Core 2 – Factors Affecting Performance

Core 2 – Factors Affecting Performance • Dot Points • stages of skill acquisition • characteristics of the learner • the learning environment • assessment of skill and performance Key Idea 4 - How does the acquisition of skill affect performance?

Syllabus Overview of Key Idea 4 Dot Point 1 - stages of skill acquisition Dot Point 2 - characteristics of the learner Dot Point 3 - the learning environment Dot Point 4 - assessment of skill and performance Key Terminology Questions from past papers General Revision Questions Table of Contents

Key Idea 4 • What does the syllabus say? • Click picture to view key idea 4

Skill is the ability to consistently perform movements with control and precision. By understanding how skills are learnt athletes can improve their performance and develop from a beginner to a skilled performer. The acquisition of a skill is a gradual development process that requires our cognitive processes working with our physical abilities to learn how to perform movements that previously were unfamiliar to us. Overview of Key Idea 4

How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? Stages of skill acquisition Cognitive Associative autonomous Dot Point1

Overview of Dot Point 1stages of skill acquisition • How did these footballers get to become so skillful? Brainstorm • It is generally accepted that motor skills are learnt in 3 stages. • Cognitive • Associative • Autonomous • click to view skills of elite footballers

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • stages of skill acquisition • cognitive Also known as the understanding stage. It is having an understanding of what needs to be done in order to execute the skill correctly. Demonstrations, pictures, videos and information highlighting the important points can help guide the learner through the skill. How to Serve (cognitive tips) 1. Starting Position Start with your feet shoulder width apart one foot pointing towards the net and the other to the side. The tennis racquet and tennis ball should be together towards the net.2. Coil Shift your weight towards the rear foot bringing your front foot to your rear foot, drop both hands and raise them shoulder height while your right shoulder drops lower than your left while releasing the ball. This motion should be fluid and done all at the same time.3. Un-Coil Right before the ball reaches the peak level drop your racquet behind your head so that your elbow is pointing to the sky. When the ball reaches the peak level uncoil with your body fully extended and reach for the ball.4. Follow-Through When you make contact with the watch the ball make contact with the tennis racquet. After contact you can slightly bend your elbow and follow through across your body.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • stages of skill acquisition • cognitive Depending on the difficulty of the skill it is likely the learner will encounter problems. E.g. Learning how to serve in tennis from scratch. To help the learner they need to be provided with feedback and the skill divided into stages. E.g. understanding the ball toss before processing. All positive learning should be encouraged and reinforced.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • stages of skill acquisition • associative The second stage of skill acquisition is the associative stage, which is identified by an emphasis of practice. The learner, having acquired an idea of what the skill is, needs to repeat the movement to enhance the synchronisation of their mind and muscles. errors still occur, but are smaller and less frequent than in the cognitive stage. Learners can remain at this stage for a long period, even years. Some may never progress to the next stage. However, given sufficient practice, most will reach the level at which the skill execution is reasonable automatic.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • stages of skill acquisition • autonomous The third stage of skill acquisition is the autonomous stage, which is characterised by the ability to automatically execute the skill. Execution of the movement is now properly sequenced and performed instinctively. The movement looks good because it is efficient, with the muscle groups working in order and producing only the necessary movements at the required time. the most important feature of performers in the autonomous stage is that they are able to attend to other cues while giving little thought to how to perform the skill. E.g. being aware of where their opponent is positioned while serving

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • stages of skill acquisition • autonomous Practice is still important during the autonomous stage, but mostly involves simulating the competition situation. Unless specifically practised to improve technique, training sessions for an athlete at this stage should incorporate pressure drills. This helps the athlete adapt their skills to the real performance.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • stages of skill acquisition - Summary

How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? examine the stages of skill acquisition by participating in the learning of a new skill, eg juggling, throwing with the non-dominant arm End of Dot Point1 Students Learn to:

How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? examine the stages of skill acquisition by participating in the learning of a new skill, eg juggling a football using feet. Practical Application Speed Stacks

How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? characteristics of the learner, eg personality, heredity, confidence, prior experience, ability Dot Point2

Overview of Dot Point 2characteristics of the learner • The speed with which learners are able to acquire certain skills depends on a number of factors. • This dot point investigates the reasons that contribute to how quickly and accurately the learner executes the skill.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • Characteristics of the learner • personality The manner in which a persons personality affects learning is often referred to as the athletes behaviour. Willingness to learn determination enthusiasm Level of motivation dedication Willingness to listen reliability

