Skills and Techniques

Skills and Techniques KEY CONCEPT 1 THE CONCEPT OF SKILL AND SKILLED PERFORMANCE In this KEY CONCEPT you examine in detail what a skill is, what makes a skilled performance,how skills are performed using an information processing model, classification of skills And how a MODEL performer can be used to enhance and Develop performance Demonstrator Please!

What is a the difference between a SKILL and a TECHNIQUE? A skill is a movement with a purpose, for example - Shooting, passing,dribbling,tackling etc. A technique is HOW you perform a skill, for example Set shot, jump shot, lay-up, hook shot, slam dunk Skills and techniques vary in difficulty according to their Requirements, your level of ability and your previous Experience

Classification of SKILLS Skills are classified in 3 main ways these are - Open < > Closed Simple < > Complex Discrete < > Continuous

OPEN ----------CLOSED Skills are classed as OPEN if they are performed in UNPREDICTABLE situations For example dribbling past opponents in basketball Skills are classed as CLOSED if they are performed in CONTROLLED situations For example performing a ‘Free throw’ in basketball Most skills have both open and closed elements and occur At different points along the CONTINUUM

SIMPLE --------COMPLEX Skills can also be classified on the CONTINUUM as Either simple Or complex Simple skills have Complex skills have * Little decision making *Much decision making * Little information to be processed *Much information to Be processed * Few subroutines * Many subroutines

DISCRETE CONTINUOUS Skills can be placed along the CONTINUUM between Discrete and continuous Discrete skills have a clear beginning and end – for example Throwing a javelin or a long jump Continuous skills are ongoing in nature – do not have a clear Beginning and end and are repetitive or cyclical movement Patterns – for instance a long distance runner.

What makes a skilled performer? A skilled performer can carry out linked movements with The maximum efficiency Movements are carried out in a fluent, controlled and accurate way Minimum time and effort are required Correct options are selected Skills and techniques are selected which reflect the performers Ability and experience

Questions 1. Describe the difference between a simple skill/technique and a Complex skill/technique 2. Describe the qualities that you would see in a skilled performance. 3. Provide an example and explanation of an activity which contains Both open and closed skills

Information processing model Understanding of how you learn and perform SKILLS can be Increased by studying the information processing model The information processing model contains 4 parts, (Page 59) Input Feedback Decision making Output

Input The first part of the loop is INPUT. This is the Information which you receive from your senses Sight – what you see – where the ball is, where the Opposition is, where your team mates are, where the Basket is etc. Sound – team mates shouting for a pass,giving you Information etc. Feel – the strength of the wind, the underfoot Conditions etc.

Decision Making You then have to make decisions about your performance based On the information you received from your senses – input. You have to separate important information from the less Important information For instance - you see a defender approaching you but you know That you have enough time to shoot the basketball before the Defender arrives – therefore you can ignore the defender, concentrate On the shot and perform it successfully A less skilled performer may see the defender, rush the shot and Be unsuccessful

Output The third part of the loop is OUTPUT This is the way in which you move and how you perform the Skill depending on the decisions you have made

Feedback After you have performed your chosen skill or movement you then Receive information about your performance Information about your performance is called FEEDBACK With this information you can evaluate your performance and Adapt it to help you be more successful in the future. For example – was the pass you made successful – if not why not? This then leads you into the INPUT part of the loop again

Questions Describe in detail the Information Processing Model and discuss It’s relevance to performing and learning skills

KEY CONCEPT 2 Skill and Technique improvement by using Mechanical analysis Movement analysis Consideration of Quality In this KEY CONCEPT you examine in detail how you can collect RELEVANT and DETAILED information about your performance Of a skill or technique You can then use the information gained to create a detailed plan to Improve your performance You can also use this process to review and monitor any Improvement in your performance

