Classification of skills

Skills are classified on a continuum: a line between two extremes. Most skills aren't at either end, but somewhere along the line, closer to one end than the other. You must place a skill and justify where you put it.

You need two continua:

• the difficulty continuum, from simple to complex
• the environmental continuum, from closed to open.

• A simple skill needs few decisions, has little information to process and few sub-routines (parts). Example: swimming a length of front crawl: the same movements repeat, with few decisions.
• A complex skill needs many decisions, has lots of information to process and many sub-routines. Example: a tennis serve: the player decides where to aim, when to toss the ball and whether to add spin, and the serve has many parts.

So a tennis serve is complex, not simple.

• A closed skill is not affected by the environment: the surroundings are predictable, so it can be performed the same way each time. Example: the dive at the start of a swimming race: the pool, the lane and the starting signal are always the same.
• An open skill is affected by the environment: the surroundings are unpredictable, so the performer must adapt. Example: a pass in netball during a game: the positions of teammates and defenders keep changing.