A general trait or capacity of a person Rela:vely enduring characteris:c Serves as a determinant of a person’s achievement poten:al for the performance of specific skills
Motor Ability
An ability that is specifically related to the performance of a motor skill Each person has a variety of motor abili:es Chapter 3
Abili:es as Individual Difference Variables Motor abili:es establish achievement poten:als for specific motor skills Each motor skill requires specific motor abili:es to successfully perform it If 2 people have the same Amount of prac2ce Level and amount of instruc2on Mo2va2on to perform the skill Then -‐ Motor abili:es will influence the level of performance success each person can/will achieve
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Abili:es as Individual Difference Variables, cont’d Two hypotheses:
General Motor Ability Hypothesis: many different motor abili:es that exist are highly related within a person and can be grouped as a singular, global motor ability (Brace, 1927; McCloy, 1934) Specificity of Motor Ability Hypothesis: many motor abili:es are rela:vely independent in an individual (Henry, 1961) Chapter 3
Controversy About Rela:onship Among Motor Abili:es
General Motor Ability Hypothesis
• All motor abili:es are highly related to each other • A person can be described as having an overall amount of general motor ability
Specificity of Motor Abili9es Hypothesis • All motor abili:es are
rela:vely independent • Each person varies in the amount of each ability • A person’s motor ability can be described only by a profile of amounts of each of several specific motor abili:es
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Inclass Discussion • The babe: Can a general motor ability be defined and measured? – With another member of the class summarize what are the important points of this case!
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Ques:ons • What is the general motor ability assump:on? • What is the specificity of individual difference view? • What does the all around athlete term mean?
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Discussion Topic In a recent movie staring Brad Pi` called “Moneyball”, the movie highlights the effort about Billie Beam and how he was able to run Oakland A’s on limited budget win the divisional championship.
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Applica:on: Major league baseball scouts • Prior to 2000 many players were draged on: – how fast they can run the 50 yard dash – velocity in throwing – Hiing – Draging players out of HS was common place • Since 2000 many players are draged based on: – On base percentage – Ability to hit with players on base – Slugging % – Number of run scored – Hiing deep in the count versus first ball hi`ers – If they played college ball – Number hits not homeruns Chapter 3
Billy Ball • Is Billy Ball a general motor ability or specificity approach? • What affect has Billy Ball approach had on major league baseball?
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• Pick a sport of your choice. How would you determine what athletes would be starter or nonstarters using the general motor ability & specificity of individual difference views? In your opinion which method would be the best! Why?
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Research Evidence Supports Specificity Hypothesis Research technique to test the ques:on of which hypothesis valid: Correlate any two motor abili:es
Each hypothesis predicts different correla:on result – What are these different results?
Ini:al research compared RT and MT
Henry and colleagues (1960s) showed low correla:ons See example in “A Closer Look” p. 40
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Generality of Specific Abili:es
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Sta:c vs. Dynamic Balance
Conclusions -‐ Sta:c and dynamic balance are dis:nct, independent abili:es. As a motor ability, balance must be viewed as a mul9-‐dimensional ability.
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2. Timing as a Motor Ability • External vs. Internal Timing
– External -‐ Movement :ming based on external source (externally-‐paced :ming) – Internal -‐ Timing of movement based on person’s internal representa:on of :me (self-‐paced :ming)
• Conclusion: Research evidence indicates dis:nct :ming abili:es are skill specific rather than related to a general :ming ability – See experiments described in textbook
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Iden:fying Motor Abili:es One example of an a`empt to iden:fy motor abili:es Fleishman’s Taxonomy of Motor Abili:es – Described 11 perceptual-‐motor abili:es – See Table 3.2 for complete list and defini9ons – People differ in amount of each ability
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Summary • Ability • General motor ability versus specificity approach