Skill Acquisition: Classification of Skills

Classification of Skills

Simple and Complex Skills

Simple skills: These require a little cognitive effort and can be performed without thinking, e.g. Running.
Complex skills: These require a lot of cognitive effort and need significant planning and decision making, e.g. Gymnastic routine.

Open and Closed Skills

Open skills: They’re performed in a changing, unpredictable environment, where the performer has to adjust accordingly. e.g. Passing a ball during a football match.
Closed skills: They’re performed in a consistent, predictable environment and the action can be planned in advance. e.g. A dive in swimming.

Discrete, Serial, and Continuous Skills

Discrete skills: Have a clear start and finish, e.g. A penalty shot in football.
Serial skills: A group of discrete skills strung together to make a more complex movement, e.g. Gymnastic floor routine.
Continuous skills: Do not have a clear start or finish and could be continued indefinitely, e.g. Running.

Individual, Coactive, and Interactive Skills

Individual skills: Performed in isolation, where other performers have no direct influence, e.g. A high jump.
Coactive skills: Simultaneously performed with others, but those others do not directly affect performance, e.g. Swimming race.
Interactive skills: Other performers directly impact the performance of the individual, e.g. Team sports like football.

Self-paced and Externally Paced Skills

Self-paced skills: The performer controls the rate at which the skill is performed, e.g. Discus throw.
Externally paced skills: The environment, including other performers, controls the rate of performing the skill, e.g. Goalkeeping in football.

The classification of skills will influence how they are taught and practiced. Understanding the classification helps in planning an effective training program.