PE Live It Up

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Learning and
improving skill
OUTCOME 1
Explain the application of biomechanical and skill
learning principles in analysing how motor skills are
learnt and improved.
OUTCOME 2
Identify and evaluate a range of coaching practices
that lead to enhanced sports performance.
CHAPTER 1
LEARNING PHYSICAL SKILLS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 1
Learning physical skills
As you read this page, you are using a skill you have
learned. As you turn the page, or write some notes,
you are executing other learned skills. It is likely
that your trip to school involves running for the bus,
riding a bike or walking. You perform skills every
day, and your ability to successfully perform these
skills significantly affects how you progress through
life. It is important to realise that skills development
is a lifelong process, and all people can improve some
aspect of a chosen activity.
This chapter focuses on skills in sporting and recreational pursuits for example, throwing, catching,
kicking and striking, along with more complex skills
such as determining strategies and making decisions
in a competitive situation and how those skills are
learned.
Understanding different types of skills and skill
development will allow you to improve your skill
level, analyse performers skills when you observe
them and teach a skill to someone else.
In this chapter you will be presented also with the
theory of how people are able to learn physical skills.
Mental processing of information is necessary

before any physical action is possible; the action produced depends on the sense organs and their ability
to detect information. The body must not only detect
information from the environment but also interpret
that informations meaning and, in so doing, use it to
construct a physical response.
The environment provides a learner with a huge
amount of information. Only some information is
relevant to successfully learning physical skills. The
human brain has developed strategies that allow it
to recognise important information and ignore unimportant or redundant information. These strategies
help the body make physical responses accurately
and in less time.
Being able to remember important information
concerning performance, as well as having past
physical experience, will help a learner to adapt to
different situations and learn new, more complex
skills. Coaching and skills practice will reinforce technique and improve performance, and eventually the
learner will master the skill.
Assessment tasks
Topics
Page
Written reports
Classification of skills (activity 1)

Teaching a physical skill (activity 3)
10
13
Test
Review questions
43
Oral presentation
Physical maturity and learning (activity 7)
17
Laboratory reports
Stages of learning (activity 5)

Reaction time (activity 13)
Types of practice (activity 16)
15
33
41
Data analyses
Selective attention (activity 11)

Chunking and memory (activity 12)
28
30
Case study analyses
Factors affecting learning (activity 6)

Learning a physical skill (activity 8)
Using the senses to detect cues (activity 9)
16
20
21
Multimedia presentations
Elements of skill learning (activity 4)

Swinger (activity 15)
14
38
Reports on participation
in physical activity
Classification of skills (activity 2)

Signal detection (activity 10)
Feedback (activity 14)
11
22
36
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:

identify sub-routines that make up a motor
program for a specific sporting skill
identify perceptual motor abilities and physical
proficiency abilities present in elite athletes.
describe the factors that affect skill learning
and performance
describe the effects of the single channel
hypothesis on processing time
explain the differences between the bodys
information storage areas (SSTS, STM
and LTM) and outline how information
is transferred from the environment
to the long term memory
explain the role of feedback for the learner
and how a coach can use different types
of feedback effectively
analyse the stages of learning

and how to best instruct performers
in each of the stages
analyse the factors that affect
reaction time and how the psychological
refractory period can be used to a performers
advantage
analyse the different methods
of practice and when to use them
in the learning situation
outline the classifications of skills,
using sporting examples to demonstrate
application of these classifications
outline the mechanisms that are responsible
for processing and performance of a physical
skill.
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Assessment tasks
Introduction
Skill, skill acquisition and skilled performance play a significant role in the
ability of an individual to successfully cope with and adapt to daily life.
People use skills to reach desired outcomes in all aspects of life. Humans
are conditioned to learn and extend their skill level and range of competencies. A young baby is encouraged to learn to crawl and speak as quickly as
possible; an adolescent is encouraged to develop reading and writing skills;
young adults learn to drive and further their work skills. People constantly
learn and apply skills that are essential to surviving in modern society.
The skills used and learned in sporting activities are as numerous as those
in daily life. You need an endless variety of skills to participate successfully
in your chosen sport or physical activity. The skill may be as simple as the
finger release of an archers bow, or as complex as a whole body movement when swimming butterfly. Your activity level during the performance
may involve nothing but the execution of a specific movement such as
the delivery of a lawn bowl, or you may have to deal with an opponent,
weather conditions and space restrictions such as an attempt to make a
penalty save in the soccer goal.
How do we define skill? Is it possible to classify skills into groups? What
methods do we use to teach skills? How do we decide whether someone
can successfully complete a skill? This chapter discusses these questions
and more. It is designed to help you understand the following major skill
acquisition concepts:
1. definitions of skill and motor ability
2. classification of skills
3. stages in learning a skill and the ability to distinguish between a basic
skill and a mastered skill
4. man as an information processor
5. transfer of learning through memory
6. mental and physical practice
7. the use of feedback in the development of physical skills.
You will have opportunities during this chapter to use the theoretical
information provided to help your practical teaching and learning skills.
Classification of a skill
Definition of skill and motor skill
What is meant by skill? It has already been noted that skill varies between
activities, and that skill in one sport does not guarantee skilled performance
in all sports. However, some common characteristics of a skilled performance are defined in the Macquarie Study Dictionary: skill [is] the ability
that comes from knowledge, practice, aptitude, etc., to do something well.
The logical progression from that definition is to discuss individual skills
in a performance, or motor skills. A motor skill is either part of a movement or a group of movements that produces a desired outcome when
performed in a sequence. It is any activity involved in moving the body, or
at least some body parts, to achieve a specific pre-determined goal. (B. Abernathy, chapter 6, Better coaching advanced coaches manual, 1991).
Skill can therefore be used to describe a particular sporting action such as
a smash in badminton, or equally, skill can be used to describe how well the
action was performed, such as describing Alicia Molik as a skilled tennis
player. Either way, there are common features to both definitions; they both
consistently achieve their desired aims, are coordinated in their movements,
seem to use the minimum of effort and have time to produce an action and
are a product of hours of practice.
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It is important to determine the difference between a basic motor skill

and a skilled performance: hitting a tennis ball against a wall using your
hand is a basic motor skill but hitting a forehand across court from the
baseline in a rally is a skilled performance. The difference is that a basic
motor skill does not necessarily involve the coordination of muscle groups
as a permanent part of the performers repertoire, whereas a skilled performance is achieved by practised, efficient changes in the coordination of the
muscle groups.
Figure 1.1:
The skills and movements needed
in a sprint start are much more
complicated and technical than the
actions of a person starting to run
for the bus.
Motor programs
A series of motor skills can be put together to make up a motor program.
A motor program is an organised set of individual motor skills (or subroutines) that result in the correct production of a specific skill. Success of a
motor program is dependent on the individual motor skills being placed in
the correct order or sequence and with the correct timing between each subroutine. The more sub-routines that make up a motor program, the more
difficult or complex the skill will be to learn.
1. Motor program
Hockey push
2. Motor skills or
sub-routine
Figure 1.2
A motor program indicating the
individual sub-routines for the
execution of a push in hockey
Grip
Stance
Lunge
Sticksweep
Contact
with ball
Follow
through
Stick
check
Motor ability
You will have noticed that some people seem to pick up new skills more
quickly than others. It seems these people have been born with some sort of
natural ability that allows them to learn and develop new skills more successfully than others. Golf is a perfect example of this. A group of learners
will have a large variation in their ability ranging from missing the golf
ball completely, to being able to hit the ball into the air in a straight line.
It seems that some people are born with greater natural ability in some
sports than others. According to Magill (2004) motor ability is an ability
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that is specifically related to the performance of a motor skill. If two people

have the same type and amount of training in a particular sport, but differ
in their motor abilities needed to play tennis, for example, the player with
the higher ability will have the potential to be the better player and play
more advanced tennis.
Researchers have not been able to agree upon whether motor ability is
general in nature, whereby the athlete has a number of different motor
abilities that are highly related, or that the many different motor abilities
possessed by an athlete are independent of each other.
Human performance psychologist, Edwin Fleishman, identified a taxonomy of motor abilities that could be applied to a variety of motor skills.
These abilities can be divided into two categories: perceptual motor abilities
and physical proficiency abilities. Table 1.1 outlines both the perceptual and
physical proficiency abilities thought to exist in all athletes.
Table 1.1
Perceptual and physical
abilities
1. Physical proficiency abilities

Static strength
The maximum force that a person can exert

against an external object
Dynamic strength The muscular endurance used in exerting a force

repeatedly
Explosive strength The ability to mobilise energy effectively for bursts
of muscular effort
Trunk strength
The strength of the trunk muscles
Extent flexibility
The ability to flex or stretch the trunk and back

muscles
Dynamic
flexibility
The ability to make repeated, rapid trunk-flexing

movements
Gross body
coordination
The ability to coordinate the action of several parts

of the body while the body is in motion
Gross body
equilibrium
The ability to maintain balance without visual

cues
Stamina
The capacity to sustain maximum effort requiring

cardiovascular effort
2. Perceptual motor abilities
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Multilimb
coordination
Ability to coordinate movements of a number of

limbs simultaneously
Control precision
Ability to make rapid and precise movement

adjustments of control involving arm-hand
or leg movements
Response
orientation
Ability to make a rapid selection of controls to be

moved or the direction to move them in
Reaction time
Ability to respond rapidly to a signal

when it appears
Speed of arm
movement
Ability to rapidly make a gross, discrete arm

movement where accuracy is minimised
Rate control
Ability to time continuous anticipatory movements

or adjustments in response to speed and/or
direction changes of a moving target
Manual dexterity
Ability to make skilful arm movements to

manipulate fairly large objects under speed
conditions
Finger dexterity
Ability to make skilful, controlled manipulations of

tiny objects primarily involving the fingers
Arm-hand
steadiness
Ability to make precise arm-hand positioning

movements where strength and speed are
minimised
Wrist, finger
speed
Ability to make rapid and repetitive movements

with the hand and fingers, and/or rotatory wrist
movements when accuracy is not critical
Aiming
Ability to rapidly and accurately move the hand to

a small target.
Source:
Magill, R.A. 2004, Motor learning and control. Concepts and applications,
McGraw Hill, 2004 pp. 434.
Classification of motor skills

The individual skills making up a skilled performance come in all forms.
Are the skills involved in bowling off-spin the same as those for fast bowling
in cricket? Does shooting from the free throw line in basketball involve the
same skills as performing a fade-away jump shot under heavy pressure
from an opponent? How do the skills of fencing compare to the skills used
in a gymnastics routine? To assist in the understanding of these comparisons, researchers of skills acquisition categorise types of skills.
Grouping motor skills is difficult because sports involve a huge range of
skills; groupings are based on shared characteristics, while also considering
the environment in which the skill is performed and the nature of the relationship between the movements, the performer and the environment. The
environment in which the activity is performed can have a huge impact on
the way in which the skill is to be performed. The presence of opponents is
an environmental factor in all team sports, as is the movement of the ball
through the air in baseball or the roll of the wave in surfing. These factors
can cause the performer to modify his or her motor program to suit the
situation.
Motor skills can be classified to help determine how specific skills can be
learned, as well as providing coaches with information about how to teach
that particular skill. Classification is based on:
the environment in which the skill is to be performed
the amount of physical effort required to perform the skill successfully
the type of movement required to execute the skill.
Closed and open motor skills