Mechanical analysis Mechanical analysis is looking at your performance of a skill or Technique in a MECHANICAL way. MECHANICS is about FORCE, FRICTION, LEVERAGE, PLANES OF MOVEMENT, ETC. Mechanical analysis is often used in activities where the SKILLS are Highly Technical and are often CLOSED skills In our course we rarely use MECHANICAL analysis,but you should Know it exists and understand the basic principles of it

Movement analysis The method of analysing a skill which we use most often is Movement analysis In Movement analysis we break the skill down into 3 parts Action Preparation Recovery Preparation is the movements you make BEFORE you perform the SKILL Action is the movements you make AS you perform the SKILL Recovery is the movements you make AFTER you perform the SKILL

MOVEMENT ANALYSIS This is a useful way to examine your performance of a skill or Technique in many different activities By analysing skills in this way it is possible to discover which parts Of the skill/technique require improvement It is then possible to design an improvement programme to Improve the aspects of the skill/technique which have been Identified as weak

Movement analysis The method of ANALYSING SKILLS which we use most Often is MOVEMENT ANALYSIS. See handout

Question Higher Past Paper 2004 • Mechanical analysis, movement analysis and consideration of • Quality are regarded as being useful methods when analysing • Performance in the area of skills and techniques • Choose an activity. Describe , in detail, the method • Of analysis you used to gather information about your • Performance of ONE selected skill or technique (4)

Key Concept 3 & The development of SKILL The refinement of TECHNIQUE In this KEY CONCEPT you examine in detail The different STAGES of skill learning Principles of EFFECTIVE practice METHODS of practice Motivation, concentration and feedback

Stages of Skill Learning There are 3 important stages when learning and developing skills These are Preparation stage Practice stage Automatic stage

Preparation (Cognitive) stage During the preparation stage you find out WHAT the skill involves You find out what the parts of the skill are - SUBROUTINES and You make your first attempts at learning/performing each part At this stage errors are likely to be common and so you will Need advice, encouragement, and perhaps support to avoid Injuries. Positive feedback will help you to improve and Remain motivated

Practice(Associative) Stage During the practice stage you link together all the required SUB – ROUTINES of the skill Your ability, experience and the difficulty of the skill you are Learning will determine the amount of practice time required Simple skills will require less practice and consolidation than Complex skill Gradually appropriate practice will reduce the number of mistakes Made during performance The METHOD of practice you will use will differ according to the skill being practiced

Automatic (Autonomous) stage By this stage most sub – routines have become automatic As a result you do not need to think about them You can now concentrate on other aspects of your performance Other than the skill which you can now perform AUTOMATICALLY You can now think about other things like – where your team mates Are, what the best option is etc. At the AUTOMATIC stage errors are less likely and you can Concentrate on more detailed aspects of your performance

Question Describe, in detail, the three stages of skill learning and Explain how you went through this process in the learning of ONE skill from an activity of your choice.

Methods of Practice When developing SKILLS and TECHNIQUES you can use a number Of different METHODS OF PRACTICE The most regularly used METHODS of PRACTICE are 1.Solo/shadow/partner/group 2.Opposed/Unopposed 3. Gradual build up 4. Repetition/drills 5. Whole - Part - Whole 6. Conditioned/Small sided/Coached games 7. Massed(Continuous) / Distributed(Spaced)

Solo/shadow/partner/group Practices can be done in different sized groupings You can perform practices On your own – SOLO eg. Movement practice in Badminton Mirroring or copying another person – SHADOWING eg. Copying the movement patterns of a MODEL performer Work with another person – PARTNER eg. One person feeds the other performs the skill Work with more than one other person – GROUP Eg. Group of 5 practicing passing in a circle Increasing the number of people in the practice session may be A useful way of increasing the difficulty of the practice - PROGRESSION

