Stages of Skill Acquisition
The ability of individuals to experience, learn & refine motor skills greatly affects their ability to perform any physical activity. It is important for athletes to know the processes that individual undertake when learning a new skill & how these processes can be adapted to help individuals learn new skills quickly and easily.
Learning skills
There are three stages of learning:
• Cognitive learning: learning by receiving knowledge & information
• Affective Learning: learning on a social level (i.e. by developing ideas about sportsmanship & fair play)
• Motor Learning: learning by acquiring physical motor skills
A skill can be defined simply as an act or task. We can also use the term to describe someone’s ability, for example, Jimmy Bartel is a skilled footballer.
In your view, how can you tell (visibly) if someone is skilled at their particular sport? Give an example.
Lebron James is a skilled basketball player because he has incredible athleticism for a person of his build and has excellent basketball skills. He has won the Most Valuable Player award in the NBA and makes all skills required in the game look easy.



Becoming a skilled athlete depends on 3 factors:
1. Stages of skill acquisition
2. Characteristics of the learner
3. Environment

1. The stages of skill acquisition
Learning involves practice and time. Over time and with practice, someone who us a beginner will progress through various stages to become a skilled performer.
1st Stage: Cognitive Stage: this stage is characterised by thinking. In this stage the learner forms a cognitive picture of the skill and what is required to do it. The movements in this stage are jerky and dis-jointed and usually poorly timed. Performance is inconsistent, with a large number of errors – the learner will know something is wrong. When learning to play a golf shot, a learner will probably hit the ground a lot and miss the ball completely. Fortunately, this stage is usually quite short, and with greater practice and though, the learner will progress and make rapid gains in proficiency. In this stage, a coach should teach simple, fundamental skills by demonstrating, modelling and giving clear instructions. Instructions should be brief and should only focus on a couple of things at a time. Important points:
• Has the learner got an appropriate level of strength/conditioning to perform this skill?
• Break the skill into parts
• Keep instructions clear and simple
• Provide instant feedback

2nd Stage: Associative Stage: In comparison to the cognitive stage, the associative stage is quite long. In fact, a person may never move beyond this stage. In this stage, the fundamentals of the skill have been learnt and performance has started to become less variable and more consistent. There are fewer errors because the athlete has developed the ability to detect and correct errors (through practice and feedback). Movements become coordinated as the athlete learns to use environmental cues for timing. Anticipation develops, and smoother, less rushed skills result as the individual needs to think less about the skill and can rely more on "muscle memory." There is a marked improvement with decreased energy expenditure. Important notes:

• Coaches should communicate well and individualise feedback
• Errors should be identified and corrected
• Teach the movement pattern first - then introduce game-like situations

3rd Stage: Autonomous Stage: After much practice and experience, the skill becomes habitual or automatic. In this stage, improvements come slowly but there is good consistency in performance. Most of the skill can be performed without thinking because the athlete requires less attention to the basics. Instead, he or she can give more selective attenion to higher-order cognitive activities such as game strategies or evading the opposition. With minimal errors and good timing, the athlete develops self confidence and risk-taking in performance situations. In this stage of skill acquisition, the practice sessions need to be well organised to ensure the best improvements. The athlete must be highly motivated and given regular feedback. Training should attempt to simulate the actual performance conditions.