Figure 1.3:
Elite ten-pin bowlers can
practise their delivery action in a
controlled, stable environment.
Closed motor skills are performed in a predictable environment where

there are no interruptions or changes in the surroundings, for example
in ten-pin bowling. The skill being performed is often a static one where
there is little movement observed such as a stationary softball on a
T-stand in T ball, and is internally paced. The athlete often tries to replicate
CHAPTER 1
the exact movement each time in a closed skill, for example, a gymnast tries
to perform the exact same vault with perfect form, or a golfer with his or
her swing when teeing off.
Open motor skills are performed in an environment that is constantly
changing and is externally paced, for example, the changing proximity of an
opponent, the changing speed and height of a wave in surfing or the varying
speed of a ball in hockey. These changes force the performer to adapt his or
her basic motor skills.
Figure 1.4:
A spectacular manoeuvre on top of a wave gives Mick Fanning maximum
competition points a reward for adapting his surfing skills to the
variable wave conditions.
Closed/open skill continuum

Not all sports skills, whether classified as closed or open, are identical in their
ease or difficulty of execution. Some skills can be classed as more closed than
others. For example, ten-pin bowling is more closed than archery as it does
not have external wind conditions to contend with. Equally, netball seems
much more on the open scale than windsurfing. The netballer must contend
with the unpredictability of both opponents and teammates, whereas the
windsurfer has no one else to consider, but must respond to the different
wind conditions. It is clear that most sports and skills lie somewhere along a
continuum, with closed and open skills being at each end of the continuum.
Indeed, the same skill can vary in its position along the continuum depending
on circumstances. For example, practising batting using a T-stand is a more
closed skill than facing a pitched ball from a ball machine which, in turn, is
more closed than facing a pitcher on the mound.
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closed
open
Figure 1.5:
Open/closed continuum
Closed skills are simpler to learn as they are predictable and lack
the external pacing of open skills. This means that the learner can concentrate on the skill components or sub-routines themselves, without
having to worry about where their teammates or opponents are.
In addition to this, the learner can perform the skill in their own time,
learning the correct sequence and timing of the motor program. Open skills
should be closed down as much as possible for beginners so that they
have more control over the skill they are practising and focus only on the
production of the skill itself.
As skill development progresses, the learner should practise the skill
in situations that more closely resemble the game situation. This is called
opening up the skill and is essential if the athlete is to correctly and effectively apply the skills in the real game. For example, the beginner tennis
player should first drop the ball and hit it over the net. Once mastered then
the coach could hit the ball to the learner while they practise their forehand.
The next stage would be to hit forehands from a tennis ball machine. The
final stage of learning would have the athlete hitting forehands randomly
to a variety of positions from all corners of the court. In this way they are
mimicking the demands of the real game.
Figure 1.6:
Performers exhibiting
open and closed skills
CHAPTER 1
Key knowledge
Skill learning principles
such as stages of learning,
factors affecting skill learning
(for example, types of skills,
stages of learning, transfer
and mental practice),
information processing
systems and the provision
and use of feedback in
enhancing performance
Activity 1
Written report
Classification of physical skills

Examine the photographs in figure 1.6.
1. Which images are examples of open and closed skills?
2. For each activity, what characteristics of the movements involved
justify your classification?
3. A continuum is a line with two open ends, like a number line.
The two extreme descriptors indicate the most open or the most
closed examples used:
CLOSED
Key skill
Describe skill learning
principles using the
correct terminology.
OPEN
Delivering a lawn bowl would be at the closed end of the

continuum, for example, and making a save in water polo
would be towards the open end of the continuum.
Copy the above continuum into your workbook,
then make a list of open and closed skills along the line.
Fine and gross motor skills

Skills can also be classified according to the number of muscles or muscle
groups involved in the activity. The two major groups are fine and gross
motor skills. Fine motor skills involve the cooperative use of small
muscle groups and the senses of sight and touch (visual motor tracking).
The performer must also balance the use of force and fine touch control.
Examples include writing by hand and typing on a keyboard, or shooting
in archery.
Gross motor skills involve a combination of large muscle actions that
results in a coordinated movement. Examples include skipping, folk dancing,
throwing, hitting, kicking, catching and tumbling in gymnastics.
Many sporting activities combine fine and gross motor skills, so fine
motor skills may indirectly improve. Spin bowling, for example, involves
large gross movements but also requires the precise manipulation of the
ball by the spinning fingers.
Discrete, continuous and serial skills

Another method of classifying skills is to determine whether the phases of
movements are discrete and/or serial, or continuous.
Discrete skills involve movements of brief duration, and they are easily
defined by a distinct beginning and end, for example, a throw, kick or
catch.
Serial skills are a series or group of discrete skills strung together to
create a more complicated, skilled action. The duration of the activities
is prolonged but each individual movement in the series has a definite
beginning and end. Examples include performing a gymnastics routine or
dodging your opponent, leading to the ball, jumping to catch the ball and
throwing the ball to a team-mate in netball.
A continuous skill has no distinct beginning or end. These movements
may continue for several minutes, often involving tracking movements.
Examples include swimming, running, pedalling a bicycle or steering a car
(a tracking movement).
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Figure 1.7:
Swimming is an example of a
continuous skill.
Motor skills
Open
Closed
Fine
Gross
Discrete
Continuous
Serial
Changing
environment
Constant
environment
Small muscle
groups
Combined
actions
Brief
movement
Flowing
movements
Complicated
action
Externally
paced
Replicaton
of skill
Control of
touch
Coordinated
movement
Beginning
and end
No beginning
and end
Combination
of discrete
skills
Adaptation
of skill
required
Key knowledge
Key skill
Figure 1.8:
Summary of skill classifications
Activity 2
Report on participation in
physical activity
Classification of skills
1. Participate in a sports tabloid comprising eight different sports
skills from different sports. Afterwards, brainstorm for a few
minutes about the physical skills you used during the tabloid.
2. Draw up a table allocating a column to each of the skill
classifications, then list the tabloid skills in the relevant columns.
Do any skills fall in two categories?
If yes, explain why this occurs.
3. Name some different activities you participate in during
your recreation time. What are some of the different activities in
which you are a novice, beginner, competent performer or expert?
What are two or three skills that are important for each activity?
Classify these skills.
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11
Stages of learning
A coach or teacher needs to consider various aspects of a skill when
teaching it. A novice performer needs to be guided through the many steps
of learning a skill to become a skilled performer. The progression, step by
step from beginner to advanced performer is continuous. The progression
indicates that skills have been acquired and that learning has indeed taken
place. When a permanent change in the way our muscles coordinate to
produce skilled movement takes place, we can confidently say that motor
skill learning has taken place.
There are three recognised stages of learning that each beginner must
pass through to achieve mastery of a motor skill. Each stage has distinct
characteristics. However, all stages require practice. The learner must
physically and mentally practise the motor skill in order to learn it.
Cognitive (what to do) stage

The cognitive stage involves the novice performer, who generally makes
many errors that produce highly variable results. The athlete or performer needs to know what equipment is needed and forms a rough
mental picture of the movement patterns required. They should be shown
the correct technique for the motor skill so that they can recognise the
sub-routines required to complete the skill. This should be done by
way of repeated demonstration by the coach, an experienced player or
even by showing a video. Correct sequencing and timing of the subroutines will not happen immediately. Many errors will be made throughout
this stage as learners become aware that they are making errors but
cannot isolate the specific problems; feedback and simple instruction
are required to help them make appropriate changes. However, the coach or
teacher should provide only a limited amount of information and encourage
clear thinking, preventing information overload and frustration.
The learner will spend a relatively short period of time in this stage of
learning. Improvement is usually rapid as all the learner is really trying to
achieve is an understanding of the basic skill itself. Hours of practice will
follow this understanding to refine the skill so that it can be effectively
used within the competitive situation.
Associative (practice) stage

Once a performer grasps the mechanics of the skill and can execute
that skill with few frequent errors, he or she has entered the associative
stage of learning. Characteristics of this stage include minor errors
and an emphasis on refining the skill rather than establishing
new movement sequences. The athlete or performer has a feel
for the desirable actions and can make minor adjustments to their
movement from their own feedback. The coach should continue to use
demonstrations to help modify the skill and can use increasingly more
specific feedback to achieve improvement. They should open the skill
up during this stage of learning so that the skills are practised in a
more game like setting. In this way the player can learn to modify
the basic skill to fit differing match requirements. Improvement during
this stage is gradual, but practising of the correct movement patterns is
essential for performers at this stage in order to advance to the third and
final stage.
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Key knowledge
stages of learning, transfer and
mental practice), information
processing systems and the
provision and use of feedback
in enhancing performance
Ways in which skill levels
vary from beginner through
to the skilled elite athlete
Key skill
Describe skill learning principles
using the correct terminology.
Activity 3
Written report
Teaching a physical skill

Divide the class into pairs. Each pair selects an activity
(such as juggling, throwing with the opposite hand, skipping), then
decides who is going to be the coach and who is going to be the learner.
1. Complete a plan for teaching the selected activity.
The plan should include:
important phases or components of the skill
teaching points and feedback for both open and closed
environments (using table 1.2)
activities and practice requirements that the learner must complete
a series of skill competency pre- and post-tests.
2. Over a two-week period, the coach must teach the learner the skill
and observe the effectiveness of the plan.
3. Prepare a written report, including the activity, the plan, your
observations and conclusions about the effectiveness of your coaching.
Autonomous stage
An athlete or performer at the autonomous stage consistently achieves the
desired result without consciously thinking about the separate sub-routines
of skill production. Their movement responses are automatic and they pay
more attention to improving specific components of the actions, as well as
paying attention to when to use a particular skill within the game situation.
Skill improvement is still important, but the focus is also on factors such
as shot selection, tactics and responses to competitive situations. It is practice in the competitive situation that is crucial in this stage of learning. The
individual performer is able to identify problems and adjust appropriately,
whether during practice or in a competitive situation. Athletes who reach
this stage, usually remain in it, although they never stop learning. As new
tactics and styles of play are devised the autonomic performer must continuously refine his or her motor program to match the new conditions of play.
The coach or teacher must know when the athlete or performer moves
from one stage of learning to the next, and that the transition between stages
is not simply a one-way street. Coaches must know also how to train individuals in different stages (see table 1.2 ).
It is important to realise that athletes may return to the associative stage
of learning to relearn a particular skill in their technique. For example, Peter
Lonard, the Australian golfer, returned to the associative stage of learning
when he changed his putting style to use the new broomstick putter.
An athlete or performer at the autonomous stage:
performs in a smooth and unhurried manner
makes appropriate decisions both rapidly and accurately
acts with maximum efficiency and apparently with little attention
and effort
copes with the demands of both speed and accuracy in decision making
is consistent and adaptable in producing movement
pays more attention to higher order skills such as reading
the game and identifying the position of team mates and opponents.
It is true that great players make it look easy, but that ease is generally
the result of hours of quality practice, coaching and experience. A skilled
performer can make performance seem easy because his or her skill level:
maximises the chance of success
minimises the energy expenditure during the performance
minimises the time taken to complete the task.
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13
Table 1.2
Methods of
teaching skills
Performer
standard
Stage
of learning Tips to enhance learning
Beginner
Cognitive
stage
Beginner/
Associative
intermediate stage
Advanced
Break skill into basic components.