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • Characteristics of the learner • personality An individual that has all the personality traits on the previous slide will likely perform skills at a high level provided they have the physical capabilities. Elite coaches will tend to recruit and pick individuals not only based on their skill level but also on their positive learning attributes.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • Characteristics of the learner • herediity Heredity refers to the genetic characteristics we inherit from our parents. We are all born with certain features and traits that make us more suited to certain type of activities than others. The children of Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi are likely to have the physical characteristics to be excellent in a range of sports including tennis but unlikely to be as proficient in power sports such as shot putt or weight lifting.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • Characteristics of the learner • herediity Somatotype (body type) is one important factor to consider when thinking about heredity. Differences in height and body mass can give an individual physical and biomechanical advantages that would make them more suited to certain sports. Dubois Sanki RYAN

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • Characteristics of the learner • confidence Self confidence is critical in having success in learning new skills. Confidence develops from experiencing success in learning situations. Incidents that result in successive failures may destroy confidence. Confident learners approach skill learning situations with feelings of being able to rise to the challenge and the outcome will be favourable regardless of the difficulty. “This is a fantastic day for me and my family, this is historic. I have been ready for the win for quite some time, it was just a matter of where and when.” Lewis Hamilton (after his maiden Formula One Grand Prix victory in Montreal)

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • Characteristics of the learner • prior experience It is often easier to learn a new skill if similar movements have already been successfully acquired. E.g. Volleyball and tennis serve

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • Characteristics of the learner • prior experience • The prior experience of a task already learned (volleyball serve) would have the potential to accelerate the learning process of the tennis serve. • This is referred to as ‘transfer of learning’. • Transfer of learning can also have a negative affect, where a skill developed in one sport hinders the performance of a skill in another sport

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • Characteristics of the learner • ability You will often hear the term in sport ‘he/she is a natural’. This means that a person is talented or gifted, or appears to have an inherent ability.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • Characteristics of the learner • ability Abilities represent a grouping of the previous factors discussed (personality, heredity, confidence and prior experience). Ability allows athletes to grasp new skills with ease, moving through the stages of skill acquisition quickly and effortlessly.

How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? describe how the characteristics of the learner can influence skill acquisition and the performance of skills End of Dot Point2 Students Learn to:

How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? The learning enviroment nature of the skill the performance elements practice method feedback Dot Point3

Overview of Dot Point 3the learning environment The learning environment refers to everything outside the learner and embraces the skill itself, the situation in which it is practiced, information from the coaches and even the influence of weather conditions.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • nature of the skill - overview • All skills have characteristics that can be grouped according to specific criteria. Skills are commonly classified as: • open or closed • Gross or fine motor • discrete, serial or continuous • self paced or externally paced • Most skills fit a number of classifications

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • nature of the skill (Open and Closed) • An open skill is where the environment is constantly changing and unpredictable. • Skills that occur in a stable environment where athletes move at their own pace are known as closed skills. • It is difficult to classify skills as just open or closed as they tend to fall on a continuum between two points. CLOSED OPEN Diving shooting rowing Football game

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • nature of the skill (Open and Closed) • When learning motor skills it is easier to learn closed skills than open ones. When playing softball, batting against a pitcher is an open skill. The batter needs to consider the speed, height and spin of the ball before contact can be made. • Learning the skill of batting can be done with a batting tee which is a closed skill.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • nature of the skill (gross and fine) Gross motor skills involve the use of large muscle groups and include activities such as walking, jumping, running and skipping. Fine motor skills require significant control over the smaller muscle groups

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • nature of the skill (gross and fine) Again a continuum can exist, and a skill can fall on the line between fine and gross. For a example a softball pitch involves subtle movements of the hand and fingers but also involves larger gross movements from the shoulder, arm & back. fine gross Softball pitch darts running

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • nature of the skill (discrete, continuous and serial) • These involve all types of skill and the difference between each is where the beginning and end point is in performance. • Discrete – has a definite beginning and end point such as a throwing a ball. • Continuous – has no real beginning or end and is repeated over and over such as swimming. • Serial – requires a number of separate skills performed in sequence to achieve the movement required. E.g. javelin (run up, release and follow through)

