Watch the following clips,
what makes these children
so good?
ABILITY
We now understand what we mean by the term “skill”.
Often we use the term “ability” instead of “skill” but we will
now examine the term “ability” to show that the two are in
fact different.
What are the characteristics of SKILL again??????
> Learned
> Goal determined
> Follows a technical model
If we are to learn a particular skill we must have
certain abilities that skill relies on. For example, to
be able to perform a handstand you must have
strength in your arms to support your body weight as
well as the balance to keep your legs above your
hands!!
Q. What abilities does your sport/skill
rely on?
Characteristics of ABILITIES
INNATE/GENETICALLY determined
We are born with abilities determined by the genes we inherit from our
parents.
STABLE and ENDURING
Abilities tend to remain unchanged but can be affected by our
Experiences and are developed by maturation
Characteristics of ABILITIES
SUPPORT SKILLS
Each skill usually needs us to have several supporting or
underpinning abilities if we are going to be able to learn the skill
effectively.
So what is ABILITY?
Schmidt “ an inherited, relatively enduring
trait that underlies or supports various kinds
of motor and cognitive activities or skills.
Abilities are thought of as being largely
genetically determined”.
So, abilities are thought to be the foundation blocks that we
possess and build on, helping us to learn and perform
skills. We inherit our abilities from our parents and some
psychologists believe that they cannot be modified or
improved by practice, whilst others think that they are
modified by maturation and experience. However ALL
psychologists tend to agree that abilities determine your
learning and performance of skills and activities.
Can you give an example of how you could
be inherited certain abilities which could
affect you playing a certain sport???
If you are born with a lot of slow twitch
muscle fibres you could become a good
endurance athlete but will never excel in
sprinting.
Similarly, if you are born with
low levels of flexibility it is
unlikely that you will ever be
a top class gymnast
TYPES of ABILITY
Fleishman – identified 2 types
1. GROSS MOTOR ABILITIES
These usually involve movement and are related to
Physical fitness. Fleishman identified 9 of them:
TYPES of ABILITY
1. Dynamic strength – exerting muscular force
repeatedly over a period of time e.g press ups
2. Static strength – the maximum strength that can be
exerted against an external object
3. Explosive strength – energy used effectively for a
short burst of muscular effort, e.g vertical jump
4. Stamina – the capacity to sustain maximum effort
involving the cardiovascular system e.g marathon
TYPES of ABILITY
5. Extent flexibility – flexing or stretching the trunk and
back muscles
6. Dynamic flexibility – being able to make several
rapid flexing movements
7. Gross body co-ordination – the organisation of the
actions of several parts of the body whilst the body
is moving
8. Gross body equilibrium – being able to maintain
balance using the internal senses
9. Trunk strength – the strength of the
abdominal muscles
GROSS MOTOR ABILITIES
For each of the gross motor abilities identify a
skill/activity that you do that underpins/supports it?
TYPES OF ABILITY
2. PSYCHO MOTOR ABILITIES
This usually involves the processing of information
and the formation of a decision
Fleishman identified 11 of these, the main ones being:
1. Multi-limb co-ordination – being able to organise the
movement of several limbs at the same time.
2. Response orientation – choosing quickly the
position in which an action should be made
3. Reaction time – being able to respond
quickly to a stimulus
PERCEPTUAL MOTOR
ABILITIES
4. Speed of movement – being able to make gross
rapid movements.
5. Finger dexterity – being able to work with tiny
objects using the fingers.
6. Manual dexterity – being able to make accurate
arm/hand movements involving objects at speed
7. Rate control – being able to change speed and
direction of responses accurately.
8. Aiming – being able to aim accurately
at a small object.
PERCEPTUAL MOTOR ABILITIES
For each of the perceptual motor abilities identify a
skill/activity that you do that underpins/supports it?
HOW MUCH DO YOU REMEMBER????
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What is an ability?
What is psychomotor ability?
What is gross motor ability?
Explain the relationship between skill and ability?
Identify three gross motor abilities and three psycho
motor abilities for a sport and justify your answers?
How are ABILITIES DEVELOPED?
It is generally thought that abilities can be
developed during early childhood and it is important
that during this period children are exposed to a
wide range of experiences and the opportunity to
practice. Children should also receive expert
teaching and coaching, good support from family
and friends and have suitable role-models to
enhance their abilities.
Motor Skill Development
In the last section we looked at abilities and how they
support a variety of skills. Generally it is accepted that
these abilities are improved through maturation and
experience. Abilities are seen as building blocks upon
which we develop skills.
Children develop skills in an ordered manner that follows
set stages.
Motor Skill Development
They first use their abilities to learn basic or rudimentary
movement skills such as walking, running, skipping,
pushing, stretching and balancing. These basic movement
skills will form the foundation on which further development
takes place.
During the early years of primary school (4-9yr olds) children are
physically and mentally capable of learning skills and are also hightly
motivated and enthusiastic about it. At this stage expert teaching is
needed to develop the childs rudimentary movement skills further into
fundamental motor skills (FMS)
Javelin throw,
Tennis serve,
Volleyball serve
SPORT SPECIFIC SKILLS
Golf swing,
Hockey drive,
Cricket drive
SPORT SKILL
PROFICIENCY BARRIER
Overhand
throw
Two-hand side
FUNDAMENTAL MOTOR
SKILLS
RUDIMENTARY
MOVEMENT SKILLS
INFANT REFLEXES &
REACTIONS
arm strike