Introduce each component separately.
Stress correct techniques and repetitive
skill development drills.
Encourage proper use of equipment
and individual styles (if in line with
basic components).
Ensure demonstrations are accurate.
Create a safe practice environment.
Link individual movements or skills.
Structure practice sessions to encourage skill
development and enjoyment.
Stress techniques but gradually introduce rules,
strategies and competition-like situations.
Consistently positively reinforce learners.
Use video analysis to help learners visualise
their good and poor techniques.
Autonomous Provide practice in match or

stage
competition conditions.
Improve performers mental approach
to tasks by training them in concentration
and strategy development.
Allow learners to monitor their own
performances and give feedback.
Fine tune techniques by using advanced drills.
Use video analysis.
Source:
Abernathy, B. 2001, Better coaching advanced coaches manual,
Australian Sports Commission, p. 164.
Key knowledge
factors affecting skill
learning (for example, types
of skills, stages of learning,
transfer and mental practice),
Key skill
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Activity 4
Multimedia presentation
Elements of skill learning

Analyse an elite performance using a video analysis software
package such as Swinger, Dartfish video analysis, Logger Pro,
or any video of an elite sports performer in action.
1. Present to the class the elements that make it a skilled
performance. Important considerations are body position,
footwork, anticipation and control of movements.
2. Watch students in the class perform a particular skill involved
in the same type of performance. Outline their various stages
of learning and differences or similarities compared with the
video performance.
Key knowledge
Activity 5
Laboratory report
Stages of learning
The aim of this laboratory is to investigate if learning
has taken place as a result of practising a rebound throw
from a target using your non-preferred hand.
Throwing
task
Key skill
5m
2m
3m
Figure 1.9:
Rebounding a tennis ball to a target using the non-dominant hand
Please note, no practice is permitted before the actual laboratory as it

may result in learning prior to the collection of data.
Equipment required
tennis balls
square paper or cardboard target of approximately 50 cm x 50 cm.
Method
Trial 1
Place the target on a wall at a height of approximately 2 metres.
Place a line on the ground 2 metres from the wall.
Place a second line on the ground 5 metres from the wall.
As demonstrated in figure 1.9, stand behind the 5-metre line and
bounce the tennis ball between yourself and the 2-metre line so
that it hits the target on the wall.
Bounce the ball 10 times and record how many times you
successfully hit the target. You score one point for each successful
hit. Average your result over the 10 trials.
Collect data from the other members of the class.
Graph the averages for each of your classmates.
Following this trial, have 20 practice trials, but do not record any of
the results.
Trial 2
Repeat the 10 trials set out in Trial 1.
Record your classmates results and graph the averages.
Discussion
1. Compare and contrast the class results for trials 1 and 2.
2. Hypothesise reasons for any perceived differences in the results
across the two trials.
3. Discuss the stages in learning evident in this activity.
4. Did learning occur between trials 1 and 2? Discuss.
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15
Factors affecting skill learning

The stages of learning discussed earlier are theoretical stages based
on the results of studies and tests over many decades of research into
skill acquisition. Ideally, all people who learn skills develop according
to these stages: a novice pianist, a netballer or a lacrosse player would
gradually progress through the stages and attain a high skill level. However,
not all people are able to perform all skills at an elite level. Some people, for
a variety of reasons, cannot progress to the autonomous stage of learning.
Each individual has his or her own capacity to learn. Many factors affect
how people learn, their capacity to learn and, ultimately, their potential
for performance. The rate at which you learn depends on factors such as
the complexity of the skill being learned, your past experience with that
or a similar skill, and your motivation at the time of learning. Even your
own physical abilities such as coordination, balance, speed and agility
influence your capacity to learn.
Learning can be affected by the following factors, all of which contribute
to making the learning experience very personal and individual:
physical maturation
physical fitness capability
attention or motivation while learning
feedback
memory
amount and type of practice
perceptual ability.
Key knowledge
Key skill
Activity 6
Case study analysis
Factors affecting learning

Choose a learning situation from a sport of your choice,
for example, the first time you tried to jump the high jump
or complete a freestyle tumble turn.
1. List the physical steps you followed to learn the skill.
Example
To throw a softball:
hold the ball in your fingers, touching the top of the palm
stand side on to the target
put the opposite foot forward
keep your feet shoulder width apart
extend your throwing arm behind you
bring your throwing arm forward, bending it as it comes past
the body
keep throwing hand above shoulder height
step forward with the same leg after you release the ball.
2. What types of practice did you complete to learn the skill?
3. Did you learn the skill quickly? Why or why not?
Physical maturation
As children grow physically and develop, their bodies are capable of more
coordinated and refined movements. Therefore, performance will improve
with the appropriate level of physical maturity.
16
LIVE IT UP 1
Figure 1.10:
Physical maturation can account
for one player being more highly
skilled than another of the
same age.
Key knowledge
Skill learning principles such
as stages of learning, factors
affecting skill learning (for
example, types of skills, stages
of learning, transfer and
Ways in which skill levels vary
from beginner through to the
skilled elite athlete.
Key skill
Activity 7
Oral presentation
Physical maturation and learning

Determine the differences in physical maturity
in your class.
1. List the body size (both weight and height)
of each student in your class.
2. Beside each student, list favourite sports or activities.
3. Beside each student, list the position played within each sport.
4. Is there a relationship between student size and the type of sport
in which they participate?
5. Is there a relationship between student size and the position
played within a sport?
6. Prepare a report to present orally to the class.

Physical fitness capability

Development of fitness increases the learners ability to perform and therefore to learn. Increased muscular power in the shoulder region, for example,
will enable the learner to practise and perform a jump shot in basketball
more effectively. Greater fitness and endurance will also enable the learner
to practise for longer, leading to more effective practice and skill learning.
Attention and motivation while learning

The more attentive and motivated the learner is, the greater his or her ability
to learn skills will be. Younger children have a shorter attention span than
older children, resulting in a reduced ability to concentrate. This obviously
affects what and how much the beginner can learn.
CHAPTER 1
17
Feedback
Information concerning performance, especially while learning, is vital for
improvement. Two types of feedback are essential for learners in order to
improve their performances: information about the outcome of the performance (knowledge of results), for example, the ball went through the
goal posts and information about the characteristics of the movement itself
(knowledge of performance), for example, your arm was wide of your
body when delivering the ball so the ball was bowled at an angle rather
than straight. Feedback gives specific information about wrong judgement
or incorrect technique. It also offers solutions and new approaches, reinforcing learning and providing motivation for the performer.
Memory
The ability to remember past experiences and techniques is vital to learning
new, more complex skills. Using past experiences in sport, such as past
techniques, can assist the learner to modify a technique or to create a new
skill. In this way completely new motor programs need not be learned,
simply modified. For example, when learning to throw a javelin for the first
time, students are sometimes told to complete a standing tennis ball throw.
This action can be modified to throw a javelin. Beginners can transfer their
knowledge of how to throw a tennis ball to how to throw a javelin. Obviously modifications are necessary, but the learner already possesses the
basics of the new skill.
Amount and type of practice

A learner must physically and mentally practise skills. Practice provides an
improved understanding of skill, as well as improving performance. Practice and feedback go hand in hand during practice sessions. According to
psychologist, K. Anders Ericsson (Erlbaum 1996), a minimum of 10 years
of practice is required to reach an elite level of performance. Recent studies
conducted by the AIS found that world-class team-sport athletes who had
early exposure to a wide range of sports prior to specialising in their chosen
sport, required less hours of practice to achieve national selection in their
chosen sport.
Perceptual ability
Information from your senses allows your body to construct a program
to enable performance of a skill. The ability to interpret or perceive the
sensory information is vital to learning and successfully performing that
skill; for example, a tennis player must observe the speed and direction
of a tennis ball to move appropriately to return the ball. More recent
research has identified the importance of being able to perceive or recognise
movement patterns during a game situation. The players ability to anticipate opposition or team mates movements during a game is heightened
as a consequence of being able to perceive specific movement patterns
during play.
Mechanisms involved in learning

a physical skill
In order for the athlete to perform a skilled movement, she or he must
accept information from the environment and attempt to analyse it.
Following that analysis, the brain can decide what the correct course of
action is. In tennis, for example, when Lleyton Hewitt is forced wide on
18
LIVE IT UP 1
the forehand side, he must analyse the flight and spin on the incoming
ball, as well as his opponents court position prior to formulating a
motor program that will allow him to hit a cross court forehand back to his
opponent.
Regardless of which stage of learning an athlete is in, there are four
recognised mechanisms involved in processing and learning a physical
skill. Each mechanism analyses and interprets information in an effort to
produce a skilled performance. The mechanisms are:
1. input received via the senses
2. information processing
3. output produced by the muscles
4. feedback.
Input via the senses

Information received
from the environment using:
vision
hearing
proprioception
equilibrium
touch
smell
Information processing
Perceptual
mechanism
Decision-making
mechanism
Effector
mechanism
Organises
and interprets
sensory
information
Based on information
from the perceptual
mechanism, a motor
program is constructed
to facilitate an
appropriate
and effective
physical response.
Organises,
initiates and
controls the
chosen motor
program
Memory
is used to help
formulate the best
motor program
Feedback
Output
Figure 1.11:
a physical skill
The muscles are

responsible for the
execution of the
selected motor
program
CHAPTER 1
Feedback delivers information

about the performance. It can
be internal or external in nature.
Internal feedback
evaluates information from
muscles and joints.
External feedback
comes from visual, auditory
or verbal cues.
19
Key knowledge
to the skilled elite athlete.
Key skill
Activity 8
Case study analysis
Learning a physical skill

Watch a junior physical education class learning a new
physical skill.
1. What skill were they learning?
2. What comments from their teacher or coach helped them
learn the skill?
3. Did their teacher or coach explain how to perform the skill,
or only point out their mistakes?
4. Was some feedback more useful than other?
5. Were the students able to use past experiences to help them learn
this skill? If yes, what past experience did they use?
6. Can you remember using your knowledge from past experience
to learn a skill?
7. What types of practice did the junior students use to learn
the new skill? For example, did they use practice drills,
practice drills against an opponent, or a mini game?
Input the senses

Your senses are responsible for detecting pieces of information about the
environment and conveying them to the brain. A piece of information is
called a cue. The senses of taste and smell are rarely involved in the learning
and performing of skills, but hearing, vision, touch, equilibrium (information detected by the inner ear about the position of the body and whether it
is balanced) and proprioception (the ability to feel a movement, as conveyed
through muscles, tendons, ligaments and skin) are vital contributors.
Hitting a cricket ball requires the use of vision (to determine speed, spin
and direction of the ball) and proprioception (to feel the contact of bat on
ball). You can tell from the feel of the hit whether you hit the ball cleanly and
powerfully. This ability to detect or identify cues is imperative to learning
and performing skills.
Figure 1.12:
A gymnast depends on a sense of
equilibrium and proprioception
during a routine.
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LIVE IT UP 1
Key knowledge
to the skilled elite athlete.
Activity 9
Case study analysis
Using the senses to detect clues

