Skill Acquisition & Learning For Performance PT1

Question 1

Outline cognitive skills

Answer 1

-Core abilities of brain demonstrated through your memory, reasoning, attention span, problem solving, thinking, reading & learning
-Help you process info by sending it to correct areas of brain
-Athletes need to quickly analyse situations, make informed decisions & execute them perfectly

Question 2

Outline perceptual skills

Answer 2

-Brain sensory functions enables us to perform activities & make decisions, from simplest to complex
-Different types of perceptual skills - visual skills represent brain’s ability to perceive & understand what eyes see
-In tennis & basketball, performers must adopt their skills to changing environment

Question 3

Outline motor skills

Answer 3

-Muscle movements we use in everyday life, e.g. brushing teeth
-Motor skills = learned abilities
-We acquire motor skills through practise & repetition

Question 4

Outline psychomotor skills

Answer 4

-Represent activities that are primarily movement-oriented
-In teaching, emphasis placed on this movement component, although ultimately in practise, performance requires integration of related knowledges & values

Question 5

Outline the two extremes of movement precision

Answer 5

Fine: Small, accurate movements, with small muscular contractions, e.g. darts
Gross: Large muscular contractions, dynamic movements, e.g. butterfly stroke

Question 6

Outline the two extremes of serial movement continuity

Answer 6

Continuous: movement repeats over & over, e.g. cycling
Discrete: definite beginning & end, e.g. hockey pen flick

Question 7

Outline the two extremes of control of pace

Answer 7

Internal: controlled by performer, they decide rate at which skill is performed, e.g. triple jumper
External: Controlled by other players/factors, e.g. forced into pass in football

Question 8

Outline the extremes of environmental effect

Answer 8

Open: environment directly affects them, e.g. footballer choosing correct pass based of number of defenders in front of them
Closed: environment doesn’t directly affect them, skill is performed same way every time, e.g. javelin

Question 9

Outline the characteristics of the cognitive stage

Answer 9

-Frequent errors
-Leaner has to think about skill & how to execute it
-Require lots of constant feedback
-Demonstration & repetition is key to development
-Most appropriate practise = whole-part-whole, giving sense of context before skill broken down

Question 10

Outline the characteristics of the associative stage

Answer 10

-Largest & longest stage
-Begins to understand requirements of skills & more consistent
-Lots of practise
-As athlete progresses towards next stage errors become less frequent & smaller & can concentrate for longer
-More complex info can be processed & performer can use internal feedback to improve
-Appropriate practise = part practise - supports motivation & focuses on specific skills

Question 11

Outline the characteristics of the autonomous stage

Answer 11

-Few, if any errors that are minor
-Athlete in this stage can think about other aspects of competition & not on skill itself
-Perform skills consistently & effectively without effort
-Able to concentrate on complex tasks & info & able to adapt their performance
-They decide pace of skill & activity & nearly always make correct decisions
-Coach can give detailed feedback & use complex video analysis to refine performance
-Appropriate practise = whole part - requires high attention to skills that can’t be broken down