Skill vs. Ability
The Learning of Motor Skills
Quick Review from 2nd Quarter:
In addition to the five health related areas of fitness, six more parts of physical fitness are considered skill related motor abilities.
1. Agility - change body position quickly (basketball, soccer)
2. Balance- keep upright posture (ice skating, gymnastics)
3. Coordination - use two or more body parts together (baseball, tennis, soccer)
4. Power - use strength quickly (football, shot put, discus, high-jump)
5. Reaction time - time it takes you to move (track, swimming, driving)
6. Speed - move or cover a distance in a short period of time (running)
Fitness
Focus: Skill vs Ability
Any athletic skill is actually a motor skill, which can be defined as a task that has a specific purpose and requires voluntary body movement to be properly performed.
Often, the terms skills and abilities are wrongly used interchangeably. Examples of motor abilities are listed in the review section above and are more genetically determined rather than learned. Skills however, are learned over time in very specific stages.
The Cognitive Stage: This is the beginning stage of skill learning where the learner has many unanswered questions. (ie. Where do I stand? How do I hold the ball? Where should my hands be?) This stage is marked by numerous errors, inconsistent performance and a great deal of repetition is needed.
The Associative Stage: At this stage, many of the basic mechanics of the skill have been learned. The mistakes are fewer, less serious and the performer is able to recognize his/her own mistakes and is aware of how to correct them.
The Autonomous Stage: In this stage the skill has now become habitual or automatic. This stage is only realized after much practice, quality repetition, and experience with the specific skill. (depending on the skill this stage could take years to achieve).
Questions: Answer the following in complete sentences and on a separate sheet of paper.