Select two photographs of the same sport from a magazine,
newspaper or the Internet.
1. Select two specific skills exhibited in the photographs.
2. List the senses and the corresponding sensory cues needed
to perform each skill.
3. How could you modify equipment to enhance the ability
of the senses to detect cues from the environment?
Key skill
Information processing
Once your senses detect cues from the environment, you need to process
the information for it to be useful. You are a little like a computer: you can
type in relevant information, but the computer cannot respond without
computer programs to discriminate, interpret, organise and code the information. Humans go through the same processes to construct an appropriate
physical response. Three very important devices carry out these processes:
the perceptual, decision-making and effector mechanisms.
Perceptual mechanism
The perceptual mechanism is primarily responsible for the interpretation
of sensory information. It obviously depends on the efficient functioning of
our sense organs. Sometimes it is not easy to identify cues from the environment. Often many cues occur at once, and not all of them are useful to the
performer. The ability to detect cues or information is called signal detection, and it is vital for successful performance.
Five factors affect your ability to detect signals from the environment:
1. the ability of sense organs
2. the strength of the cue
3. noise
4. the speed of the cue
5. the level of arousal.
Ability of the sense organs

The ability of sense organs, or sensory acuity, affects your ability to initially
detect the many cues that occur in a sporting situation. Your vision is probably the most important sense required in sport; you must be able to see
the oncoming ball, judge its speed and direction, and note the positions of
your team mates and the opposition. Poor eyesight would hinder an athlete.
Imagine if Maria Sharapova had limited eyesight and was unable to detect
the backspin on a tennis backhand hit by Lindsay Davenport. She could find
herself in the wrong position on the court to return the ball successfully.
Strength of the cue

Modifying a cue to make it stronger and more intense means the player
should be able to detect it more easily. Sporting bodies such as the Aus-
CHAPTER 1
21
tralian Football League and Australian Cricket Board introduced brightly

coloured balls in their night fixtures. The cue (in this case, the ball) is now
much more visible, so the skill level of the players is not affected as much
by the dark surroundings.
Such changes can help learners too. A brightly coloured, larger sized ball
is much more easily seen, so it will probably be easier to hit or kick. Many
sports have been refined with this objective: Aussie Sports, for example,
often uses modified equipment that is larger and brightly coloured to help
beginners perform skills.
Key knowledge
Key skill
principles using the correct
terminology.
Figure 1.13:
The Aussie Sport program was
designed to help young children
learn and participate in modified
versions of many sports. Brightly
coloured and easy-to-handle
equipment is a feature of
the program.
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LIVE IT UP 1
Activity 10
physical activity
Signal detection
Participate in and write a report on three different sports
within the Aussie Sports program.
1. List the three sports you participated in within the program.
2. List modifications that have been developed for these sports.
3. Explain how the modifications make the game easier
for these participants.
4. Interview and report on a classmate who has played
Aussie Sports.
Noise
Imagine being at Rod Laver Arena, playing netball for Australia against
New Zealand. With only seconds left in the match, the wing attack calls for
the centre to lob the ball to her at the top of the goal circle. The crowd is
going wild, and the centre does not hear the call above the cheering. Such
occurrences are common in sport. Noise is an enormous distraction. It can
be described as irrelevant cues that are present in the environment, distracting players from more important cues such as player movement. Noise
is not only audible distractions; the sun in your eyes while trying to serve a
tennis ball, or the smell of hamburgers at the nearby parents stall could also
affect your concentration. If a signal is not as strong as the noise, it is most
likely that a player will miss the cue. The presence and strength of noise
therefore affects signal detection. The ability to detect only the relevant cues
and disregard the irrelevant ones (noise) will influence the success of the
performer.
Speed of the cue

The longer a cue is present in the environment, the more likely it is that your
sense organs will detect it. For the beginner, a coach can slow down the cue,
for example, T-stands in softball effectively make the pitch stationary so the
batter can successfully hit the ball. However, this is not possible in a real
game situation, and a softball player must practise batting a pitched ball
and learning how to react to it.
Level of arousal
Figure 1.14 (ac):

a physical skill
(b) Arousal for simple task
Optimal
combination
Overaroused,
emotional
imbalance
Panic
Low
Sleep
Low
Disorganisation
Arousal
High
(c) Arousal for complex task
High
Performance efficiency
High
(a) Inverted U theory
To perform successfully, an athlete needs to have an optimal level of arousal

so she or he is ready to detect relevant cues from the environment. If your
brain is overanxious or aroused, it can pick up signals that are not really
present, it will not process cues efficiently or correctly, and your body will
produce inappropriate responses. Likewise, if your brain is underaroused it
may also miss vital cues from the environment. Performers who are underaroused often look distracted or disinterested, giving a poor performance or
no performance of all.
The inverted U theory is based on a psychological model of levels of
arousal and efficiency of performance. Figure 1.14 outlines the general
model and adaptations for simple and complex tasks. These models are
well known and accepted in psychological and sporting fields. But every
individual is different, and coaches have to establish the exact arousal levels
that bring out the best in athletes when combined with optimal preparation,
skills and training. The combination of physical and mental preparation has
been extensively researched, and many elite athletes now consult sports
psychologists.
Low
Low
Arousal
CHAPTER 1
High
High
Low
Low
Arousal
High
23
The
zone
by Rod Nicholson
Greg Norman, munching a meat

pie, had been there and done that,
according to a journalist at the recent
Australian Open.
You were in the zone until the
halfway mark when the rain came, the
journalist suggested after the worlds
No. 1 golfer shot a remarkable 31 on the
outward nine before finishing with 66
on the third day of last months Open.
Norman was perplexed. What
exactly is the zone?
The zone, the new buzz word in
sport, refers to a sportsperson focused
in a virtual surreal manner to achieve
the ultimate result.
Such as when a sportsperson seemingly can do no wrong. When everything
(even mis-hits) somehow hit the target,
and when the challenge of an almost
impossible shot is conquered with consummate ease.
The state of mind can be pinned to
many elite athletes. Cathy Freeman was
in the zone when she won the 400 metre
world championship in Athens; Greg Williams regularly
visited it with his uncanny handball in a hectic passage of
play; Pat Rafter was flawless when he won the US Open
tennis championship; and Robert Allenby zoned in when
he stormed from amateur to Australian Open winner in
1994.
Norman may not have accepted the word zone, but
he has been there often enough. He is a golfer who visualises a shot, plays it, and accepts almost as a matter of
course that the ball lands where he planned.
The zone is nothing new, but this stage is gaining concrete physiological credence.
According to experts in the field, it is all to do with
waves emanating from a small cauliflower-shaped section
of the back of the brain.
Dr Paul Holmes, sports psychologist for the British
pistol squad, has been measuring the number of alpha
waves the brains electrical signals emitted during
the six seconds before a shot.
24
LIVE IT UP 1
The results are clear. Good shots have a higher wave

power throughout that period compared with bad shots,
when waves tail off before the shot.
Research suggests this could be linked with potential
effort, Holmes said. There is more effort put into a bad
shot. In a good shot, they are in a flow state.
Hence, professionals make it look easy.
The secret lies in having the cauliflower section the
cerebellum, which coordinates movement and functions
as the brains auto-pilot work without other thoughts
getting in the way. This ability often sorts out the best
from the also-rans.
Dr Noel Blundell, of the Victorian Institute of Sport,
has worked with athletes in 44 different sports during the
past five years. He believes the zone is a vital ingredient
for elite athletes.
It is something which definitely has an impact on elite
athletes. It is something which can be taught, cultured,
encouraged. And every elite sportsperson is aware of the
zone, Blundell said.
In footballers, certain players can read the play exceptionally well, take the appropriate options and seemingly
do things with the minimum of fuss and with the most
productive outcome.
These players have the ability to do it regularly. Those
who do not make it to the zone never really do things
easily or, you could say, by second nature.
Blundell says recently retired Carlton champion and
Brownlow Medallist, Greg Williams, was a player who
had frequent visits to the zone with his peripheral handball vision and uncanny ability to find a teammate in the
helter-skelter of battle.
In fast-ball sports, such as cricket and tennis, players
in the zone seem to have all the time in the world to play
a shot. They never seem rushed, regardless of the speed of
the ball approaching them. And they have tunnel vision,
confidence and stroke selection to play the right shot at the
right time.
It is different in swimming. There is a terrific feel for
the water.
In gymnastics, there is a sense of balance: An exact
knowledge of where you are in space.
Everything, in whatever sport, should seem effortless,
rhythmical and natural when you are in the zone.
In golf, the power comes with ease when playing long

shots. There is no inappropriate muscle tension just a
vision of where you want the ball to finish. The distance,
the curve with the breeze, the backspin or whatever. It is in
the minds eye before you play the shot, and you then play
it exactly, with all the confidence in the world.
Teaching people to be in the zone is part of modern
sports psychology.
It is about a high quality of concentration, emotional
calmness, alertness and positiveness, Blundell says.
It can be practised. You can assist people to read their
emotions successfully. There is a blue-print of the perfect
sports act, and you can help athletes relate to their best
efforts.
One of the obvious ways is to provide athletes edited
videos of their best performances. They will re-live the
experience, reinforce their confidence to repeat such a performance, and understand that on that particular occasion
they were relaxed, confident, focused.
If the athlete feels nervous or anxious before an event,
the video and counselling enable the athlete to learn to cope
with such emotions. They may do that by deep breathing,
meditation or inspiration.
But this is an individual thing. Team sports, such as football, can be a problem. A video of a premiership-winning
effort in football may be fantastic to lift six players over the
top because they were already primed for a brilliant effort.
Elite athletes are putting themselves on the line and
they look to the zone to produce their best.
The bottom line is to eliminate the huge fluctuations in
their emotions and concentration levels.
When Greg Turner recently won the New Zealand Open
golf title, he led into the final round and nobody was surprised when he won.
The fact that he has led into the final round seven
times for seven victories is more astonishing. According to
Blundell, it is an example of a sportsman who puts himself
into the zone.
He spoke about his ability to focus on victory, to read
his emotions, to get the job done, Blundell said. He knew
exactly what he had to do and he had total confidence
doing it.
Rodger Davis has that knack, too. He has a great record
of winning play-offs.
And another golfer I have worked with is Robert Allenby.
Fully fit and at his peak in his youth, he could put himself
in the zone and absolutely nothing would distract him.
The zone is an elusive domain. But, according to
Blundell, it is not exclusive to the elite. So, the next time
you settle down to a chip shot to the green, imaging exactly
where you want to land the ball, think positively, and, as
Nike puts, so succinctly: JUST DO IT.
Figure 1.15:
The zone refers to the optimal arousal level required for peak performance.
Source:
Sunday Herald Sun, 26 December 1997, pp. 1213.
CHAPTER 1
25
Input
Input
Single channel hypothesis