Opposed/unopposed Varying the degree of opposition in a practice is a useful way of Making a practice meaningful and avoiding practice which is inappropriate It can also be used to increase the level of difficulty of a practice - PROGRESSION Practices can often be performed with PASSIVE opposition ACTIVE opposition NO opposition Performing a practice with NO opposition may be suited to the early Stages of learning a SKILL – PREPARATION STAGE Practicing with PASSIVE opposition may be suited to the middle Stages of learning a SKILL – PRACTICE STAGE Practicing with ACTIVE opposition may be suited to the final Stage of learning a SKILL – AUTOMATIC STAGE It is important that your partner knows which level of opposition They are expected to provide

Gradual build up Gradual build up is a useful method for learning COMPLEX skills - amount of information to be processed - number of decisions to be made - number of subroutines to be learned - amount of co-ordination required - environment in which skill is to be performed - accuracy and speed of decision making etc. It is also a useful method of learning skills which have an element Of RISK By using GRADUAL BUILD UP you can learn a skill in stages BIT BY BIT By doing this you can make the practice more demanding in small Stages. If these small stages are realistic and achievable then this method of learning skills can produce a high level of CONFIDENCE

Repetition / drills During practice it can be productive to repeat an action many times You may practice the whole skill or smaller parts of the skill over and over The intention is to GROOVE the technique so that all the parts of the Skill ( sub routines) work well together This type of practice works best with fairly CLOSED, COMPLEX skills Drills are routines or sequences of movements that are designed to give You the opportunity to repeat a skill or technique Eg. Set shot > rebound > pass. Drills can also be made more game–like and therefore more demanding And pressurised - PROGRESSION (See P. 71)

Whole / part / whole This method of practicing skills is often used when you already have Some experience of the activity You need to be able to perform a version of the whole skill already You can then use whole-part-whole to refine parts of the skill Which need improved before attempting the whole skill again After analysing the skill using Movement analysis You identify which PARTS OF THE SKILL are weak and you Can then practice these parts in isolation before putting them Back into the full skill Skills which allow parts of the performance to be SEPERATED Are most suited to this method of learning eg. Lay- up in Basketball. Whole-part-whole works less well with continuous skills as it is Difficult to isolate parts of these skills eg. Handspring in gymnastics

Conditioned /small sided/coached games When you are learning and developing OPEN skills using a ‘Games like ’situation can be a useful method to use This can allow you to refine and develop skills in a more Demanding and realistic situation

Conditioned games Conditioned games can take many forms. Often Conditioned games Are used to provide one side with an advantage This makes achieving tasks or successfully performing skills easier For example if you play 5v3 in Basketball the attacking side has a Numerical advantage and will therefore have more attacking options, More passes available, and more shooting opportunities. 5v3 could also be used to make defensive duties more difficult and could be used to put extra pressure on defensive skills like closing down attackers, blocking shots, and winning rebounds You can also change the formal rules of the game to emphasise through The game particular skills or techniques that you have been working on For example if you had been practicing Drop shots in Badminton you Could encourage the use of the Drop shot in the game by awarding Extra points for any rally which is won by successfully performing A Drop shot

Small sided games Reducing the number of players in a team can be a useful way of For improving performance Reducing the number of players in a team gives each player MORE Opportunities to practice skills and techniques in a realistic, Games like situation The MORE times you practice skills and techniques in a demanding Games like situation the better your performance will be when you are Required to perform these skills in a real game under real pressure to Perform successfully

Coached games While playing a real game the coach/teacher may wish to interrupt The game to emphasise a particular point Often this interruption or ‘Coaching’ will be to highlight something In the game which the coach/teacher considers necessary to Improve performance For instance the coach may interrupt your game of Badminton To emphasise improvements to your shot placement, performance Of a technique etc. This ‘Coaching’ can only be done in certain circumstances Opportunities to coach in ‘Real’ games are limited by rules Eg. Time outs in Basketball, Technical area in Football etc

Massed / Distributed The demands of different skills and activities influence whether Practice is best done on a Massed – continuous basis or Distributed – spaced basis Massed practice may be most suited to Continuous skills Where the performer has a high level of MOTIVATION Where practicing until TIRED or FATIGUED would be beneficial Continuous / massed practice can be useful as it can reproduce The situation where it is necessary to perform skills when fatigued such as may occur in the later stages of a physically demanding game

