Chapter 1
Now that you have finished … answers
1.
Describe how making drills more closed can improve the speed at which the skill
is learned.
By making the drills more closed, the environment becomes more predictable for
the learner. This allows them to concentrate on their own performance and
technique without having to make adaptations to suit a changing environment.
2.
For a sport of your choice, develop a training session that improves players’
understanding of thinking skills such as decision making.
For this question, any training session that incorporates activities that require a
performer to make decisions that can be comparable to those needed for the game
would be acceptable.
For example, in netball, players can practice passing in groups of three with one
player defending whilst the other two move around and pass back and forwards to
each other.
3.
Identify how the nature of a motor skill (whether fine or gross, open or closed)
influences an individual’s ability to learn it.
The nature of motor skills impacts upon a learner’s ability to learn it in several
ways. If a skill is a fine skill, learners may find it more difficult to acquire compared
to a gross skill, as the smaller muscle groups required will need to be developed
before the skill can be perfected. Discrete skills are easier to learn than serial skills.
Serial skills are more complex and require a number of discrete skills to be
combined to produce the final outcome. Skills that are performed in closed
environments will be easier to learn than those in open environments due to the
stable and predictable environment presented to the learner in the closed
condition.
Senior Physical Education for Queensland ISBN 978 0 19 557386 2
© Oxford University Press Australia
4.
Distinguish the characteristics that an individual will display between the
cognitive and autonomous stages of learning. Use specific examples from a sport
of your choice.
In the cognitive stage of learning, learners will display jerky and poorly timed
movements with a large number of gross errors. In volleyball, for example,
performers at this level will perform a digging motion but will mistime the movement
and the result will not be accurate. In the associative stage of learning, the skill can
be performed more fluently and with more success, but timing will still be off. The
volleyballer in this stage will have more success performing the dig but will not be
consistently accurate and where movement to the ball is required, more errors will
be made. In the autonomous stage, learners can perform the skill fluently with little
mental effort given to technique. They are able to adjust to environmental cues and
give much more thought to how best to use the skill effectively to win points.
5.
Outline the key differences between the performance of skilled players and
beginners.
In contrast to a beginner, a skilled player makes movements which are smooth and
effortless. Their timing is efficient and limb coordination excellent. A skilled athlete
can pick up a wider variety of cues in game play and respond accordingly.
6.
Create a short film of the management procedure for soft-tissue injuries and
hard-issue injuries.
A learner’s weight, height and body composition can make it easier or harder to
learn a skill. For example, a tall player will find it easier to shoot in basketball but
may find a vault run in gymnastics more difficult than a shorter learner. Other
factors such as gender, muscle-fibre composition, information-processing capacity
and aptitude impact can also on the learning process.
7.
Outline the role of feedback in skill acquisition.
Feedback provides information to a learner about their performance. This allows
them to understand where errors are being made in their performance so they can
make corrections to their technique. Feedback can also help motivate learners.
Senior Physical Education for Queensland ISBN 978 0 19 557386 2
© Oxford University Press Australia
8.
Identify technology that can be used to improve the feedback given to athletes.
Technology used to enhance feedback given to learners includes both video
footage and still images. Other high tech equipment such as fitness testing
equipment can also provide feedback to learners about their progressing fitness.
9.
Choose an elite player in any sport and describe the characteristics that athlete
displays as a skilled player.
Roger Federer is a skilled performer who displays fluency, speed and accuracy in
his performance as a tennis player. He consistently knows which shot to make to
win points in game situations and demonstrates excellent technique in all skills.
10.
Explain how USA Diving has tried to make the judging of diving more objective.
USA Diving has attempted to make judging more objective by allocating minimum
scores based on the degree of difficulty of the dive being performed. They have
listed each possible dive with its degree of difficulty score for all divers to see.
11.
Design valid and reliable skills tests that assess a range of skills in a team sport
of your choice.
For this question, any list of reliable and valid tests would be acceptable.
For example, to test a learner’s accuracy in a basketball jump shot, they can be
given 10 shots to be taken from a specific point around the basketball court and
scored on how many they get in.
Senior Physical Education for Queensland ISBN 978 0 19 557386 2
© Oxford University Press Australia