The perceptual mechanism must translate and interpret many cues. How
many cues can it deal with at once? The human information processor can
only deal with one piece of information (or cue) at a time. It is like roadworks on the freeway: when two or more lanes are closed and redirected
into one, the traffic must wait its turn to join the single moving lane.
The same happens with multiple cues within the perceptual mechanism.
Only a single channel can feed cues into the processing mechanism; the
others must wait in line. This is called the single channel hypothesis and it
explains why only one cue can be processed at one time.
It follows, therefore, that if you can reduce the amount of information
the brain must process, you will reduce the processing time required and
be able to initiate a motor response more quickly. You will be able to reduce
the effect of the single channel hypothesis. This can be a definite advantage
to the athlete.
Central
processing
Output (response)
Figure 1.16:
Single channel hypothesis.
Cues presented successively
cannot be processed at the same
time. There is a delay in processing
these cues until previous cues have
been cleared from the system.
Selective attention
Your perceptual mechanism has a limited capacity; it cannot process
every cue present in the environment because then the response time
would be extremely slow and not always appropriate. Given that both relevant cues and noise are present on the sporting field at the same time,
how does the perceptual mechanism know which information to process?
How does it know which information is relevant and which is simply a
distraction?The experienced athlete has an ability called selective attention,
which is responsible for filtering out irrelevant information. The brain does
not attend to this irrelevant information and therefore does not require time
to process it. Thus, selective attention reduces the amount of information to
be processed by the brain before you perform a skill. It also allows experienced performers to attend to the most relevant of cues in other words,
to select and process the most vital cues as the priority.
A batter facing a leg spinner, for example, must concentrate on the following cues:
1. Which side of the bowlers hand is visible during delivery of the ball?
2. What is the speed of the bowling arm?
3. From which side of the wicket is the bowler bowling?
4. Is the seam of the cricket ball visible through the air?
The first cue is most relevant or vital; the batter needs to process this
cue first to determine an appropriate shot at the ball. To help the beginner
learn how to concentrate selectively, the teacher or coach must identify the
relevant cues and continually reinforce them as the learner practises. The
beginner learns to attend to only the meaningful cues and to ignore distractions; with time and experience, the beginner will initiate this process
without help. The performers level of arousal, their experience and the
quality of their initial instruction in a skill will also affect their ability to
selectively attend.
Anticipation
Anticipation allows the performer to predict what will happen next on the
sporting field and is a product of experience. It occurs after you detect some
of the relevant cues, but it does not depend on the brain processing all cues
before you devise a plan of action. Relying on accurate selective attention,
anticipation is about reducing the amount of information to be processed
and thus allowing for a quicker response. It is a professional judgement,
based on previous experiences in the sport.
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LIVE IT UP 1
A professional tennis player could estimate the direction of an opponents

backhand by observing the position of the opponents body, racquet and
feet, all before the tennis ball hits the opponents racquet! Similarly, players
on the same team play better when they anticipate each others movements.
Experience enables the performer to compare cues from earlier experiences
(from long-term memory). Based on this comparison, the athlete can recognise early signals and anticipate the movement of his or her opponent or
team mate.
Quality of instruction
Usually beginners do not know what exactly to concentrate on when
learning and practising a new skill. The coach must instruct the beginner to
take note of certain cues. The instructions must be clear and appropriate to
the performer. Verbal cues are often given, but visual cues are very effective,
as is the physical guidance from the coach through the actual skill itself. By
using these techniques the beginner can learn not only what the skill must
look like, but also what it should feel like.
Coaches can assist the beginners to selectively attend by doing some of
the following things:
making the equipment more visible such as using a fluoro-coloured
hockey ball
directing the learners attention to one aspect or component of the skill
at a time
using language that is appropriate to the beginner and by not being
too technical in the beginning
making the learning environment fun and stimulating, encouraging
the beginner to practise and learn
using past experiences to base new skills upon. In this way the learner
does not need to learn completely a new skill, simply to adapt the
old one.
Figure 1.17:
Anticipation allows the tennis
player to move into the crosscourt position before the
opponent hits the ball.
CHAPTER 1
27
Key knowledge
Activity 11

and use of feedback
Data analysis
Selective attention
Equipment required
Tennis balls (five balls of different colours, five balls of the
same colour)
Procedure
1. The catcher stands approximately three metres away from the
line of five throwers.
2. Facing the catcher, the throwers hold the ball in their hand so it
cannot be seen.
3. On the command throw, the throwers simultaneously throw the
balls softly towards the catcher. The catcher attempts to catch the
coloured ball that is nominated before the throw.
4. Conduct five trials of each test condition. Rotate the coloured
balls randomly among the throwers.
Test conditions
Run the test using a designated ball that is different from the four
other same-coloured balls. Then run the test using a designated ball
that is pink while the four other balls are different colours.
Results
Record the class results and draw a bar graph to illustrate your own
performance in each task.
Discussion
1. What is selective attention?
2. What factors affect it?
3. Which of the three test conditions was more difficult to
selectively attend to? Why?
4. Which cues were easier to detect?
5. Were the class results similar to yours?
6. Did anticipation help you to detect the cues?
7. How can signal detection help to improve your performance?
Key skill
terminology.
Role of memory
Figure 1.18:
The pathway of information
from the environment to the
long-term memory
Information
from the
environment
via the
senses
Once the brain has gathered relevant sensory information, the ability
to remember cues becomes important for processing that information.
Performers can remember cues from the environment, but the information
is lost within one second and replaced by new information. This short-term
sensory store links perception and memory. Selective attention allows you
to remember relevant information beyond the one-second limit; it helps
transfer information from your short-term sensory store to your short-term
memory, which is a less temporary storage facility.
Short-term
sensory store
1 second
duration
unlimited
capacity
Via
selective
attention
Short-term
memory
60 seconds
duration
limited capacity
Movement
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LIVE IT UP 1
Via
rehearsal
chunking
encoding
meaningfulness
Long-term
memory
Unlimited
duration
Unlimited
capacity
Retrieval of relevant and previous experience
Short-term memory has a limited capacity to store information: it can

handle approximately seven (plus or minus two) items. This information can
be retained for around 60 seconds, but without further consideration it can
also be lost. Short-term memory is important for the learner because it allows
coaching information to be remembered and compared to the performance
of a skill. The learner can make corrections and modifications, improving
their performance. The following factors affect short-term memory:
chunking or coding
distractions (noise)
meaningfulness
rehearsal.
Chunking
Chunking or coding is a way of increasing the amount of information that
the brain can retain. You can group (or recode) information into meaningful categories (or chunks) to increase the capacity of short-term memory.
Memorising a telephone number is an example: instead of remembering
52438652, you could chunk the information into 52 438 652 and thus reduce
eight individual numbers to three groups of numbers.
A performer may group or chunk motor information in a similar way.
Instead of remembering all the individual sub-routines for a tennis forehand, they may chunk the information into groups called stance, swing
preparation and follow-through.
Coded or chunked routine
Stance
Swing preparation
Follow-through
Individual sub-routines
Body side on to net
Left foot in front
Knees bent
Weight balanced between feet
Racquet held with correct grip
Racquet extended back behind body
Arm straight at elbow
Swing racquet from shoulder
Keep wrist straight
Swing racquet forward
Ball should be diagonally in front of body
Racquet should accelerate through the ball
Racquet follows through from a low position to a high position,
finishing at shoulder height.
Step through with right foot to begin recovery movement back
to the centre of the court.
It is vital for a coach or teacher to help the learner chunk teaching points
into meaningful groups of information.
Distractions (noise)
Just as noise distracts you when you attempt to attend selectively to relevant cues from the environment, noise can also interfere with your ability
to concentrate on sensory information and transfer it to your short-term
memory.
Meaningfulness
You can more easily transfer information to your short-term memory if the
information has meaning for you and if you believe it is relevant to your
CHAPTER 1
29
task. Your level of interest is also associated with your ability to remember
information. It is easier to understand and learn from instructions that are
appropriate to your age and level of development; you may not follow
highly technical explanations, whereas you will probably understand language and concepts that are more appropriately geared to you as a learner.
For example, when learning to swim backstroke the coach may demonstrate the technique and then explain it by telling the beginner that it is like
reaching up for an apple and then putting it in your hip pocket. This is far
more relevant and easier to understand than trying to explain the movement using technical or biomechanical terminology.
Rehearsal
You must rehearse information for it to be transferred into short-term
memory. It is vital that the rehearsal occurs as soon as possible following
the presentation of the cue. Practising a physical skill not only allows you
to better process and remember motor information, but it also allows you to
correct and refine your performance of that skill.
Key knowledge
and use of feedback
Key skill
terminology.
Activity 12
Data analysis
Chunking and memory

Complete the following activities.
1. Write down nine numbers from zero to nine. (You may repeat
the same number, but do not arrange them in a sequence.)
Write down nine letters. (Do not arrange them
in any sequence.)
Write down five numbers expressed in hundreds
(e.g. 176, 438).
Write down five three-letter words (e.g. cat, eat, fit).
2. Swap your numbers or letters with your partner.
You each have 20 seconds to memorise your partners numbers
and letters before writing them down.
3. Repeat one of the above test conditions while playing loud music
as you memorise the numbers and letters.
4. Rate the activities from easiest (1) to most difficult (4).
5. Discuss your ranking, noting whether the music affected
your ability to memorise the numbers and letters. If so,
how did it affect your ability to transfer information into
your short-term memory?
Long-term memory
The short-term memory is like selective attention in that it filters out the
irrelevant cues and only processes and transfers the most appropriate and
relevant cues. A third memory storage facility with an unlimited capacity
permanently stores this information for future use. This facility is called the
long-term memory. Again, rehearsal is needed for information transfer to
take place. Once in the long term memory, the brain can retrieve the information when necessary.
When you learn a new skill, you can retrieve motor programs from previously learned similar skills from the long-term memory and refine them to
assist in current learning. Thus, the learner can compare the old and new
skills and reduce the amount of information for processing. Being able to
recognise and compare similar information is paramount: the performer can
store a complete motor program, retrieve it when necessary and make minor
adjustments to match the perceived environmental cues.
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Decision-making mechanism
Once the brain has gathered and interpreted information from the
environment, it undertakes the final stage of processing information. The
decision-making mechanism constructs a plan of action (a detailed set
of instructions called a motor program) that will result in an appropriate
physical response. The brain can recall the motor program from the longterm memory once the decision making mechanism decides to use that
program to complete the desired physical response.
The brain compares information in the decision-making mechanism
(located in the short-term memory) to stored information previously gathered
from similar situations. Thus the use of long-term memory to compare and
contrast cues allows the performer to produce the most effective response.
Output
Effector mechanism
We have discussed how the learner gathers information from the environment via the sense organs, how the brain interprets and organises this
information and how the memory helps the brain formulate a motor
program. The final mechanism involved in information processing is the
effector mechanism: it is responsible for organising, initiating and controlling the motor program. It sends the appropriate instructions to the nerves
and muscles to allow the designated movement to take place.
Reaction time
The time it takes for the perceptual, decision-making and effector mechanisms to complete their tasks is called your reaction time. It is a measure of
processing time the time from presentation of a signal to the initiation of
a response movement.
You can only produce movement after detecting, interpreting and processing all information. The muscles carry out the motor program selected
by the decision-making mechanism in accordance with instructions from
the effector mechanism. The total time to complete the movement is called
movement time.
Together, reaction time (the measurement of mental processing time) and
movement time are the athletes total response time the time from when
the athlete detects cues to when he or she completes the appropriate motor
program.
Figure 1.19:
The central nervous system sends
the selected motor program to the
appropriate muscles to carry out
the movement.
Reaction time
Movement time
Response
initiation
Stimulus
Response
completion
Response time
Figure 1.20:
The relationship between reaction,
movement and response time
Gun sounds at
beginning of race
Athlete has processed cues decided to

run and is ready to leave the blocks
Athlete completes the

100 m sprint race
Reaction time + Movement time = Response time
CHAPTER 1
31
Figure 1.21:
Fast reaction time is vital for
many sports. Being able to
quickly process information and
select and carry out a motor
program is necessary for a
successful performance.
Types of reaction time

