis. For the lofted pass, however, the striker must follow through after contact. For the chip, there is very little follow through and the point of foot–ball contact is much nearer to the bottom of the ball. The uniqueness of the two skills can be seen by the fact that soccer players who are good at performing one of the skills are not necessarily good at performing the other. However, many are good at both skills. The differences between ‘similar’ skills can also be seen from the fact that even running with a Rugby ball in your hands is different to running freely. Running while dribbling a hockey ball is very different from free running, or even just running while carrying a hockey stick, without having to dribble the ball.

In the previous two paragraphs, we introduced the notion that skill is a goal-oriented activity. The nature of the goal will determine the way in which we evaluate the level of its performance. The goal of many skills is to perform some act that is measured solely by a quantitative outcome. Examples of this are activities like running the 100 m, throwing a javelin and passing a netball to a team-mate. Performance of such skills can be objectively measured. The running of 100 m can be measured in time or by competition against other runners; the javelin by how far you throw; and the netball pass by the accuracy. In such skills it is the outcome that is crucial, not how you look while performing the skill. In lay language, skill to perform such tasks often gets mixed up with how one looks while performing the skill. Psychologists call the latter form. Form, however, is not the important factor in such skills but outcome is. It is true that many skilful performers, whose outcome is very good, also demonstrate good form (Maria Sharapova for example). However, there are skilful performers who do not look graceful (e.g. the England soccer player Peter Crouch).

I could go on and on giving examples of performers who demonstrate good form and good outcome and athletes whose style do...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• About the Companion Website
• 1 Skill, Ability and Performance
• 2 Sensation and Perception of External Information
• 3 Decision Making and Working Memory
• 4 Reaction Time
• 5 Anticipation
• 6 Motor Control
• 7 Memory
• 8 Learning I: Types, Theories, Styles and Measurement
• 9 Learning II: Instruction, Practice, Transfer of Training and Feedback
• 10 Motivation, Arousal, and Learning and Performance
• 11 Conclusion
• Appendix 1: Writing an Academic Paper
• Appendix 2: Test Your Knowledge Answers
• Appendix 3: Calculating Variable Error
• References
• Index
• End User License Agreement