Massed / Distributed Distributed or ‘spaced’ practice would be best suited to a complex, Closed, discrete skill or technique Eg. A Backflip in Gymnastics In techniques such as this there is a danger of injury or failure If you become too tired Therefore few practice attempts interspersed with longer Rest or Recovery periods would ensure the best progress

Questions 1. Give an example of a method of practice which would be suited to the development of a complex skill. Give a detailed description Of how you developed a complex skill in your course using this method of practice 2. Discuss how the activities in your course could be adapted to Improve certain skills within each activity

Principles of EFFECTIVE practice There are 3 main principles of EFFECTIVE practice 1. Clear Objectives ( Targets) 2. Work to Rest Ratio 3. Progression

Clear Objectives For your practice to be effective you should set clear objectives (Targets) This will take into consideration your present STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES What aspects of your performance you are trying to improve Your present level of performance compared to a MODEL performer The targets should be PROGRESSIVE ACHIEVABLE REALISTIC

Work To Rest Ratio In all practices you need to calculate the RATIO of WORK to REST Working out this RATIO is one of the KEY issues in making the skill Training SPECIFIC to your NEEDS The RATIO depends on Your previous EXPERIENCE in the activity Your level of ABILITY The COMPLEXITY of the SKILL The PHYSICAL DEMANDS of the ACTIVITY Get the WORK to REST RATIO wrong then you could become either TIRED or BORED When you are TIRED or BORED then your SKILL LEVEL will DROP This is exactly the OPPOSITE to the desired outcome

Progression To ensure that your practices are meaningful to your current level Of performance you must make your practices Harder As your level of PERFORMANCE improves This is known as - PROGRESSION You must make sure your practices are suitably demanding at all times Apply the PRINCPLE OF PROGRESSION to all your practices HIGH QUALITY PRACTICE for a SHORT time is better than Repetitive, low quality practice for a longer period of time

Question When designing a training programme to improve your skill level In an activity you must take into consideration principles of effective Practice. State what you understand to be principles of effective practice And give details of how you used these principles when practicing a Skill from an activity in your course.

Motivation Motivation is your level of DESIRE to SUCCEED YOU need to be MOTIVATED in order to IMPROVE Your PEFORMANCE There are 2 types of MOTIVATION INTERNAL MOTIVATION EXTERNAL MOTIVATON

Internal Motivation This is your own level of desire to succeed. If you are interested in the activity then you are far more likely To improve and make progress in your performance It would be impossible to achieve a high level of performance if You did not have a high level of INTERNAL MOTIVATION

External motivation External motivation is when your desire to improve your Level of performance is for reasons apart from your internal Desire to succeed Examples of external motivation are MONEY MEDALS/TROPHIES FAME It is rare to have only external motivation More often it is a combination of INTERNAL and EXTERNAL motivation

Optimum level of Motivation Every one has an OPTIMUM level of MOTIVATION Top performers are used to, and can DEVELOP their ability to MOTIVATE themselves to the OPTIMUM level for a ‘SPECIAL’ performance If your level of MOTIVATION is too LOW Then your level of PERFORMANCE will also be LOW If your level of MOTIVATION is too HIGH Then your PERFORMANCE can also be AFFECTED

Concentration A high level of performer is able to pay full attention, To CONCENTRATE fully on the most IMPORTANT parts of the INPUT A weak performer finds it difficult to decide between IMPORTANT Parts of the INPUT and less important input This is known as - SELECTIVE CONCENTRATION.

Feedback Feedback is INFORMATION you receive about your PERFORMANCE There are two main types of feedback INTERNAL EXTERNAL Internal feedback is concerned with awareness of MOVEMENT This is the FEELING of different parts of the action It is also known as KINAESTHETIC FEEDBACK EXTERNAL feedback comes in a variety of forms VISUAL VERBAL WRITTEN

Skills and Techniques