There are two types of reaction time: simple reaction time and choice
reaction time. Simple reaction time is where there is only one appropriate
response to the stimulus provided. As a result of requiring only one specific response, simple reaction time is quicker. For example, when the gun
sounds at the beginning of a 100 m sprint, the athlete must start to run.
Choice reaction time is slower as there are several stimuli, with several
appropriate responses. With more information to be processed before
selecting the appropriate motor program, the processing or reaction time
will be slower. The single channel hypothesis is again a contributing factor
in the speed of processing information.
Consider the following: is your reaction time the same with different
types of signals? Is your response quicker to a visual signal or an auditory
signal? Tests have shown that kinaesthetic senses are processed the fastest.
This means that your reaction time is quicker when the brain has to deal
with signals concerning touch and feel. Your more common sport-related
senses of sight and sound are processed at different speeds, with sound
being processed more quickly than sight. However, when travelling over
distances, sight signals travel faster than sound signals and can be detected
sooner. Athletes with the ability to react faster to stimuli have the potential
to be more successful. They will have additional time to study their opponent or the movement of the ball before executing their motor program.
Reaction time is important for athletes such as sprinters, baseball batters,
slip fielders in cricket, cricket batters, boxers and racing car drivers.
Influences on your reaction time include:
age
warning signals
gender
probability of the signal occurring
intensity of the stimulus
successive presentation of cues
or cue
(psychological refractory period)
number of choices
stimulusresponse compatibility.
Age
Your reaction time is at its fastest when you are aged 1930 years, then it
increases (i.e. it slows down).
Gender
Males generally have faster reactions than women, although reaction times
vary between people of the same age and gender. Also, male reaction time
tends to slow with age at a quicker rate than the female reaction time.
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Choice reaction time (seconds)
Intensity of the stimulus or cue
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
As discussed earlier, signals that are larger and brighter are easier to detect.
Likewise, cues that are more intense are processed faster, reducing reaction
time.
Number of choices
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of
stimulusresponse
alternatives
Figure 1.22:
Choice reaction time.
Hicks Law states that there is
a linear relationship between
reaction time and the amount of
information to be processed.
Key knowledge
skilled elite athlete
Key skill
terminology.
Reaction time is fastest if there is one stimulus and just one response to
it (simple reaction time), for example, the reaction of the sprinter to the
starting gun (the sound of the gun is the stimulus and pushing off from the
blocks is the response).
However, there are usually several cues present and more than one
response available for each stimulus, especially in team sports. The performer is faced with a number of choices (choice reaction time), and,
according to Hicks Law, reaction time increases as the number of response
choices increases; that is, the more choices you have, the more information
and time it takes to process. Sports that require the performer to process a
large amount of information, with an array of possible motor responses, are
usually more difficult to learn and master.
Activity 13
Laboratory report
Reaction time
Equipment
Reaction timer computer package
Procedure
Undertake the following tests (13) in two phases: at fixed time
intervals and at random time intervals.
Test conditions
1. Test your simple reaction time by responding to
a single visual stimulus.
2. Test your choice reaction time by responding to:
(a) two stimuli
(b) three stimuli.
3. Test the effects of stimulusresponse compatibility
by responding to:
(a) two visual stimuli reversed
(b) three visual stimuli jumbled.
Results
Using your own results, create a graph with the average times for
the fixed time interval tests 1, 2 (a) and 2 (b). Then create a graph
with the times for the random time interval tests 1, 2 (a) and 2 (b).
Using average results, compare tests 2 (b) and 3 (b).
Discussion
1. Using your own results, which experimental condition
produced the fastest reaction time?
2. Explain why your reaction times were different when using
fixed and random time intervals.
3. Why did your reaction time increase when the stimuli
changed position?
4. What effect would the level of motivation and arousal
have on your reaction time?
5. What effect would the presence of an audience
have on performance?
6. Discuss two other factors that may affect reaction time.
CHAPTER 1
33
Badminton
S1 = Backhand smash
from opponent
R1 = Move to net to play shot
S2 = Smash hits net
and deflects upwards
R2 = Move to block, but must
stop before playing an
overhead recovery shot
Warning signals
If a signal precedes the actual sensory cue, reaction time will be reduced.
The yellow caution traffic light precedes the red stop light, for example,
to let you know that the red light is about to shine and that you have to
stop the car. Being prepared for the red light, the driver can stop safely.
The starting sequence for sprinters works on the same principle: the set
command is a warning signal.
Probability of the signal occurring

If you know that a cue is about to occur, you can be ready to respond. You
can anticipate the arrival of the cue and therefore reduce your reaction time.
Pretend you are playing badminton. You force your opponent deep into
the backhand corner, and you know from experience that your opponent
always plays a cross-court drop shot from that position. You anticipate this
shot by reacting to the back-court cue, so you move to the net to play the
drop shot early. Practice in drill situations will produce predictable stimuli,
but it will not entirely prepare the athlete for the real situation. Exposure
to the game situation helps the performer to learn when specific shots or
plays are likely to occur.
0.3 seconds
The psychological refractory period

S
2
S
1
R
2
R
1
The single channel hypothesis explains how the human information

processing mechanisms can deal with only one piece of information from
the environment or the physical senses at any one time. But what happens
when two cues are presented in quick succession? Do they also have to
wait to be processed?
This situation happens on the sporting field all the time. A football
player often fakes a movement one way to trick an opponent, then moves
in a second direction instead. Commonly called selling the dummy, this is
an example of two cues being given in quick succession. Why does the fake
usually send the opponent in the wrong direction? Why is the opponent
unable to instantly stop the first movement and begin the second?
The reason for the brains delay in processing the second cue is the
psychological refractory period. The first cue must be processed and the
response initiated before the second cue can be processed, thus slowing
reaction time. Many performers use the psychological refractory period to
their advantage by presenting successive cues such as fakes and baulks to
slow down the responses of their opponents.
Stimulusresponse compatibility
0.2 seconds
Psychological
refractory
period
Figure 1.23:
The psychological
refractory period
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Stimulusresponse compatibility is the degree of cohesion or relevance

between the stimulus presented and the response performed. If the compatibility is high, the response will seem to match or be appropriate to the
stimulus or cue. However, if the compatibility is not high, the response will
be slower.
Consider the following example of stimulusresponse incompatibility.
To begin play in netball, you must stand in the centre circle and wait for the
umpire to blow the whistle. But if the umpire decides to call play instead,
experienced players will not respond to this signal initially because it is not
the expected one. The command play is incompatible with the response of
beginning play.
Many competitive swimmers train and race with a starting gun. State,
national and international competitions replace the gun with an electronic
beep, and some swimmers will react more slowly to the beep because they
are more used to responding to a gun. The beep does not provide the usual
compatibility between the stimulus and the response.
Learners find it difficult to select the most appropriate or compatible

response to every stimulus. Practice and feedback from the coach will help
the learner determine the correct response to each situation that may arise
in a real game or competition.
Feedback
Feedback is information about your performance. It is available to an
athlete before, during and after the performance, and it can come from the
performer or the coach. Feedback is vital for learning or improving a skill.
You can store feedback information in the long-term memory and use it to
reinforce or refine your performance when necessary. It is the final mechanism involved in processing a physical skill: without feedback, you cannot
compare your performance with the ideal performance.
Feedback serves the following functions:
to motivate the performer
to reinforce what has been learned
to change the performance.
It is important that feedback reinforces the correct elements of the performance, highlights incorrect elements and contains instructions for how
to improve the overall performance. Feedback should be constructive and
useful, and it should motivate the performer to continue to learn.
Types of feedback
Figure 1.24
Divers depend on their kinaesthetic
sense and the feel of their body
during the performance.
Internal feedback is about the feel of the performance.

Your proprioceptors and kinaesthetic senses provide this
information, for example, the vibrations of the bat when
you hit the baseball off centre.
External feedback is provided by your external sense
organs such as sight or sound, for example, seeing that
your bowl dislodged the batters middle stump.
Augmented feedback is external feedback from a source
other than yourself, for example, information from a
coach or videotape.
Positive feedback is affirming, for example,
Great shot. The ball went straight through the goal!
Negative feedback demonstrates an error in the
performance. It is best if followed by positive
feedback, for example, Poor shot, you landed in the
bunker. Next time, play the ball from further in front
of your feet so you can get more height on the ball.
Continuous feedback is given during the performance.
It usually concerns the feel of the performance, for example,
That volleyball spike did not feel right.
Terminal feedback is given at the completion of the skill,
for example, when your basketball coach tells you to bend
your knees more when next shooting for a three pointer.
Knowledge of results is information about the result of your
performance. Given at the completion of the skill, it can be external
or augmented, for example, when the umpire calls your forehand out.
Knowledge of performance is information about the actual performance.
It can be internal, external or augmented, for example, you realise that
your wrist was not firm when you volleyed the ball. Knowledge of
results and knowledge of performance are related but quite different:
the former will not assist in changing subsequent performance,
whereas the latter lets you know what went wrong and allows you
to learn from your experiences.
CHAPTER 1
35
Key knowledge
Key skill
terminology.
Activity 14
physical activity
Feedback
Equipment
Volleyball, hoop
Procedure
Stand about three metres from your partner, holding the ball
and keeping your back to him or her. Try to throw the ball over
your head (without looking) and through a hoop held by
your partner. You have 10 chances.
Write down the number of successful scores for each
of the following three scenarios (use the points system to work out
a total score):
hit ball through hoop (3 points)
contact with the hoop (2 points)
complete miss (1 point)
Test conditions
1. You receive no feedback.
2. You receive limited feedback (only yes or no when asking
about the success of the throw).
3. You receive as much feedback as possible (complete information
about where the ball went in relation to the target).
Discussion
1. Did the different amounts of feedback affect your performance?
2. What are the functions of feedback?
3. List the types of feedback you received under each test condition.
4. Give an example of knowledge of results and knowledge of
performance that could apply to these tests.
5. How could your partner make your feedback more effective?
Feedback and the learner