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • nature of the skill (discrete, continuous and serial) When learning movement skills, what type of skill would be learnt faster? (discrete, continuous or serial?) Continuous skills tend to be learnt faster because of their repetitive nature. The most difficult skills to learn are serial skills, as the athlete needs to coordinate separate skills into an effective pattern.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • nature of the skill (self-paced and externally paced) The word pacing refers to the timing of an action. In terms of skills, timing can either self paced or externally paced. Self paced skills are those in which the performer controls when to take action and at what speed. E.g. the serve in tennis. Externally paced skills are those in which another athlete, or the environment has control over the timing and speed of the skills execution. E.g. batter in baseball.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • the performance elements This dash point not covered in your class text • When first learning skills they are often learnt in isolation. For example, a football will be stationary on the ground, and an individual will be asked to run in and kick it at a goal, and then he or she will do it again. • This type of learning does not help an individual understand when to kick a ball in a game, what direction it should be passed or how hard it should be kicked. These questions can only be answered after they have been practiced in a game setting. • The performance elements are decision making and strategic and tactical development.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • the performance elements (decision-making) • During a game a player often has to assess their own strengths and weaknesses, their opponents strengths and weaknesses and the situation of the game. • The ability to assess these factors is known as decision making and affects a persons ability to perform movements skills especially during games. • Coaches need to ensure that the opportunity is available to perform skills learnt in game situations.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • the performance elements (strategic and tactical development) The tactics in many sports are similar. Moving into space, leading towards the ball, marking a player and moving into a position to shoot are common to many sports In tactical games such as netball, football and water polo the learning environment needs to reflect the game environment if the players are to understand how they apply the skills they have developed effectively in a game.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • the performance elements (strategic and tactical development) • What would be most effective for improving passing skills in netball. • Two players exchanging chest passes, 5 meters apart at witches hats or • The same drill with a defensive player in between the two witches hats.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • the performance elements (strategic and tactical development) • The tactical approach to skill development has the following advantages: • It allows individuals to understand the complete requirement of the skill • It allows practice of decision making skills • It improves an individuals confidence.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • practice method (massed, distributed, whole, part) • How well a skill is learnt will depend on how well it has been taught in practice. Depending on the skill being taught and the skill level of the learner practice can be organised in 2 ways. • Whole or part • Massed or distributed

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • practice method (massed and whole) • Massed practice involves the learning of one motor skill in a continuous and repeated practice in a session with no variation until the skill is learnt or mastered. • Characteristics of a massed/whole practice sessions • Little or no rest breaks in the training sessions • Good for highly motivated and skilled athletes • Can lead to boredom if no feedback given

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • practice method (distributed or part) • Distributed practice occurs when a range of skills are practiced in a training session. • Characteristics of a distributed or part practice sessions • Short sessions with various skills taught • Plenty of rest breaks • Rest periods give opportunity for the learner to think about the skill learnt. • Ideal when motivation is low • Ideal when the task is complex

Massed v Distributed Practice

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • feedback Feedback is an essential component of learning a new skill and involves a performer receiving information from internal and external sources about the performance of a skill. • Feedback can have the following effects • Reinforcement of correct technique • Motivate performer to improve performance • Correction of errors

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • feedback (internal) Internal feedback is supplied by the athletes and comes from the body’s own senses. When shooting a free throw in basketball the athlete should be aware of feet position and body position and also be aware of the ball leaving the fingers. From this information the athlete can make judgements of the performance.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • feedback (external) External feedback is information provided from outside the athletes natural sensory awareness. It can be the coaches voice, the scoreboard, video analysis or cheers from the crowd.

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • feedback (feedback - Knowledge of Results and Knowledge of Performance) • Types of external feedback • Knowledge of Results (KR) • Knowledge of Performance (KP) • Knowledge of results (KR) is concerned with the task outcome. If the result of a performance was successful, for example, a swimmer’s time at the end of a race, it can be used to motivate the athlete further in the learning stage

KEY IDEA – 4How does the acquisition of skill affect performance? • The learning environment • feedback (Timing of feedback – concurrent or delayed) Concurrent Feedback – is when the athlete receives feedback during the performance. Examples include Greg Inglis seeing that Jamie Soward is marking him and then running at him

Core 2 – Factors Affecting Performance