Classifying movement skills

A continuum is a sliding scale between two extremes; we place a skill where it mostly sits rather than at a pure end. Start with three scales:

• Gross ↔ fine: gross uses large muscle groups (a shot-put heave); fine uses small, precise control (a dart or an archery release).
• Discrete ↔ serial ↔ continuous: discrete has a clear start and end (a golf putt); serial chains several discrete parts in order (a lay-up in basketball); continuous has no clear end, each cycle flows into the next (rowing).
• High ↔ low organisation: a highly organised skill will not split neatly (a cartwheel); a low-organisation skill breaks into clear sub-routines (a tennis serve — toss, then swing).

Exam tip: always justify the placement — say why the skill sits where it does, not just where.

Open/closed and pacing

• Open ↔ closed: an open skill is shaped by a changing, unpredictable environment (a dribble past defenders); a closed skill happens in a stable, predictable setting with a set technique (a trampoline routine element).
• Self-paced ↔ externally-paced: in a self-paced skill the performer decides the timing and speed (a discus throw); in an externally-paced skill the environment or opponent controls it (marking a runner, returning a smash).

They travel together: open skills tend to be externally paced (you react to what is happening), and closed skills tend to be self-paced (you choose your moment) — but always check each scale separately.

Classify the triple jump

Information processing models

Skilled performers behave like a processing system — sense, decide, act, and check. Two named models:

• Welford's model — input from the display → a sensory / perceptual mechanism that interprets it → a decision-making mechanism that selects the response → an effector mechanism → output (the movement), with feedback looping back to the input.
• Whiting's model — information from the display reaches the receptor systems, then the perceptual mechanism, a translatory mechanism that converts the decision into a motor plan, the effector mechanism and the muscular system (output), with feedback returning to the display.

Reaction, movement & response time

Three timings describe how quickly a performer answers a stimulus:

• Reaction time — from the onset of the stimulus to the first movement. No movement has happened yet, only processing.
• Movement time — from the first movement to completing the action.
• Response time — the total, from stimulus to completed action.

Common error: do not confuse reaction time (thinking, no movement) with response time (thinking + moving). They are only equal if movement time were zero, which never happens.

Your turn — response time

Hick's law

Hick's law (Hick, 1952) states that choice reaction time increases as the number of stimulus–response alternatives increases — more options mean more information to process, so a slower reaction.

• The rise is logarithmic, not straight-line: the first extra options cost the most time, and each further option adds a little less.
• In sport: a fast bowler who can genuinely swing the ball both ways forces the batter to consider more possibilities, lengthening their reaction time.

Two-way link: giving a defender more options to read slows them; taking options away (predictable play) speeds them up.

Single channel & the psychological refractory period

Welford's single-channel hypothesis says the brain can only fully process one stimulus at a time. A second stimulus arriving before the first is dealt with must wait.

That enforced wait is the psychological refractory period (PRP). A rugby side-step exploits it: the first fake movement is still being processed when the real change of direction comes, so the tackler is momentarily "frozen".

Cause and effect: the single-channel hypothesis is the reason the PRP exists — the channel has to clear before the second signal can be processed.

Your turn — beaten by a side-step

The multi-store memory model

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) split memory into three stores connected by attention and rehearsal:

• Sensory register — holds all incoming sensory information for a fraction of a second; selective attention passes the relevant part on and the rest is lost.
• Short-term memory (STM) — small capacity (roughly 5–9 pieces of information) and short duration (up to about 30 seconds) unless the information is rehearsed.
• Long-term memory (LTM) — vast capacity and long-lasting; stores well-learned motor programmes ready to be retrieved.

Coaching use: chunking related cues, meaningful associations and regular rehearsal move a skill from STM into LTM so it becomes durable.

Short-term memory

Stages of learning — Fitts & Posner

Fitts and Posner (1967) described three stages a learner moves through:

• Cognitive — the beginner works out what to do, forms a mental image, makes many errors, and depends on demonstrations and knowledge of results.
• Associative — the practice stage; performance becomes smoother and more consistent, errors decrease, and the learner begins to detect their own errors through intrinsic feedback.
• Autonomous — the skill is automatic and needs little conscious thought, so attention is free for strategy; feedback is used to fine-tune (knowledge of performance).

Reaching autonomous requires large amounts of correct, well-organised practice; not all performers get there.

Spot the cognitive stage

Operant conditioning — Skinner & Thorndike

Operant conditioning (Skinner) shapes behaviour by its consequences, strengthening or weakening the stimulus–response (S–R) bond:

• Positive reinforcement — add something pleasant (praise, reward) after a correct response.
• Negative reinforcement — remove something unpleasant once the response improves (the coach stops the criticism).
• Punishment — an unpleasant consequence to reduce an unwanted response.

Thorndike's earlier work on trial-and-error / connectionism gives three laws: the law of effect (satisfying outcomes strengthen the S–R bond), the law of exercise (repetition and rehearsal strengthen it further) and the law of readiness (the learner must be physically and mentally prepared to learn).

Observational & insight learning

Observational learning (Bandura) holds that we learn by watching and copying a model. Four processes must be satisfied for the demonstration to be reproduced — often remembered as ARMM:

• Attention — the learner must focus on the key cues of the model.
• Retention — the demonstration must be stored as a mental image.
• Motor reproduction — the learner must be physically capable of copying it.
• Motivation — there must be a drive or reward to perform it.

Insight / Gestalt learning argues the opposite of piecing skills together bit by bit: using experience, the learner suddenly grasps the whole solution to a problem, so whole practice and understanding are favoured over rigid part practice.

Bandura's processes

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Types of guidance

Guidance is the support a coach gives to help a learner acquire a skill. There are four types:

• Visual — demonstrations, videos and diagrams that build the mental picture; essential in the cognitive stage.
• Verbal — spoken cues and explanations; most powerful when paired with visual guidance and increasingly useful as the learner advances.
• Manual — physically holding or supporting the learner (spotting a gymnast) to build safety and confidence.
• Mechanical — using aids or devices (a harness, floats, a putting funnel) to shape or support the movement.

Risk: too much manual or mechanical guidance can create dependency and reduce the genuine kinaesthetic feel of the real skill.

Types of feedback

• Intrinsic vs extrinsic: intrinsic feedback is the performer's own kinaesthetic feel; extrinsic feedback comes from an outside source (coach, crowd, scoreboard).
• Knowledge of results (KR) vs knowledge of performance (KP): KR tells you the outcome (the time on the clock); KP tells you the quality of the technique that produced it.
• Positive vs negative: positive feedback reinforces what was done well; negative feedback highlights errors so they can be corrected.

Stage match: beginners depend on extrinsic feedback and knowledge of results; experts rely on their own intrinsic feedback and detailed knowledge of performance.

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The big ideas to know

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