What type of feedback should be used and when? Should feedback be
the same for beginners and elite performers? Beginners need to know if
they were successful; they need to know results without delay. Delays can
lead to a lack of motivation and progress. Coaches should provide positive feedback for learners to maintain motivation. A demonstration of what
is expected should always follow an explanation. It is also important to
not overload the beginner with too much information about performance:
only one or two points of focus are sufficient for the week, and these points
should be continually reinforced for the beginner. The coach can introduce
one or two different points of focus in the following week if the learner
masters the previous points.
Precision of feedback
Feedback needs to be both precise and specific. Also, coaches must ensure
that they use language and terminology appropriate to the athletes under
their care. Learning can only occur if the feedback makes sense to the
performer and if it offers solutions to help overcome difficulties. Again,
demonstrations can be a useful tool in this situation. General feedback such
as Good shot! is far less effective than Your body position was excellent
and allowed you to hit through the ball, accurately placing it down the line,
which is much more precise and will result in reinforcing improvement in
performance.
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Timing of feedback
Performers use feedback to compare the intended movement with the
actual movement, and they remember any deviation. That transference of
information into memory can be hindered if feedback is delayed.
The use of video feedback has increased as technology has advanced.
These days athletes are able to perform a skill and seconds later watch their
performance on screen. This instant, visual feedback, coupled with the coach
giving verbal feedback is an extremely effective method. It allows athletes
to see what they did right, what they did wrong and how to improve. In
addition to this, some computer programs can take your performance and
superimpose over it an elite athlete doing the same skill. This gives you a
direct comparison between what you are doing and what you should be
doing. You can now see how to improve the skill as well.
In terms of information processing ability, the skilled or more elite performers have far more advanced abilities and practices. They will be able to:
detect and process relevant cues more quickly
selectively attend to only the relevant cues and dismiss the irrelevant ones
use past experience (stored in the long term memory)
to reduce the information processing required to anticipate
their opponents movements
Figure 1.25:
Coaches often use video
to help provide specific feedback
to their athletes.
use past experience to reduce the effect of the psychological refractory

period by knowing which movement is a fake to be ignored and
selectively attending only to the relevant movement cues
store many motor programs in the long-term memory ready
for action at any time
utilise feedback more effectively to refine movements.
CHAPTER 1
37
Key knowledge
(for example, types of
skills, stages of learning,
transfer and mental practice),
Key skill
terminology.
Activity 15
Multimedia presentation
Swinger
1. Video a fellow student completing a specific skill.
2. Use the same program to video an elite performer,
performing the same skill.
3. Have the student perform the skill again and immediately
following execution of the skill, show them the video footage
of themselves.
4. Ask the athlete to give specific feedback on his or her
own performance.
5. As the coach, show the video footage again and give specific
feedback to your student.
6. Now show the video footage of the elite performer, selectively
attending to the key elements of the skill.
7. Use a video analysis software program such as SwingerPro
to compare the images from the video of the student with images
from the video of the elite athlete. Look particularly at key
elements of the skill.
Write a detailed multimedia report on the use of video analysis in
assisting athletes to develop specific sporting skills.
Practice
As mentioned many times throughout this chapter, practice is essential for
the beginner to progress and learn a physical skill. How you practise is
very important: incorrect practice will not help you to learn a skill, only
make you good at an incorrect technique. Each learner is an individual with
individual needs. The coach must tailor-make the practice sessions to best
suit each individual learners skill level, concentration ability and fitness
level. Practice should be fun, but challenging. It must serve to motivate the
learner to want to practise and learn more.
Types of practice
A coach should select a method of practice that will optimise an athletes
ability to learn. Regardless of the type of practice, the coach must ensure
that the athlete stays motivated and has adequate rest so that fatigue does
not adversely affect the performance of the skill. The main types are:
massed and distributed practice
whole and part practice
drill and problem solving practice
physical and mental practice.
Massed and distributed practice

Massed or continuous practice requires uninterrupted practice time. This
method seems to be more applicable for highly skilled and motivated athletes. Examples of this method include: hitting 50 golf balls or practising
your topspin in table tennis for 10 minutes. Obviously, fatigue and a loss of
motivation are disadvantages of this form of practice. A distributed practice
session constitutes short sessions interspersed with rest periods. During the
rest periods, the learners receive feedback, mentally practise the same skill,
or practise another type of skill. It has been suggested that distributed practice is more suited:
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Table 1.3
when
when
when
when
when
the athlete is learning a new skill

the skill is complex
the learners motivation is not high
the task seems to be boring
the skill is physically demanding.
Shorter and more

frequent practice
Factors that influence

the choice of massed or
distributed practice
If the
task:
Longer and less frequent

practice
is simple, repetitive and

is complex
boring
has many elements
demands intense
requires warm-up
concentration
is new to the performer
is fatiguing
demands close attention to detail
If the is young or immature

learner: (unable to sustain activity)
has a short attention span
has poor concentration skills
tires easily
Source:
Beashel, P. and Taylor, J. 1996,
Advanced studies in physical
education and sport, Thomas
Nelson & Sons, p. 256.
is older or more mature

is able to concentrate for long
periods of time
has good ability to focus attention
tires quickly
Whole and part practice

Practising a skill in its entirety is called whole practice. Breaking down a
skill to practise it in parts is called part practice. An athlete can also combine
these two practice methods, initially breaking the skill into parts then practising it as a whole.
Gymnastic vaults would be best practised using the whole method
because the skill components are difficult to separate and depend on the
order of the sub-routines. A lay-up in basketball could be broken down into
its working parts of run up, jump and throw, but the athlete must also practise the whole skill to correctly perform it. It seems that part practice is more
beneficial when the skill is more complex, however, it should be remembered that the whole skill must also be practised if it is to be used effectively
in a game situation. Discrete skills lend themselves more to whole learning
as they are often ballistic in nature and therefore hard to breakdown into
individual components.
Table 1.4
Factors that influence
the choice of whole or
part practice
If the
task:
Whole practice
Part practice
has highly dependent

(integrated) parts
is simple
is not meaningful in parts
is made up of simultaneously
performed parts
has highly independent parts

is made up of individual skills
is complex
requires limited work on
different parts or segments
has limited memory span
If the
is able to remember
learner:
long sequences
has a long attention span
is highly skilled
has limited memory span

is unable to concentrate for
a long period of time
is having difficulty with a
particular part
cannot succeed with
the whole method
Source:
Beashel, P. and Taylor, J. 1996, Advanced studies in physical education and sport,
Thomas Nelson & Sons, p. 256.
CHAPTER 1
39
Drill and problem-solving practice

Drill practice has been the conventional way to practise for many years and
involves practice and learning through repetition. For example, shooting
for goal in netball from a particular spot in the goal circle for a particular length of time. It is a valid form of practice whereby the skill itself is
quite closed and replication of the skill is required. However, if the skill
to be performed requires slight modifications or refinements each time it
is performed (this may be due to a slightly different position on the court,
or because of a different defence set up you have to work around), then
problem-solving practice may be the better option. In problem-solving
practice, the athlete uses discovery to recognise when the skill should be
used, as well as to what exent the skill needs to be refined to fit in with the
particular situation. It is better with open skills as it allow the practice of a
number of different game situations. It teaches the performer to be creative
and adapt to the particular circumstances of play.
Physical and mental practice

Physical practice is the one that you are most familiar with; you must
spend many hours of practice to learn a skill. Mental practice, or imagery,
involves picturing in your mind the skill you are learning. You could facilitate this process by watching a video, listening to, or reading, your coachs
instructions, or simply imagining yourself performing the skill. Many elite
athletes use such mental imagery in both practice sessions and preparation
for an important performance. In her chapter on performance psychology
in the Better coaching: advanced coaches manual, Sandy Gordon gives the following example of a mental imagery program designed to help an aspiring
young golfer.
Mustafa, the coach and father of teenage golfer, Hanna, asked a
sport psychologist to help Hanna deal with her inconsistent performances
over both one and four-round tournaments. Hanna reported that she had
neither developed a solid and consistent pre-shot routine nor made use of
imagery on the course. To lock her focus into performance cues for each
shot incorporating imagery, a five-stage pre-shot routine was devised.
1. A plan was made for each shot and included selecting the target and
the type of shot before addressing the ball.
2. A picture, sensation and thought of how the shot
would look was selected.
3. The shot was rehearsed physically and mentally.
4. A set-up system of aligning and aiming was developed on
the practice range and then used during matches.
5. The same thought or image was used as a swing trigger for every shot.
The young golfer immediately noticed how much her task focus improved
over 18 holes and subsequently her scores reduced over a month.
But remember, mental practice cannot replace physical practice, and a
combination of mental and physical practice is extremely useful to most
athletes.
Variability of practice
Most athletes have learned skills by completing hours of skill drills. This
is necessary for the athlete to develop an accurate motor program for that
skill. However, as discussed earlier, the skilled performer also needs to
develop motor programs that can be modified to match situations in actual
games or competitions. By varying the practice conditions, the coach helps
the learner to respond appropriately in different game situations. This
applies to athletes performing both open and closed skills. For example,
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when practising your golf swing. Practice should be performed on the

fairway, in the rough, from a fairway bunker, in the wind and even in
front of a crowd. All of these different conditions will be present at some
time during a match. Open skills, by definition are characterised by the
unstable nature of the playing environment. Learning to play which skill,
at which time in the game is a product of hours of practice in varying
conditions. Passing a hockey ball to a team mate who is on the run, to
your left, to your right, being guarded by an opponent, will require a
number of variations of the one skill. Practising these variations will
effectively prepare you for the demands of the game itself.
Key knowledge
affecting skill learning
skilled elite athlete
Key skill
terminology.
Activity 16
Laboratory report
Types of practice
Equipment
Tennis balls and targets
Procedure
Use your non-preferred hand to bounce the ball on the floor
before hitting a target on the wall.
Test conditions
1. Half the class (group 1) run 15 practice trials
standing 3 metres from the target.
2. The other half (group 2) run five practice trials standing
3 metres from the target, five trials standing 4 metres away,
and five trials standing 5 metres away.
3. Both groups run 10 trials standing 6 metres from the target.
Oral presentation
Using your results from the practical activity, outline to the class
whether variability of practice improved performance
in your fellow students.
Address the following questions within your presentation:
1. Which group would you have expected to score more points?
Why?
2. Which group scored more points in their trials standing
6 metres from the target?
3. How does variability of practice improve performance?
CHAPTER 1
41
CHAPTER REVISION
Key knowledge
42

