Classifying skills on a continuum

Because real skills rarely sit at a pure extreme, we use a continuum — a sliding scale — and judge where a skill mostly lies.

• Open ↔ closed: an open skill is performed in a changing, unpredictable environment (a tackle in hockey); a closed skill is performed in a stable, predictable one with a set technique (a badminton serve).
• Self-paced ↔ externally-paced: in a self-paced skill the performer controls the timing (a javelin run-up); in an externally-paced skill the timing is set by the environment or opponent (receiving a smash).

Justify it: a badminton clear in a rally is more open than the same shot fed in isolation. Always explain what makes it open or closed.

Gross/fine, continuity & organisation

• Gross ↔ fine: gross uses large muscle groups (a rugby scrum); fine uses small, precise movements (a snooker cue action).
• Discrete ↔ serial ↔ continuous: discrete has a clear start and end (a hockey flick); serial links several discrete parts in order (a gymnastics vault: run-up, hurdle, flight); continuous has no clear end, one cycle flows into the next (running, swimming).
• High ↔ low organisation: a highly organised skill will not break down neatly (a golf swing); a low-organisation skill splits into clear sub-routines (a swimming stroke).

Practice link: highly organised skills are taught whole; low-organisation skills can be broken into parts to practise sub-routines.

Open or closed?

Information processing models

A skilled performer takes in information, decides, acts and checks the result. Two named models describe this:

• Welford's model — input → sensory / perceptual mechanism → decision-making mechanism → effector mechanism → output, with feedback returning to the input.
• Whiting's model — the display feeds the receptor systems, then the perceptual mechanism, a translatory mechanism that turns the decision into a motor plan, then the effector mechanism and the muscular system (output), with feedback going back 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 start of the movement; processing only, no movement yet.
• Movement time — from the start of the movement to completing it.
• Response time — the whole thing, stimulus to completed movement.

Trained reactions: a sprinter reduces reaction time through practice and anticipation, but never to zero — there is always processing time before the first movement.

Your turn — response time

Hick's law

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

• The relationship is logarithmic: doubling the number of choices does not double the reaction time — each extra option adds a little less delay than the previous one.
• In sport: a badminton player who can play many shots from the same preparation gives the opponent more choices to read, lengthening their reaction time.

Coaching use: practise disguise and variety to increase an opponent's options; remove your own hesitation by rehearsing decisions so your choices are quicker.

Hick's law in action

Single channel & the psychological refractory period

Welford's single-channel hypothesis states the brain can only fully process one stimulus at a time. If a second stimulus arrives before the first is dealt with, it has to wait for the channel to clear.

That enforced delay is the psychological refractory period (PRP). A well-timed dummy in basketball works this way: the fake shot is still being processed when the drive begins, so the defender is caught out.

Cause → effect: the single-channel hypothesis explains why the PRP happens — the first stimulus must finish processing before the second can start.

Your turn — held up by a dummy

The multi-store memory model

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) proposed three memory stores linked by attention and rehearsal:

• Sensory register — holds all incoming sensory information very briefly (a fraction of a second); selective attention passes on what matters and the rest fades.
• Short-term memory (STM) — limited capacity (about 5–9 items) and short duration (up to about 30 seconds) unless the information is rehearsed.
• Long-term memory (LTM) — large capacity and long duration; stores well-rehearsed motor programmes for retrieval.

Coaching use: chunking, meaningful links and rehearsal transfer a skill from STM to LTM, where it becomes a durable, retrievable motor programme.

Stages of learning — Fitts & Posner

Fitts and Posner (1967) described three stages of learning:

• Cognitive — the beginner forms a mental picture, makes many errors, and relies on demonstrations and knowledge of results.
• Associative — the practice stage; movements smooth out and become more consistent, errors reduce and the learner starts using intrinsic feedback.
• Autonomous — the skill is automatic with little conscious control, freeing attention for tactics; feedback is used to fine-tune (knowledge of performance).

Progression is not guaranteed: reaching the autonomous stage needs a great deal of correct, well-structured practice.

Operant conditioning — Skinner & Thorndike

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

• Positive reinforcement — add a pleasant stimulus (praise) after a good response.
• Negative reinforcement — remove an unpleasant stimulus once the response improves.
• Punishment — an unpleasant consequence to weaken an unwanted response.

Thorndike's trial-and-error / connectionism underpins this with three laws: the law of effect (satisfying outcomes strengthen the S–R bond), the law of exercise (repetition strengthens it) and the law of readiness (the learner must be physically and mentally ready to learn).

Observational & insight learning

Observational learning (Bandura) says we learn by watching and copying a model. Four processes must be met (ARMM):

• Attention — focus on the key cues of the model.
• Retention — store the demonstration as a mental image.
• Motor reproduction — be physically able to copy it.
• Motivation — have a drive or reward to perform it.

Insight / Gestalt learning takes the opposite view to building skills piece by piece: drawing on past experience, the learner suddenly perceives the whole solution to a problem, favouring understanding and whole practice.

Types of guidance

Guidance is the help a coach gives a learner. There are four types:

• Visual — demonstrations, videos, diagrams; builds the mental picture, vital for beginners.
• Verbal — spoken cues and explanations; best combined with visual guidance and more useful as the learner advances.
• Manual — physically supporting or holding the learner (a coach supporting a handspring).
• Mechanical — using a device or aid (a harness, floats, a bowling machine) to support or shape the movement.

Risk: heavy use of manual and mechanical guidance can create dependency and distort the real kinaesthetic feel of the skill.

Which guidance is that?

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 is information about the outcome (did the shot land in?); KP is information about the quality of the movement that produced it.
• Positive vs negative: positive feedback reinforces what was correct; negative feedback identifies errors so they can be corrected.

Match the stage: beginners rely on extrinsic feedback and knowledge of results; advanced performers use their own intrinsic feedback and detailed knowledge of performance.

Results or performance?

Discrete, serial or continuous?

Tap a skill, then tap the type of skill it is.

Match each term to its meaning

Tap a term on the left, then its matching definition on the right.

The big ideas to know

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