factors affecting skill
learning (for example,
types of skills, stages
of learning, transfer
Key skill
terminology.
LIVE IT UP 1
Chapter summary
A skill is the ability that comes from knowledge, practice and aptitude.
A motor skill is any activity involved in moving the body, or at least
some body parts, to achieve a specific goal.
Motor skills can be classified as:
closed skills performed in a predictable environment
(e.g. gymnastics moves)
open skills performed in an environment that is constantly
changing (e.g. a sport in which the speed of a ball varies)
fine skills that involve the cooperative use of small muscle groups
and the senses of sight and touch (e.g. writing by hand)
gross skills that involve a combination of muscle actions which
results in a coordinated movement (e.g. skipping and throwing).
Generally, you can classify skills as:
discrete movements with a short duration and a distinct beginning
and end (e.g. a throw or kick)
continuous movements with no distinct beginning or end which
may flow on for several minutes (e.g. swimming or running)
serial a series or group of discrete skills joined together to create a
more complicated action. Each individual movement in the series has
a definite beginning and end (e.g. a gymnastics routine).
There are three stages to learning:
1. Cognitive stage. This stage involves an inexperienced performer who
produces variable results created by errors in movement patterns.
2. Associative stage. This is the next stage of learning at which the performer has grasped the mechanics of the skill and is able to execute
the skill with less frequent errors.
3. Autonomous stage. The performer is able to consistently achieve a
desired result without consciously thinking about the separate stages
of skill production. Movement responses are automatic.
Factors that affect learning include:
physical maturation
physical fitness capabilities
attention and motivation while learning
feedback
memory
practice
perceptual ability.
There are many physical mechanisms involved in learning a physical
skill. Your senses are responsible for detecting pieces of information and
passing them to the brain. A piece of information is called a cue. Hearing,
vision, touch, equilibrium and proprioception are important senses in
the learning of a skill. Once cues have been detected through senses, the
information must be processed. The perceptual, decision-making and
effector mechanisms help you to process information.
The ability to detect cues or information is called signal detection.
Five factors affect your ability to detect signals from the environment:
1. Ability of the sense organs (also called sensory acuity).
This affects your ability to detect a number of cues.
2. Strength of the cue. A cue can be made more intense and easily visible
by players (e.g. the brightly coloured ball used in AFL night games).
3. Noise. Noise can distract a player from detecting more important cues.
4. Speed of the cue. The speed will affect your ability to detect a cue
(e.g. the difficulty of hitting a fast pitched softball).
5. Level of arousal. A balanced level of arousal will allow the athlete to
perform successfully.
CHAPTER REVISION
Single channel hypothesis is the idea that the brain must process many
cues, but only one at a time. An experienced athlete has selective attention,
which is the ability to filter out irrelevant information and concentrate on
the important cues.
The ability to remember cues is an important component in processing
information. The short-term sensory store provides a link between perception and the remembering of cues, but this information is lost within
one second and replaced by new information. Selective attention is a tool
to transfer information into the short-term memory, which is a less temporary storage facility of memory.
Chunking is a system of grouping pieces of information together into
chunks that are easier to remember. Meaningful information is also more
easily understood and more easily transferred to the short-term memory.
That transfer requires the performer to rehearse the information.
Distractions can interfere with the athletes ability to transfer information into the short-term memory. Some information ends up permanently
stored in the long-term memory, where it can be retrieved at any time.
Reaction time is the time taken for the perceptual, decision-making and
effector mechanisms to complete their tasks. It is influenced by age,
gender, the intensity of the cue, the number of choices, warning signals,
the probability of the signal occurring, successive presentation of cues
(or psychological refractory period) and stimulusresponse compatibility.
Stimulusresponse compatibility is the degree of relevance between the
stimulus and the response performed.
Finally, learning a skill involves plenty of practice. Types of practice
include massed, distributed, whole or part practice, and mental or physical practice.
Review questions
1. Define in you own words the key terms listed below, all of which appear
in this chapter. When you have finished, check your definitions with
those in the glossary on page 285.
arousal
associative stage of learning
attention
autonomous stage of learning
choice reaction time
chunking or coding
closed motor skill
cognitive stage of learning
continuous skill
cue
decision-making mechanism
discrete skill
distributed practice
effector mechanism
feedback
fine motor skill
gross motor skill
knowledge of performance
knowledge of results
long-term memory
massed practice
CHAPTER 1
mental practice
motor program
motor skill
movement time
open motor skill
part practice
perceptual mechanism
physical practice
proprioception
psychological refractory period
reaction time
response time
selective attention
sensory acuity
serial skill
short-term memory
short-term sensory store
signal detection
simple reaction time
sub-routine
whole practice
43
CHAPTER REVISION
2. (a) Write your own definition (including an example) of a basic motor

skill that relates to a skilled performance.
(b) Figure 1.26 shows the progression from a basic movement to a
skilled performance. Describe four features that clearly distinguish
between the skilled performance and basic motor skill in your
example
Figure 1.26:
The skill of jumping
puddles can develop into
a significantly skilled
sporting performance.
3. What are important considerations when classifying skills?

4. Explain the difference between a closed and an open skill.
5. A lacrosse player receives a pass from a team mate, then cradles the ball
as she runs down the field dodging opponents. She then stops, balances
herself and shoots at goal. Classify the skills involved in each segment
of the passage of play.
44
LIVE IT UP 1
6. Draw a summary table for the three stages of learning.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Characteristics
of stage
Examples of people
in this stage
Cognitive
Associative
Autonomous
Basic use of equipment
Beginners or novices
(a) Choose an activity in which you have reached the autonomous

stage. Describe the skills involved and explain how you would
modify a skill to adapt to a particular situation which often arises,
for example, weather changes or a common error of which you are
conscious during play.
(b) List five characteristics that distinguish a skilled performer
from a novice.
(c) For each characteristic that you chose in question 6 (b)
give an example of an athlete who demonstrates these qualities.
Select one skill from the sport of your choice and discuss the stages
involved in processing your skill.
Following a sports class, answer the following questions.
(a) What senses did you use?
(b) What relevant cues did you need to selectively attend to?
(c) Were you able to anticipate any of the cues?
(d) How did anticipation enhance your performance?
(e) What factors affected your ability to detect cues?
(f) Did any noise affect your performance? How?
(g) Was your reaction time important? How is reaction time usually
important to the processing stage of information processing?
(h) Could successive cues slow your reaction time?
How could you use the psychological refractory period
to make it more difficult for your opponent?
(i) What was the role of memory in learning todays sport?
If all outside information (i.e. external cues) was eliminated,
on which information could a human rely?
Which sensory information can be processed fastest?
How does selective attention differ for a skilled performer
and a beginner?
Why is selective attention an advantage to the performer
in a motor activity? Give two reasons.
If you were a junior softball coach, how could you help your students
with their ability to hit a ball?
What is noise?
How can you overcome noise?
What is the effect of information overload on a human as an
information processor?
What is arousal? How can it affect athletic performance?
What three tactics could you use to help an athlete
selectively attend to a sport?
What are three influences on reaction time? Explain each influence.
Faking or baulking in sport is a successful tactical ploy because it gives
a player added time to play a shot, shoot or pass.
What major skill acquisition principle comes into play during a fake?
Explain why an opponents response is delayed when confronted with
a fake move.
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER REVISION
7.
Stage
45
21. Your ability to anticipate relies on three factors. Outline two.

22. What are the three functions of feedback?
23. What type of practice regime allows open skills to be practised
effectively?
24. Would you advocate this type of practice for beginners? Why?
CHAPTER REVISION
Circle the correct answer and give reasons for your choice.
25. When introducing a new skill a teacher will demonstrate the task three
or four times and emphasise the key points concerning the task. This
procedure ensures that the learners use their:
(a) signal detection ability
(b) selective attention capacity
(c) perceptual discrimination ability
(d) tactile sense.
26. When facing a spin bowler, a cricket batter focuses on the wrist
movement of the bowler. The batter is applying the principle of:
(a) signal detection
(b) task vigilance
(c) kinaesthetic awareness
(d) selective attention.
27. The use of white cricket balls and a black sightscreen behind the bowler
has assisted players in night cricket matches. The acquisition of skill
concept that applies here is:
(a) velocity discrimination
(b) information overload
(c) signal detection
(d) task vigilance.
28. Perception may be affected by:
(a) familiarity with the type of stimulus
(b) noise
(c) level of attention of the performer
(d) all of the above.
29. During a rest period at swimming training, a coach informs a swimmer
that she is not bending her elbow during the freestyle armstroke
recovery. This information is an example of feedback known as:
(a) extrinsic knowledge of results
(b) intrinsic delayed knowledge of results
(c) intrinsic delayed knowledge of performance
(d) extrinsic knowledge of performance.
30. As players improve their level of performance, anticipation becomes
more important in game situations. Expressed in information
processing terms, anticipation is:
(a) practising a task many times
(b) effectively a shift in reaction time
(c) a reduction in movement time
(d) a reflex movement.
31. The transfer of information from short-term memory to long-term
memory is unlikely to occur without:
(a) signal detection
(b) rehearsal
(c) retrieval
(d) knowledge of results.
32. When the human performer is required to respond to two signals that
arrive in rapid succession:
(a) the reaction time to both signals is the same
(b) the reaction time to the second signal is faster
46
LIVE IT UP 1
(c) the reaction time to the first signal is faster

(d) the second signal is rejected.
33. While playing tennis, your opponent takes a large backswing in
preparation for a firm drive from the baseline. However, on contact, the
ball hits the racquet frame and barely falls over the net.
This is an example of:
(a) poor visual acuity
(b) stimulusresponse incompatibility
(c) poor selective attention
(d) low perceptual skill.
Coaches Infoservice www.coachesinfo.com/category/golf/55/#4

Exercise Prescription www.exrx.net/Psychology.html
Pennsylvania State University
www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/s/m/sms18/kines321/skill.html
www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/s/m/sms18/kines321/stress.html
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER REVISION
Useful websites
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LEARNING PHYSICAL SKILLS

Learning physical skills

Mental processing of information is necessary

Classification of skills (activity 1)

Physical maturity and learning (activity 7)

Stages of learning (activity 5)

Selective attention (activity 11)

Case study analyses

Factors affecting learning (activity 6)

Elements of skill learning (activity 4)

Classification of skills (activity 2)

After completing this chapter, students should be able to:

analyse the stages of learning

It is important to determine the difference between a basic motor skill

LEARNING PHYSICAL SKILLS

that is specifically related to the performance of a motor skill. If two people

1. Physical proficiency abilities

The maximum force that a person can exert

Dynamic strength The muscular endurance used in exerting a force

The strength of the trunk muscles

The ability to flex or stretch the trunk and back

The ability to make repeated, rapid trunk-flexing

The ability to coordinate the action of several parts

The ability to maintain balance without visual

The capacity to sustain maximum effort requiring

2. Perceptual motor abilities

Ability to coordinate movements of a number of

Ability to make rapid and precise movement

Ability to make a rapid selection of controls to be

Ability to respond rapidly to a signal

Ability to rapidly make a gross, discrete arm

Ability to time continuous anticipatory movements

Ability to make skilful arm movements to

Ability to make skilful, controlled manipulations of

Ability to make precise arm-hand positioning

Ability to make rapid and repetitive movements

Ability to rapidly and accurately move the hand to

Classification of motor skills

Closed and open motor skills

Closed motor skills are performed in a predictable environment where

LEARNING PHYSICAL SKILLS

Closed/open skill continuum

LEARNING PHYSICAL SKILLS

Classification of physical skills

Delivering a lawn bowl would be at the closed end of the

Fine and gross motor skills

Discrete, continuous and serial skills

LEARNING PHYSICAL SKILLS

Cognitive (what to do) stage

Associative (practice) stage

Teaching a physical skill

LEARNING PHYSICAL SKILLS

Break skill into basic components.

Autonomous Provide practice in match or

Elements of skill learning

Please note, no practice is permitted before the actual laboratory as it

LEARNING PHYSICAL SKILLS

Factors affecting skill learning

Case study analysis

Factors affecting learning

Physical maturation and learning

Describe skill learning

Physical fitness capability